Parent's Corner
Organizing Your Child
One of the most important things you can do as a parent is to help organize your child for school.
This is a daily task that requires supervision and guidance from you.
Developing the skills of organizing a three ring binder is an excellent place for your child to start.
Above are some of the things my students kept in their binders.
This is a daily task that requires supervision and guidance from you.
Developing the skills of organizing a three ring binder is an excellent place for your child to start.
Above are some of the things my students kept in their binders.
Start and end the day with an organized three ring binder. When your child returns to school she/he will have all their work and useful items properly organized.
Over the years I was in my classroom my student's parents helped me find and organize computers, welded parts to help me with my bicycle program, supplied me with a ton of classroom essentials but one of the most important things was supplying my class with cereal boxes also known as boxboard.
Cursive Writing For Parents
If you want your child to learn how to write in cursive, the first thing you will have to do is to buy them a good supply of pencils and make sure that when they go to school, they have a couple of sharp pencils packed in their backpack.
At the beginning of each day, the first thing I said as I addressed my class was, Show me your pencil. If they did not have one to show me, we had to discuss their pencil problem at recess. They were highly motivated to have a pencil at the ready because the last thing they wanted was to have a long discussion about pencils with Mr. Savage at recess time.
You have a couple of choices when it comes to pencils. You can buy a regular HB wood pencil with a pencil sharpener but I recommend, for efficiency, a BIC Matic Grip Mechanical Pencil, HB NO 2, 0.7 mm. A 12 pack cost about nine dollars at Staples. If they take care of them, the pack should last a year.
I like this mechanical pencil for kids because it has a rubber grip, which makes it comfortable for the fingers to rest on, which makes it easy to use. It’s also easy to control because it has a secure place for your child’s thumb, index finger and middle finger. It naturally places those three fingers in the right position.
It will also save you pencil sharpening time because the pencil holds up to three leads in the sleeve, in which each individual lead extends out with a push of the eraser. You can buy extra leads, and there will always be an eraser at hand.
If your kid is a beginner she/he will need paper with guidelines. Guidelines help them form letters that are uniform, and are the correct height especially when they are learning how to write individual letters.
Also, if they are just beginning, they may want to use a worksheet with individual letters and trace over them. Practicing over and over again will help. You can download worksheets on the internet with examples of letters that come with guidelines.
At home, encourage your child to focus and concentrate on their homework. Find a comfortable place where they can practice everyday. Try to stick to the same place and remove all distractions.
Practicing cursive writing should be part of their daily homework routine. Set a daily practice goal of about 15 to 20 minutes a day, but no more, especially in the beginning. It takes time to work-up finger strength.
In my class, the timer went off 20 minutes before the morning recess. In September we started by practicing individual letters, which I wrote on the blackboard then went on to joining letters.
When we started writing words I introduced a spelling list. Creating an interesting spelling list was my forte because I introduced a lot of tech words which my students enjoyed.
I wrote about four to six spelling words daily in cursive across the top of the blackboard for my students to copy once. Then they practiced at home repeating the words four more times. Friday was spelling test time.
The Last Thing:
I’m repeating this again. Helping to Organize your child at home and school has to be one of the most important things you can do as a parent. You want to find an exercise, an activity, a skill, an undertaking that , with hard work, will show results. Cursive writing, to me, is that thing because it’s both physical, and mental.
For a student, I’m a big believer in a well organized three inch zippered binder with a quality pencil case. I spent a great deal of time evaluating how well the students took the time to carefully take care of their binder.
You, as a parent, should do the same because it is a precursor to the world of work for a ten year old. The examination must be done firmly but gently. When we had an inspection time in the classroom I tried to find ten examples of praise for every word of criticism.
Because we did not have desks in the class, I made it clear that, before they left the class, they must put their binders in their personal binder slot. Failing to do so meant more discussion at recess.
You as a parent can help a teacher by checking what homework must be done, when it is done, and have an everyday place for the binder to be stored at home so that your child will be ready to take it to school the next day. Organization was a big deal in my class.
Good Luck!
If you want your child to learn how to write in cursive, the first thing you will have to do is to buy them a good supply of pencils and make sure that when they go to school, they have a couple of sharp pencils packed in their backpack.
At the beginning of each day, the first thing I said as I addressed my class was, Show me your pencil. If they did not have one to show me, we had to discuss their pencil problem at recess. They were highly motivated to have a pencil at the ready because the last thing they wanted was to have a long discussion about pencils with Mr. Savage at recess time.
You have a couple of choices when it comes to pencils. You can buy a regular HB wood pencil with a pencil sharpener but I recommend, for efficiency, a BIC Matic Grip Mechanical Pencil, HB NO 2, 0.7 mm. A 12 pack cost about nine dollars at Staples. If they take care of them, the pack should last a year.
I like this mechanical pencil for kids because it has a rubber grip, which makes it comfortable for the fingers to rest on, which makes it easy to use. It’s also easy to control because it has a secure place for your child’s thumb, index finger and middle finger. It naturally places those three fingers in the right position.
It will also save you pencil sharpening time because the pencil holds up to three leads in the sleeve, in which each individual lead extends out with a push of the eraser. You can buy extra leads, and there will always be an eraser at hand.
If your kid is a beginner she/he will need paper with guidelines. Guidelines help them form letters that are uniform, and are the correct height especially when they are learning how to write individual letters.
Also, if they are just beginning, they may want to use a worksheet with individual letters and trace over them. Practicing over and over again will help. You can download worksheets on the internet with examples of letters that come with guidelines.
At home, encourage your child to focus and concentrate on their homework. Find a comfortable place where they can practice everyday. Try to stick to the same place and remove all distractions.
Practicing cursive writing should be part of their daily homework routine. Set a daily practice goal of about 15 to 20 minutes a day, but no more, especially in the beginning. It takes time to work-up finger strength.
In my class, the timer went off 20 minutes before the morning recess. In September we started by practicing individual letters, which I wrote on the blackboard then went on to joining letters.
When we started writing words I introduced a spelling list. Creating an interesting spelling list was my forte because I introduced a lot of tech words which my students enjoyed.
I wrote about four to six spelling words daily in cursive across the top of the blackboard for my students to copy once. Then they practiced at home repeating the words four more times. Friday was spelling test time.
The Last Thing:
I’m repeating this again. Helping to Organize your child at home and school has to be one of the most important things you can do as a parent. You want to find an exercise, an activity, a skill, an undertaking that , with hard work, will show results. Cursive writing, to me, is that thing because it’s both physical, and mental.
For a student, I’m a big believer in a well organized three inch zippered binder with a quality pencil case. I spent a great deal of time evaluating how well the students took the time to carefully take care of their binder.
You, as a parent, should do the same because it is a precursor to the world of work for a ten year old. The examination must be done firmly but gently. When we had an inspection time in the classroom I tried to find ten examples of praise for every word of criticism.
Because we did not have desks in the class, I made it clear that, before they left the class, they must put their binders in their personal binder slot. Failing to do so meant more discussion at recess.
You as a parent can help a teacher by checking what homework must be done, when it is done, and have an everyday place for the binder to be stored at home so that your child will be ready to take it to school the next day. Organization was a big deal in my class.
Good Luck!