READING RESOURCES
Message to Parents Regarding Reading:
As we tell the students at school... "If you want to get better at something, you have to practice! The same goes for reading. THE BEST way to become a better reader is to READ, READ, READ!"
As we tell the students at school... "If you want to get better at something, you have to practice! The same goes for reading. THE BEST way to become a better reader is to READ, READ, READ!"
- Read with your child.
- Read to your child.
- Have your child read to you.
- Take turns, you read a page then your child reads a page.
- Talk about what you are reading. If it's fiction, discuss what is happening in the story. If it's nonfiction, talk about the facts your child is learning.
- Have your child read to a sibling or to the family pet!
- Listen to audiobooks in the car.
- Talk about vocabulary: What does that word mean?
MATH RESOURCES
Message to Parents Regarding Math:
Understanding simple math facts can offer students a tremendous advantage in school. By conducting basic addition and subtraction problems mentally, a child’s math fluency can improve, allowing him/her to advance more easily to higher level mathematics. Playing simple, but fun, math games is a fantastic way to not only stimulate your child’s mental math abilities, but also an ideal way of improving number facts. Here are a few to try:
Multiplication War:
With this fun card game, your child will master his multiplication facts in no time! Shuffle a deck of cards and deal them face down, giving each player an equal number. Assign the picture cards a value of 10 and the aces a value of 11. Each player turns two cards face up, reads the number sentence and supplies the answer. For example, if your child draws a 7 and an 8, he says 7×8=56. If you draw a 6 and a 4, you say 6×4=24. Because his product is larger, s/he wins the four cards and puts them at the bottom of his pile. Continue the game until one player runs out of cards.
Mental Mystery:
Have your child count out five small objects such as pennies, marbles, or candy and have him close his eyes. Then hide some of the five objects, while leaving the rest uncovered. Ask your child to calculate how many objects he sees and how many objects are covered. Practice this activity until your child can quickly solve these simple equations. Add one additional object once your child has mastered that level to increase difficulty. For older children, start with 10-20 objects.
101 and Out:
To play, you’ll need a sheet of paper, a pencil and one die. The object of the game is to score as close to 101 without going over. Players take turns rolling the die. As you roll, you can either take the number as a one or a ten. For example, if you roll a 5, it can be used as 5 or 50. Players keep a running record of their total as they play. This game is a great way to build mental math strategies as children often think critically in regard to what number they need to roll next.
Math Jeopardy:
Give your child a piece of paper and then say a number. Give them one minute to find as many ways as they can to make the number using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Learning some basic, but useful mental math strategies, can work to greatly improve your child’s self-confidence.
What’s My Number?:
First write the numbers 1 to 20 on a number line on a piece of paper. Think of a number that your children will have to guess and ask them to guess what your number is by adding two numbers together or taking two numbers away using the number line.
The Number is Right:
On a piece of paper, write a number between 1 – 100 and have your children take turns guessing the number written. After each incorrect guess, you must tell the players if the number guessed is higher or lower than the number written down. The game continues until someone correctly guesses the number.
Understanding simple math facts can offer students a tremendous advantage in school. By conducting basic addition and subtraction problems mentally, a child’s math fluency can improve, allowing him/her to advance more easily to higher level mathematics. Playing simple, but fun, math games is a fantastic way to not only stimulate your child’s mental math abilities, but also an ideal way of improving number facts. Here are a few to try:
Multiplication War:
With this fun card game, your child will master his multiplication facts in no time! Shuffle a deck of cards and deal them face down, giving each player an equal number. Assign the picture cards a value of 10 and the aces a value of 11. Each player turns two cards face up, reads the number sentence and supplies the answer. For example, if your child draws a 7 and an 8, he says 7×8=56. If you draw a 6 and a 4, you say 6×4=24. Because his product is larger, s/he wins the four cards and puts them at the bottom of his pile. Continue the game until one player runs out of cards.
Mental Mystery:
Have your child count out five small objects such as pennies, marbles, or candy and have him close his eyes. Then hide some of the five objects, while leaving the rest uncovered. Ask your child to calculate how many objects he sees and how many objects are covered. Practice this activity until your child can quickly solve these simple equations. Add one additional object once your child has mastered that level to increase difficulty. For older children, start with 10-20 objects.
101 and Out:
To play, you’ll need a sheet of paper, a pencil and one die. The object of the game is to score as close to 101 without going over. Players take turns rolling the die. As you roll, you can either take the number as a one or a ten. For example, if you roll a 5, it can be used as 5 or 50. Players keep a running record of their total as they play. This game is a great way to build mental math strategies as children often think critically in regard to what number they need to roll next.
Math Jeopardy:
Give your child a piece of paper and then say a number. Give them one minute to find as many ways as they can to make the number using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Learning some basic, but useful mental math strategies, can work to greatly improve your child’s self-confidence.
What’s My Number?:
First write the numbers 1 to 20 on a number line on a piece of paper. Think of a number that your children will have to guess and ask them to guess what your number is by adding two numbers together or taking two numbers away using the number line.
The Number is Right:
On a piece of paper, write a number between 1 – 100 and have your children take turns guessing the number written. After each incorrect guess, you must tell the players if the number guessed is higher or lower than the number written down. The game continues until someone correctly guesses the number.