Spelling

Post 222

I’ve had a few questions about spelling lately. How important is it? When should students be spelling words correctly? How to help them spell? All of these are legitimate concerns.

Currently, at least in my district, children in Kindergarten are encouraged to write and their spelling is phonetic. That means they “write what they hear” so “cat and dog” might look something like “ct n dg”. Or “I like you” could be written “i lk u”. The idea is to get students writing freely and bring in correct spelling later. And it works. Most children are confident writers by the time they start First Grade no matter what reading level the are on. The mantra is “writers become writers by writing”. And it’s very hard to write if you are constantly told to correct spelling and go back and fix it. Talk about taking the fun out of it! lol.

But, at some point, children need to learn the correct way to spell. That’s why most districts use a phonics program, too. Students are told to “stretch out the words” and listen for the sounds, especially vowels.

But as your little one gets along in school the dreaded spelling list and weekly spelling tests still appear. (Can you remember how boring they were? They still are!) And once students get computer savvy, the question arises, “Why can’t I just use SpellCheck?” And, of course, they can! But they still need to be able to spell to get along in the world.😀

Usually learning how to study for a spelling test comes along with maturity. But if your child eventually needs some help, try to make a game out of it. Use those spelling rules (ex. I before e except after c), find small words inside of bigger ones, remind them that all words have to have vowels and look for them. Another way I have found particularly successful is to say the word the way it’s spelled when learning it. For example Wed-Nes-day , of-Ten, sep-a-rāte. And don’t be afraid of drill with flash cards or online games. (I personally like spellingtraining.com but there are a lot out there.) Of course, when your child gets to homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently such as lone/loan, their/there, etc.) memorization is key. In that case, I would probably make up pairs of cards and try to explain the differences in an easy to remember way. (lOne has the “o” by itself… aLONE, tHERE is a place..here, etc.)

So, is spelling necessary? Ultimately, yes. And with maturity and sometimes a little help, your child will get there.

Take Care. 🙂

***If you have any ways you recommend to help reluctant spellers, please put them in the comments.😀

Leveled Vs. Easy Readers

Post 210

Last week I talked a lot about reading and where your child should be at this time in the school year. As I’ve mentioned before, reading is where the emphasis is placed in the primary grades.

As a parent (caregiver, grandparent, etc.) you naturally want to help your little student any way you can to become a competent reader. I’m sure you’ve made visits to the library and bookstore (online or physical) to get them books to read. And I’m also sure you’ve tried to guide them to find reading material that interests them so they keep on reading. (*One side note here…pictures are GOOD. Illustrations are there to help explain the text. Pictures give insight beyond the words that help early readers understand them. And, in my opinion, graphic novels are another excellent way to keep readers engaged and reading.)

But it’s very easy to confuse what are designated as easy readers and leveled readers. Books that are small in size aren’t necessarily easy to read. Frequently the vocabulary used is way beyond a beginning reader’s ability to decode or figure out the words. The same goes for books that are marked easy or beginning readers. They are wonderful and have their place but your new reader won’t necessarily be able to read them independently. You could approach them by helping to read a page or letting your child read the words they know while you read the other ones. (*And always look at the pictures first.😀)

Leveled books contain certain words (high frequency ones) with specific phonetic patterns, and type of sentence that are at the level the student is reading at. For example, an A level reader might have text like…A dog., A cat, A tree, A car while a B level would read…I see a cat, I see a dog, I see a car, etc. Leveled books also review known phonic elements (such as a letter sound) and high frequency words already taught while adding new ones.

All of that means don’t be fooled into getting your child a book that you think is at their level but is harder than they can handle. Libraries have areas designated for leveled readers so if you know your child’s level, you can always go there for independent reading. Your child’s teacher can also recommend and even lend you some readers at their level. And never be afraid to help your little one over rough parts when they are reading.

In the end, the main thing to remember is to keep reading with your child. Your interest and encouragement will go a lot further than any book or reader to help them succeed. 😀 Happy reading!

Take Care. 🙂

Unkind Words

Post 188

“Unkind words”…That’s teacher language for when a child is bossy or mean to another child. But how mean can a five year old be? To adults it all can seem so trivial. But nothing cuts as deeply in the primary grades as the sentence, “You can’t come to my birthday party.” Just the look on the other child’s face tells you that. It isolates them from a.group and makes them one of the “unchosen” ones.

This is the time of year that remarks like that surface in the classroom. The students have been together since September and have formed groups. They like playing with one person over another. And that’s ok! What’s not ok is hurting someone’s feelings with words. So, frequently I bring out a cute bear puppet named Muffin when we are in a class meeting. Muffin will often have a “problem” that mirrors what went on in the classroom. In this case, Muffin would be upset about not getting invited to a birthday party. The class would brainstorm ways that the other person could have talked to Muffin without hurting feelings. I would also make sure to include the child who originally said the offending remark as we make a chart of phrases that Muffin could use. (Afterward I would talk privately to that student about using nicer words when playing with friends.) The biggest thing I would try to get across to the class through Muffin is that while it’s fine to like some classmates better than others, they have to be nice to ALL the students in the class.

At home, you can do the same thing. For example, if your child wants to have a playdate with one student over another, fine. But remind them that they need to respect other students and not use sentences such as,”You can’t come”, to the other child. And if your little one is the one left out, try to remind them that there are lots of other children in the class that are fun. Help them think of ways they could play with another student. (It’s tricky and will break your heart at times. But the good news is that children move on from these situations very quickly…even if you never forget it!)

Your child is beginning to grow up a bit. These situations are the first of many that will come up. They are lucky to have you to help them navigate them!

Take Care. 😀

Writing

Post 185

Is there writing in Kindergarten? Absolutely! When does it happen? Daily! How important is it? Very! Writing in the primary grades (K – 2) is a major part of the ELA curriculum. It is second only to reading and goes hand in hand with it. The belief is that”writers become writers by writing”. So children in class are encouraged to write from Day 1.

By now, students have learned that “letters in a word have to be in the right order.” I would expect your little one to be attempting to write words and group them into sentences. They also know that sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a period. It’s a lot for a 5 year old to remember! Lol.

A word of caution here…When you are helping your child write something at home I wouldn’t rush in to correct their spelling despite the above “rule”. As I mentioned, writers become writers by writing, and right now, getting something down on paper is the most important thing. Phonetic (invented) spelling is fine. As long as your child can “read” it (even if you can’t) that’s ok.Rules such as “e at the end of a word will make the vowel say its name” will be taught along with phonics and eventually will be incorporated into their writing.

In the classroom, your little one is actually writing all day. They have some sort of journal where they write a sentence and then draw a picture to go with it.(“Words and pictures go together”…another K Saying. 😀) But writing happens in other academic areas, too. In math, students write the number words, in science they may record what they see happening with a seed, for example. Theme projects incorporate writing such as listing different types of winter birds.Writing is happening all the time.

You can encourage your child’s writing at home, too. For example, ask them to write on a shopping list what you need…simple words like eggs and milk. Help them “stretch out” the word to hear the letter sounds. Give them other real world examples of writing. Valentine’s Day is coming up. What better way to write than to write friends’ names on cards or to write a message on a homemade message for a loved one? And remember to let your little one know how proud you are of their efforts. That’s the best encouragement of all!

Take Care. 🙂

Modeling

post 70

Modeling??? No, I don’t mean the kind that is done for a magazine! In this post, I am talking about giving your child concrete examples of how to act in certain situations. This can be applied to both social and academic ones.

For example, let’s say your child is having trouble making friends at school. He/she is rather shy and doesn’t feel comfortable around children he/she is just meeting. Honestly, I think that is normal for everyone. It’s just the degree of uncomfortableness (is that a word?) and how it’s handled that is different in each case. The normal thing would be to say something like, “Go up to another child and ask him/her to play.” That’s fine. But how about giving your little one the actual words to use? How about, “Go up to Joey and say, ‘We both really like Spiderman so let’s pretend we are swinging from webs.’ ” See what I mean? You are actually scripting what your child would say. You’re not trying to micromanage. You’re trying to give your child a boost with something he/she finds hard to do. Another example would be to tell your son/daughter, “Ask Amelia, ‘Would you like  to look at my book about dinosaurs?’ ” Again, you are giving your child the actual words to use.

Maybe your child doesn’t know something basic such as to smile when going up to a new friend. Remind him/her of that. It seems such a normal thing but 4,5, and 6 year olds don’t always know basics yet. You might also suggest he/she share a toy with another student and say, “Would you like to play with me?” In Kindergarten, we talk about being a good friend and brainstorm words to use to do that. And that’s exactly what you are doing with your child when you model these situations. Even suggesting that your son/daughter help another student during clean up time, “Let me help you do that”, is a way to give your child the support he/she needs socially.

This same concept can be applied to academics. If you know your child is having trouble sounding out words you can obviously write to the teacher and ask for help for him/her. You could also have him/her say during Guided Reading time, “I couldn’t figure out this word. Can you show me how to do it?” (This is even more applicable when your child gets older and needs to understand what he/she did wrong on a test. He/she could bring the test to the teacher and ask him/her to explain the mistakes. But that’s a few years from now!)

The point is to give your little one the words to use to help him/her over rough spots. This type of modeling is just one step further than I’m sure  you are already going when trying to help your preschooler, kindergartener, or first grader. You are the first one your child goes to when he/she has a problem. This is just another “tool” for your “help my child toolbox”.

Take Care.   🙂

If you have an example of how you’ve helped your child in a social or academic situation that you’d like to share, please post it in the comments below. Thanks 

Kindergarten Words

Post 59

In school, when a child uses what are commonly called “potty words” or any other “inappropriate language”, I remind them to use “kindergarten words”. We’re all on top of that.  🙂  But what about those other times when your son/daughter says something that makes you stop short? (Is he/she truly that mean? Or is he/she really traumatized by that?)  For example, a student once told me that, “Sometimes I laugh at people who look funny.” “Funny” in this case, meant disabled. Another child was drawing a picture of himself in class after he had broken his arm. He didn’t include the cast. I was concerned that he was embarrassed even though the children had tried so hard to help him. We had even read a book about breaking arms and legs, etc. When I brought it up and asked him (delicately) why he didn’t include his cast in his self portrait he answered, “Oh, I didn’t know how to draw it”!  Lol.

And that’s the whole point. In my experience, with five and six year olds, what you see is what you get. I think I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating. So often, as adults, we tend to project grown up feelings and points of view onto our children. We can’t help it. It’s normal. But children are very honest. The Kindergartener in the above example about looking at disabled people didn’t mean they were funny looking. She just meant that she was aware of their differences and looked at them. (Normal, right?) So maybe in that case, give examples of how to be aware but polite. Look the person in the eyes as you would someone without a disability.  In other words, teach your child manners.

Just be aware that your child is still very young. To most Kindergarteners the world is very black and white. They don’t see shades of gray yet. So, the next time your son/daughter seems unkind or says something that horrifies you, stop a minute and ask yourself if maybe you are giving an adult interpretation to what is really a child’s view. Chances are you really are raising an empathetic child!

Take Care.   🙂