Why the Common Core?
It’s important to note that the Common Core is that the standards are not a curriculum. They do not tell teachers exactly which books to assign, which projects to use, or which daily lessons to teach. Instead, they provide learning benchmarks. In English language arts, the standards emphasize reading complex texts, writing clearly for different purposes, using evidence, developing vocabulary, speaking and listening effectively, and building literacy across content areas.
Practicing Kindness
Kindness is a foundational social behavior that underpins healthy relationships, productive learning environments, and well-functioning communities. While children are often instructed to “be kind,” such directives assume a shared understanding that may not exist. For a child who has never had kindness explicitly identified, modeled, or named, the instruction itself lacks clarity and meaning.
Building Problem Solving Skills with Scratch Block Coding
Scratch not only develops solid problem solving skills and fosters a positive attitude toward computer technologies, it also encouraged the sharing of creative design ideas and assistance with computer skills among learners similar in age and grade level.
The Benefits of Reading Aloud
Did anyone read aloud to you when you were growing up? Perhaps a parent or teacher? Was it a tradition to have a story read to you at bedtime? What made that time special? Perhaps someone read aloud A Wrinkle in Time or Wind in the Willows or some other story that allowed your imagination to soar.
Homeschooling and the Public School Dilemma
When my daughter was in fifth grade I approached the local public school superintendent about having her, as a homeschooled learner, join the school orchestra. I ensured the superintendent that she would be at every class and well prepared. My daughter had been playing piano since she was 4, and willingly spent long practice times preparing for her next piano lesson. She simply loved to play. My question was met with an emphatic, “No .”