The comic page in your newspaper is full of lessons to teach to your child. Here are just a few ideas to get you started… 1- Did you know there is a date on each and every comic strip? Look for one with your student and talk about it…for example, in tomorrow’s paper you will […]
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Celebrate National Reading Month with your student as you read together during your mentoring hour. During this month I will blog about books that you may enjoy with your student and share ideas that may help you as you work to develop their reading skills. For now, let’s look at a list of things you
March is Reading Month! Read More »
Here’s a great lesson to teach your child about the words that they use. Remind them to THINK before they speak and teach them what this means using this acronym for the word THINK. Before you speak, THINK T– is it True? H– is it Helpful? I– is it Inspiring? N– is it Necessary? K–
Ratey points out that with the amount of information doubling every few years, it’s easy for anyone to suffer from information overload and get distracted. He says that our brain is designed to make sense of the surrounding environment as it existed 10,000 years ago. Since we live in an age of instant cyber solutions, our
Exercise Increases Attention Span Read More »
This past week I was reminded of the old saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Fortunately, it wasn’t trying to shovel snow off my driveway in Michigan that brought this to mind. I was in Fort Worth, TX at a special meeting convened by Mayor Betsy Price. Her purpose was to invite several
Eating an Elephant Read More »
I would strongly recommend that you read Chapters 4 & 5 of Ratey’s book if you want documentation of how exercise reduces anxiety and depression. His conclusions include: 1. Psychotherapy and medication remain the two main treatments for anxiety and depression. 2. The chemicals activated in the brain when taking anti depressant medication are the
Exercise- The Magic Cure Read More »
Stress can interfere with learning, and sadly, there are many children who deal with stress on a daily basis. Experts say EXCERCISE will help reduce stress in a child. As a mentor, how can you include exercise in your hour? If you have access to the gym at your school spend a few minutes in
Since brain researchers like Ratey are often accused of looking at the physical aspects of our being at the expense of environmental conditioning, Ratey takes time this week to share research done in the 1960’s that resulted in the formation of head start to overcome environmental delays in children raised in poverty. Research has consistently
Nature vs. Nurture Read More »
If you have enjoyed playing the card game Go Fish, you will love playing GO APE! It’s basically played the same way as Go Fish, but instead of asking “Do you have a card?”, you ask for cards by mimicking the action that is on your card. For example, if the monkey’s hands are up
Help a child learn how to build words by playing WORD PIRATES together. It’s a fun game that is quick and simple to play! The best part…if you can build a word that has 4 letters or more you get to wear a pirate patch! That is pretty motivating when you are a young student!
