Month: September 2020

Foolproof ways to introduce math concepts to young children

Are you introducing your children to math concepts or do you think they are too young? There is no such thing as too young! We can begin to plant the seeds of what we want children to learn from a very early age. Never underestimate the learning power of your child. How do you think we children who can play the piano or read at 1 or 2 years old? Its because somebody said, “hey let’s try this!”

Today I did a “live” video on Instagram showing the ways in which we can teach emerging counting and cardinality, recognizing, comparing and classifying patterns and algebraic thinking! The video is geared toward the parents and teachers of young children.

For me the best part was that I only used on tool to teach all of those skills! As a parent or a teacher of young children you can do the same thing. I will put a link to the counting bears that I used in my video, but you can also use things around the house like different size spoons, marbles, beans, beads, combs makeup brushes.

Take some time today and try the strategies that I shared with you and let me know how it goes!

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Getting Smart with Common Core Standards

The Common Core is a set of uniform learning standards that were created to describe the skills that students should have at each level of learning. The idea was that if we have one set of challenging academic standards then it would improve achievement and college readiness.

The standards are the same across the board in all but 7 states.  Four of those seven states (AK, TX, NE, VA) never adopted the standards, while (OK, IN, SC) adopted the standards then changed their minds.  Why is this important? Because if a family moved to a different state sometimes the rigor of the lessons was not the same, causing a gap in learning or engagement. For instance, in my senior year, I lived in Alabama. Before the move, all of my schoolings happened in Ohio. I only had two classes left to take in my senior year. Once I moved to Alabama, I was behind the curve and had to take a full load of classes to gain enough credits to graduate with my class. That is because the standards for learning in Ohio were not the same as the standards in Alabama.

There has been, and probably still is a lot of controversy around the implementation and understanding of the CC standards. This blog is not to debate the legitimacy of the standards but to work with what we have.

One complaint that was prevalent in the early childhood world was that some of the CC skills were too advanced for 1st and 2nd graders. They didn’t have the previous knowledge that was necessary to tackle those skills.

One thing that I have worked hard at is having an understanding of the Common Core standards and how they connect to the Michigan Early Childhood Standards of Quality.

3 ways to say no to a child without saying no

Children learn almost everything from what they experience in the world around them. Some things they know because we are teaching it directly, and some things they learn by watching and experiencing the world around them.

Have you ever told a child to “Stop running!” or “Don’t step in that puddle!” and they did the exact thing you told them not to do? That’s because of the way their brains are wired. We can’t change that, so instead, we must change our approach.

Rephrase your request in a positive way: Instead of saying, “No, don’t run, “try, “Please walk inside.”

Let your child know what he may do instead of telling him what he can’t do: Instead of, “No, you can’t have a cookie now,” try saying, “You may have a cookie after dinner. Instead of, “No! No throwing balls indoors,” try saying, “You can roll the ball indoors or take it outside and throw it. What’s your choice?”

Ask for your child’s help and thank him when he gets it right: Instead of, “No! I told you not to take your shoes off because we’re getting ready to go,” try saying, “You need your shoes on to go outside. Please help me find them so we can get ready to go. Thank you for helping me.”

Being mindful of how you phrase what you say will contribute to a more favorable environment for you and the child.

The top 3 ways to survive the first weeks of school 2020

Today is the first day of school in my city. I have been an educator for over 27 years, and every year at this time, I feel a sense of excitement. I am excited about the new people I will meet and what students and teachers will learn this year.

This year, 2020, is different. I have two distinct feelings. I feel anxiety about how children will learn and their ability to adapt their learning to this new normal. I also feel excited about coming up with creative ways to circumvent the unique challenges that will arise.

During the next couple of weeks, we should practice the following:

  • Give ourselves, and our students grace. We will all make mistakes, get frustrated, and feel inadequate during this time. It’s ok!!! This is the first time any of us has spent the early days of school under these circumstances. If you plan something and it doesn’t work as you expected, change it!
  • Be encouraged. Every day look for things that bring you joy. Look for small wins. Look for joy and wins for your students.
  • Be intentional. When you wake up in the morning decide on the type of day you and your students will have. Redirect your thoughts and actions when they do not fit into your intentional plan for the day.

If anything, 2020 will make us better teachers and better learners.