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Homework Ideas & Links
Welcome! We hope you will find this information useful.
 
Websites to visit:

Typing Pal for Travell

http://school.typingpal.com/?RIDGETRA 
Starfall,  Reading K-2
 
Writing
 
Math Cafe, K-2
http://www.mathfactcafe.com/

XtraMath - Your Teacher Should have the information to Login
http://xtramath.org/signin/classroom


Ask Dr. Math
 
AAA Math
http://www.aaaknow.com/
 
Playground Math
http://www.mathplayground.com/

Bedtime Math K-9
HSP Science
 
BBC Science
 
Enchanted learning
http://www.enchantedlearning.com
 
National Geography Bee Study Guide
 
National Geographic for Kids
 
Ben’s Guide to Government
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/


Math Every Day
Try to incorporate some math in your interactions with your child every day. Practicing math can be quick and easy and will benefit your child tremendously. Here are some suggestions:
1. Count forward and backward
2. Count by 10’s, 5’s, 2’s and for older children by 3’s, 4’s, etc.
3. Ask what number comes before or after a given number
4. Talk about what number is larger or smaller and by how much
5. Write a number and have your child read it 
6. Tell your child a number and have him/her write it
7. Ask your child what is in the ones, tens, hundreds places of a number
8. Get out some coins and help your child count the amount - remind your child to sort the coins first and then to start with the coins worth the most
9. Have your child tell time - remind him/her to start with the small hand 
10. Measure things together
11. Practice math facts either orally or in writing - a little practice EACH day is far better than trying to do it all in one day (like the day before school starts again!)
12. Model an enjoyment and interest in math
 
Math Games
Pyramid (one player) Take out all picture cards from a deck of cards. Shuffle the deck, then put fifteen cards face up in a pyramid style, overlapping each row. Start with one card at the top, then overlap two cards on the corners of the top card, then rows of 3, 4 and 5 cards. Put the remaining cards face down. Explain to the player that Ace counts as 1. The object of the game is to pick up all the cards in the pyramid by picking up pairs of uncovered cards that add up to ten. The player turns over one card after another from the deck looking for partner cards of ten that will help him pick up the uncovered cards from the pyramid. The number 10 is removed by itself. The player keeps turning over cards until the pyramid is gone.

Pyramid can be adjusted to practice sums of 9 or 8 by removing the 10's or the 10's and 9's.

Board games that require counting and number recognition or the use of dice are very helpful for exposing younger children to numbers.
 
Pyramid Game for Sums of 10
Pyramid (one player) Take out all picture cards from a deck of cards. Shuffle the deck, then put fifteen cards face up in a pyramid style, overlapping each row. Start with one card at the top, then overlap two cards on the corners of the top card, then rows of 3, 4 and 5 cards. Put the remaining cards face down. Explain to the player that Ace counts as 1. The object of the game is to pick up all the cards in the pyramid by picking up pairs of uncovered cards that add up to ten. The player turns over one card after another from the deck looking for partner cards of ten that will help him pick up the uncovered cards from the pyramid. The number 10 is removed by itself. The player keeps turning over cards until the pyramid is gone.
 
Handwriting
It is very difficult to change habits in handwriting so it is important for children to begin properly. Watch that your child is holding the pencil correctly. Printed letters never start at the bottom. The strokes go down, not up. As soon as possible children should write their names using a capital at the beginning and lower case letters for the rest. While neatness is important it is equally important that children be able to write with ease.
 
Reversals
It is very common for young children to reverse letters and numbers - and even whole words. The best way to help children overcome these reversals is to have them write the letters or numbers in the air using the whole arm.
 
Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds that can be manipulated. First children recognize that sentences are made up of individual words. Then they become aware that words have parts (known to us as syllables) and finally they learn that words are made of individual speech sounds known as phonemes. Phonological awareness and a knowledge of the alphabet have been shown to be the best predictors of success in early reading and spelling programs. 

Here are some activities to try at home to increase your child’s phonological awareness.

RHYMING

Read many rhyming books to your child. Stop and let your child supply the rhyme.

Give your child a word and ask for a rhyme. It doesn’t matter if the word is real as long as it sounds like a rhyme.

Tell your child a word and then ask for the word that rhymes and starts with a different sound that you provide. Say, “My word is can. What rhymes with can and starts with /f/? /f/ means to say the sound of f and not the letter name. When your child can do this successfully with single consonants, try some blends such as /tr/ or /pl/.


BEGINNING AND ENDING SOUNDS

Tell your child two words and ask if they begin the same.

Tell your child two words and ask if they end the same.

Tell your child a word and ask for other words that begin (or end) the same.

Notice that at this level there is no mention of the actual letter name because just hearing the similarities or differences is what is important. If this is very easy for your child you may start mentioning the name of the letter, too.


SEGMENTING AND BLENDING

Help your child to clap the number of syllables in a word. 

Say a word one syllable at a time and have your child blend it into the whole word. For example say, “Kit - ten.” and your child should respond, “Kitten.”

Say a word one sound at a time such as /c/, /a/,/t/ and have your child blend the sounds into the whole word. Then have your child break the word into the individual sounds. 

Help your child isolate the beginning sound of the word from the rest of the word such as /c/ - at. Then try isolating the ending sound. 


Helping Your Child to Read
Choosing a Book
Children learn to read more easily if they practice and they will practice more willingly if they meet with success. One key component in success is choosing the right book. With the huge variety of children’s books available this is no longer a problem. Your child should be able to find many books of interest on almost any reading level. The recent addition of many non-fiction books even for beginning readers has opened a whole new world to children. Once your child has found a book that looks interesting, it is essential to be sure that it is the correct level. This can be easily accomplished by having your child read a page. If three or more words on the page are too difficult then the book is too difficult. Save it for a future reading or choose to read it to your child.
Encourage independence and self-monitoring. Remind your child to constantly pay attention to the meaning of the story.

1. Do not correct unimportant mistakes (e.g., the/a, dad/daddy)

2. Give your child time to correct mistakes. Wait until the end of the sentence or paragraph.

3. If your child makes a significant mistake and doesn’t correct it, say, “That didn’t make sense, did it? Let’s try that again.”

4. Suggest or demonstrate an appropriate strategy. For example: “Let’s skip that word and come back to it.” or “Think about the story. What would make sense?’ or “Do you know a small part of that big word?”

5. Praise appropriate use of a strategy. For example: “You did a great job of looking at the picture to help you. “ “I like the way you went back and read that again when it didn’t make sense.”

6. Tell your child the word when appropriate.

7. Do not let the reading become unpleasant. Take over the reading if you think the book is too hard or your child is just too tired. Always make reading a pleasurable experience.
 
Word Solving Strategies
What to do when you don’t know a word.

1. Look at the picture.

2. Sound it out.

3. Think about what makes sense.

4. Think about what sounds right.

5. Skip the word and come back.

6. Look for a chunk.

7. Read it again.

8. Ask for help.
 
Cueing Systems
There are three cueing systems that readers use. Please encourage your child to try all three and not to rely on just one.

1. Visual - what the letters look like. Can you sound it out?

2. Meaning - what the story is talking about. Does that make sense?

3. Syntax - the grammar of the sentence. Does that sound right?
 
Summer Practice
Read, read and reread!!

If your child has just finished first grade, he/she should know all of the following core sight words. Check to make sure and if not make some flash cards and practice.

all, almost, and, are, as, be, because, boy, by, could, do, even, every, for, friend, from, girl, go, good, have, he, her, here, his, is, know, like, me, my, not, of, one, other, our, put, read, said, saw, school, she, thank, that, the, there, they, this, to, very, want, was, we, were, what, when, where, who, why, with, would, you, your.