Welcome!

Welcome to my educational blog. You will find links to educational items, homework information, and pictures. I hope you enjoy! Please contact me anytime. My email address is nn01bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us.

Parent Page

Links for Parents
Parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. Your attitudes and actions determine your child’s academic performance. Here are some helpful resources.

Birmingham Public School's Special Education Blog



DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES OF 8-10 YEAR OLD CHILDREN

When your child becomes a tween, he/she achieves some major developmental and cognitive milestones.

Internet Resources:

6-8 year olds: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/child/middlechildhood.htm

9-11 year olds: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/child/middlechildhood9-11.htm

8-9 year olds: www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Child_Guide_Eight

Developmental Bibliography:

Chip Wood’s book “Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14 : A Resource for Parents and Teachers” provides great information about child development related to learning.



READING WITH YOUR CHILD
Your 3rd/4th grader is not too old to read with you! I read to the kids almost every day and they love it! Listening to adults read creates a love of literature, tells your child that you value reading, and teaches kids how to read fluently because the adult reader serves as a role model. Plus, when a parent reads cuddled up to their child, you are using reading in one of the most loving contexts, one that they will remember for the rest of their lives. I still remember cuddling up with my mom and begging her to keep reading. Your kids will, too. I choose read-alouds for a variety of purposes: to enjoy humor, to teach more about a particular subject, to expose readers to new genres, and to share books that I am excited about. At this age, you can use books to explore topics about growing up, friendships, and anything else that you want to talk about with your child if you ask for your child’s opinion and then share yours. Talking about characters and their choices is a powerful way to guide your kids as they grow. Here are some of the “teacher” strategies for reading that you can use, too:

–Take turns reading. Divide by paragraph, page, a certain number of minutes, or just passing your turn when you’re tired.

–Take turns selecting books. Read some of the books you loved from your childhood and modern books that look good.

–Reading together is a situation in which you can read a harder level than your child can read alone. If you’re reading a book that is hard and full of difficult words, don’t make your child sound out every word or else it won’t be enjoyable. Give him or her most words and move on. Stop at a select few words.

–If your child stumbles when he or she is reading out loud, ask him or her to use the sentence for clues, look at the sounds in the word. Read the next sentence as well to see if that can help.

–Use voices for characters and be dramatic!!!

–Make sure the experience is 100% positive!


INTERNET RESOURCES FOR READING:

http://www.planetesme.com/
Created by a teacher/professional author, this site is an extensive list of recommended reading for children.


MONITORING YOUR CHILD’S HOMEWORK

By far, the area with which parents of third and fourth graders request the most support is homework. As teachers, we assume that if we see completed, correct homework that your child has done it independently and then had small help from you to “polish” it up. Two popular homework issues are (A) parents doing homework for their children and (B) children engaging parents in a battle over homework. We are here to help you avoid both.

Homework time should mirror classroom work time. Your child is able to work independently and successfully at school receiving only 1/27th of the teacher’s attention. The teacher shows the assignment to your child, explains the task your child is expected to do, encourages your child to ask questions to clarify what is expected of him/her, and then your child works on his/her own. The teacher periodically checks in with your child to ask, “How is it going?” When work time is over, the teacher and the child check in with each other to discuss what he/she got accomplished and what the next steps will be.

Homework time should be very similar. The following routine helps eliminate dawdling, whining, and other battles from your child over homework.

1) Have one-on-one time with your child at the beginning of homework time to discuss what he/she will be getting done.

2) Then, your child should work independently. It works best for most kids at this age if you leave the room. Worried that your child won’t work while you’re not watching him/her? Peek on him/her every 5-10 minutes and offer quick, quiet praise if your child is working. Not the case? If your child is off-task or just not producing work, ask in a non-judgmental voice, “How’s it going?” If you hear a complaint, ask, “Do you need any help?” or “How much longer do you think your math will take if you keep working at this pace?” Respond to him/her calmly and factually, then walk out of the room. (Provide very little attention and don’t get engaged in your child’s drama. Your child’s energy is meant to be on the task at hand--not to be directed at you.) If your child honestly needs help, try to keep it brief and focused to the assignment, and then when your child is back on track, leave him/her at it!

3) When your child completes the assignment, he/she should check in with you to show you that it is done and to ask any questions. This is your time to briefly “polish” the assignment as necessary. (Neat, complete, correct, capitals, punctuation?)

4) Provide natural consequences for doing high-quality homework efficiently. Usually, this means that your child will get to do or have something that he/she likes AFTER homework is completed, but if homework is a battle, then your child does not get to do or have that thing. Popular examples are tv time, video game time, computer time, snack, family game time, reading, or play time after homework gets done. Your child chooses how much time to spend each night on homework and how much on fun time.

Above all, please let us help you with homework time! If your child is resistant to working independently, let us know. We have many ways to support parents, and together, we can choose ways that work for your family.

Here are some tried and true techniques to end the homework battle and to empower your child to be independent, responsible, and self-motivated!

INTERNET RESOURCES FOR HOMEWORK:

Eight effective strategies: www.teachervision.fen.com/teacher-parent-conferences/homework/5144.html

General Information and Strategies: www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/involve/homework/homeworktips.pdf

General Strategies: www.middleweb.com/INCASEPrntHmwk.html

Our philosophy too: www.pbs.org/parents/goingtoschool/helping_homework.html

Independence: www.saratogafalcon.org/content/parents-doing-homework-not-beneficial-students

Homework Bibliography:

Dr. Robert MacKenzie’s book "Setting Limits: How to Raise Responsible, Independent Children by Providing Clear Boundaries" has a great chapter called “The Homework Dance.” (All the other chapters are wonderful, too.) The book is available at many bookstores and online.


PROVIDING HEALTHY BRAIN FUEL

If kids’ physical needs are well-met, they are set up for success in learning.

SLEEP

www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/sleep.htm


8-10 year olds need 10 hours of sleep per night to be alert for schoolwork. Read more about why sleep is so important and how you can actually have your child sleep that much in a detailed article, including tips and resources, from the U of M Health System.



HEALTY DIET

www.brightfutures.org/nutritionfamfact/index.html


Food is fuel for our bodies, and growing kids especially need premium-grade fuel. Read more about kids and good nutrition from Georgetown University.

EXERCISE

www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhood-obesity/FL00058

Kids are naturally active beings! Let’s encourage them to run around, ride bikes, rollerblade, play, and to be kids! Read about being active and healthy with your children in an article from the Mayo Clinic.



OTHER INTERNET RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

www.loveandlogic.com/index.html

BCS shares many beliefs of “Love and Logic” by Jim Fay. A lot of great free information and articles are on this site related to parenting and discipline.

www.nwrel.org/assessment/department.asp?d=1

All the information you could ever want about 6 + 1 Traits of Writing–the model BCS uses to teach writing. Includes definitions of the traits of good writing and sample scoring guides.

http://www.everydaymath.uchicago.edu/
The official website of our math program, Everyday Math. There is a section of resources for parents.

www.bay3tv.com/MathShow/Not%20your%20Mothers%20Multiplication.pdf

Explanations of Partial Products Method and Lattice Method for multi-digit multiplication.