Resources · 07-31-2013
If you are the parent of a gifted child, these links will help you support his/her abilities. There are many resources available. I will provide more in the upcoming weeks. National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) “NAGC invests all of its resources to train teachers, encourage parents and educate administrators and policymakers on how to develop and support gifted children and what's at stake if high-potential learners are not challenged and encouraged.” SENG stands for Supporting...
Museums · 07-29-2013
Exploratorium Wow! Gain access to fascinating online experiments, exhibitions, and hands-on activities through this virtual museum fieldtrip. Explore the science of baseball and skateboarding, interact with optical illusions, build your own spectroscope, even visit the extensive archived area to dissect a cow’s eye – you will need your own cow’s eye! http://www.exploratorium.edu/
Creativity · 07-24-2013
“There are many ways to exercise your creativity, including problem solving and idea generation in whatever field interests you—any of the arts, sciences, professions, trades, avocations, and hobbies. In addition, you can nurture your creativity and reap some of its benefits just by appreciating another’s creativity—listening to music, viewing visual art, and so on.” Source: PBS Online: This Emotional Life http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/creativity/creativity
Activities · 07-22-2013
I always disliked tedious math fact drills, but the mental math problems below are both fun and challenging. Children must listen, combine the information, remember the information, and add. It is a playful way to reinforce basic addition facts and offers an alternative to rote memorization. This addition set is appropriate for children in grades 2-4, depending on their math levels. When you complete this set of problems, have the children create their own. Encourage them to use groups of items...
Books · 07-19-2013
Playtime and summertime go together, and play is important in children's development and learning. It develops creativity and imagination, and allows children to make their own choices. Play-based learning takes children on adventures of their own choosing. Play is why young children love the book, Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. This simple, yet endearing book illustrates the adventures children experience while playing with a cardboard box. Yes, you read that correctly – a cardboard box....
Activities · 07-17-2013
If you used the Creative Questions Cube from my previous post, then you may want to explore “The Cube Creator” at the ReadThinkWrite website. The creator tool provides access to four cubing activities. There’s a bio cube to use after reading a biography to “capture the person’s essence.” The mystery cube helps children sort clues in a mystery or write their own, and the story cube helps them identify elements of a story, such as conflict and resolution. My favorite is the...
Activities · 07-15-2013
What is Cubing? Cubing is an educational strategy that is great for children who like to play games - and what child doesn't like to play games? It makes use of an instructional cube, which is a 6-sided figure that has a different activity or question on each side (face) of the cube. Children roll the cube and complete the activity that lands face up. The cube below has a “twist” because instead of having children answer a question, they must supply an answer. For example, the cube may land...
Museums · 07-12-2013
During a recent visit to Washington, D.C., I witnessed a “behavioral museum meltdown” at the National Mall. In response to his parents, a child was screaming, “I don’t care what we do, as long as we don’t visit another museum!” Perhaps his museum fatigue (and outburst) could have been prevented had his parents followed the four “B's” of family museum-going as detailed in the classic, Where’s the Me in Museum: Going to Museums with Children. They are paraphrased below: 1....
Museums · 07-10-2013
Do you love art, but dislike visiting museums? If yes, you may enjoy Brian Cohen's article, “How to Visit a Museum,” a comical critique of museum practices. While many of Cohen's recommendations focus on a need for visitor solitude, he realizes that museum-going is “unavoidably and unfortunately” a social experience. His recommendation to avoid the museum guards is one I disagree with. Guards are observers who often have interesting opinions about the collections. Read the article in...