“The snow is falling more heavily now, blanketing the ground.”
Winter evokes a strong response or thought in most people, which is just perfect when it comes to getting started writing.
Today I’ve written a collection of 31 winter themed prompts for you to use to get those writing juices flowing.
Posing a delightfully engaging question to kids has always been a wonderful way to get them to dive in enthusiastically to writing time.
Nowhere is this better shown than with a class full of kids excitedly debating a “would you rather” writing prompt, wanting to share with everyone which choice they want to make!
And yes, I definitely like to throw some very silly ones in there…
Also, if you’re needing writing prompts for younger students, try our 2nd grade writing prompts, which should be better for that age group.
While there are plenty of hands on experiments to be done when teaching (or learning) science, it’s also important to take some time to think about some of the bigger questions that science and invention involve.
I’ve found one interesting way to do this is to present the kids in my classes with a question or statement about some aspect of how science impacts them or the wider world, and ask them to delve into what thoughts they have about it.
It’s time to spark the creative process, and what better way than to get thrown into a dramatic adventure story setting.
What I love about this is that it works so well for the full spectrum of writers from young to old – and reluctant to unstoppable wordsmiths.
An exciting adventure premise for your story is a fantastic place to get started writing, and it just right away allows the creativity to take over and weave the tale…
Imagination.
This is one of the things I love most about all creative activities I’ve been involved in.
And writing is without a doubt one of the most imaginative pursuits available to us – anything is possible, and as a writer we’re limited only by our own imagination!
In my experience that is true of almost all genres of writing – but fantasy novels and short stories often are crafted from pure creativity – with incredibly varied and rich lore, fantastic ideas, and language used.
Learning to read can be a challenge for many kids, but thankfully there are many methods that can be used to help this process along.
One of the most widely used teaching methods is the use of high frequency word lists.
So what are they exactly?
While there are several different lists in use across different countries and school systems, the principle remains the same – have a child learn lists of the most commonly used words in the English language.
In some systems, these high frequency word lists gradually increase in difficulty – where as others simply arrange in order of most commonly used (which often are indeed the simplest of words).
Either way the end result is the child being able to immediately know the majority of basic words on sight in a written passage, which leaves them free to devote more thought to learning the remaining more difficult words.
So let’s look at this concept in more detail, and I’ll share with your some of the techniques that have been most effective in my classroom…
Today we’re going to look at how to build our own simple DIY insect hotel using only free items found around your garage and garden – a fun little project to work on with input from children at home or at school.
This will also be a great opportunity to talk to your children about beneficial insects, and their importance to the ecosystem – and in a very tangible way they’ll be helping these little critters to help us.
In my case I have an old discarded wooden mailbox that I want to use as the starting point for this little project, but I’m sure most of you can find something to use – some ideas on what to use for your insect hotel structure are:
Alright so let’s look at what an Insect Hotel is, and what we need to think about when making our own one…
Firstly – an important distinction for our international audience!
Different countries refer to the education of a child at 5 years old using conflicting terms.
In the US, children usually attend Kindergarten for one year from the age of 5, and go on to 1st Grade and the rest of their schooling following this.
However in countries like New Zealand, Kindergarten is usually the term for pre-school activity as a 3-4 year old which takes place prior to starting school – and Primary Schooling begins with Year 1 at the age of 5.
Today we’ll be referring to this initial phase of our children’s education from the age of 5 as kindergarten which I’m sure will be most familiar to the majority of our community.
Now before we get to my Kindergarten Readiness Checklist, let’s cover some questions parents have asked me over the years, about how best to prepare their children…
Preschoolers just love to let their curiosity get the better of them, as any parent can attest to!
Their relentless exploration of their environment does actually play a big part in brain development in a multitude of ways – from problem solving and imagination, to fine motor skills, and everything in between.
I know our little toddler is no exception, and she’s forever roaming the house fiddling with latches, jiggling door knobs, pressing buttons, and more around our house.
So, let’s embrace that, and use the very same instinct for good 🙂
We can attach a whole bunch of items onto a wooden board for her to play with any time – and without danger of breaking anything around our home!
Today we’re going to build a DIY busy board (also known as an activity board, sensory board, Montessori board and many other names it turns out!), using only free bits and pieces I can find around the house.
Total cost? $0.
Now that is what I would call rare when it comes to must-have toddler items. 🙂
So, let’s get started…
The World around us is a vast and interesting place! There are so many people, cultures, customs, foods, animals and languages to learn about.
Having had a love of travel and learning about other countries since I was was young, I have always incorporated learning about the World into my classroom program.
I’ve found time and time again that even the newest 5 year old is excited to learn about the World around them! Feedback from parents has been really positive and many have commented they wished they had done this kind of learning at school.
So let’s look at some fun and effective ways I’ve found to help my classes learn about the wider World…