Volume 4, No. 2, January 17, 2012

In This Issue

Note from Dr. Linda: My Mid-Month Makeover
Fun with Basic Skills: Make a Calendar
Multi-media Activities for All Ages: Mozart and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
Family Fun: “The Adventures of Berticus Barns,” Part 18

 

Note from Dr. Linda: My Mid-Month Makeover

Hi Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, and Friends:

It’s my first mid-month, shorter, and we hope easier-to-read, School Success Newsletter.

You’ll find suggestions for helping little kids learn the days of the week and the months of the year. This activity also helps your kids practice writing numbers.

Since January 27 is Mozart’s birthday, our Multi-Media Resources section focuses on listening to Mozart’s variations for “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

And Berticus moves on to his next adventure now that the election for class president is over.

You’ll find everything that’s going on at Strong Learning listed on the right-hand sidebar. Be sure to give us a ring at 845-628-7910 to register your teen or get more information for SAT/ACT Prep classes and private tutoring.

I hope you and your children enjoy the activities in the newsletter.  It’s designed to help you help your kids succeed in school while having fun at the same time. Let me know how you like the Newsletter’s new format. Is there something you’d like me to add?

Best wishes for a happy and successful school year,

Dr. Linda

P.S. Watch for the new Strong Learning Store. It’s coming soon with lots of wonderful learning resources for your kids.

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Fun with Basic Skills: Make a Calendar

Making a calendar offers lots of learning opportunities for little folks, from learning the names of days and months to practicing writing numbers in order and getting them in the right box.

And calendars make fun, creative projects for older kids who can decorate their calendars with photos, collages, or drawings. They can keep track of school projects, events, and birthdays.

For young children:

1. Start with a blank template. You can find calendar templates on the web or in common software applications like Microsoft Publisher. Of course you can simply draw one yourself for your child.

2. If you’re choosing a template, help your kindergartner pick one that is simple and has large, clearly marked squares to write the numbers in. For preschoolers, you can print the numbers on sticky notes and on the calendar. Your child then matches the sticky note number to the number on the calendar.

3. Children who are old enough to make smaller numbers can write tasks, school dates and family birthdays in the boxes. If the calendar is large enough, they’ll enjoy decorating their calendars with stickers: a soccer ball for soccer practice on Thursday, a cake for Dad’s birthday party, a kitten for the cat’s appointment with the vet.

Be creative and have fun. That’s the best kind of learning for your children!

Watch for Strong Learning’s new Lotto game for teaching kids about the days and months of the year.

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Multi-media Activities for All Ages: Mozart and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, January 27, 1756. He wrote his first piece when he was 4 years old.

In 1781 he composed 12 variations on what we all know as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” for the piano. The tune comes from an old French nursery rhyme. Many of us also know this tune as the “Alphabet Song.”

Play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” on the piano yourself.

Watch and listen to 12-year-old child prodigy George Li play Mozart’s “12 Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman.” George was only 11 when he made his Carnegie Hall debut. Ask your children if they can hear “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” in the variations.

Teens and adults will enjoy “Amadeus,” an award-winning Hollywood movie about Mozart’s life. Since the film is not entirely accurate, suggest to your teens that they compare Mozart’s life to the movie.

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Family Fun: “The Adventures of Berticus Barns” by Brian Silbert

If you’re living with or teaching an ADHD kid who has grandiose ideas but is also a disorganized, procrastinator, mind-wandering underachiever,” you’ll love Berticus. He represents all those children who don’t fit into school. I hope you enjoy this read-aloud story for the whole family.

Part Eighteen: The Vote is Finally In

When we last left him, Berticus was about to find out who won the election for Class President.

Amy Appleton won by a landslide and I was surprised to find that I was rather pleased. Once all the excitement had settled down, I headed over to Thatch. I offered my apologies for letting him down as he wouldn’t have the opportunity to be my vice-president.

Thatch seemed completely fine with that fact and told me he wasn’t ready for all the responsibility anyway. He also added that he didn’t know exactly what a “dice”-president was. Then he kicked the floor, confessing that he had actually voted for Amy Appleton and not me.

I forgave him and said that I understood. I couldn’t be mad at my best friend for voting for Amy – especially considering that I had voted for her as well. In theory, I would have made a great class president. But, in reality, Amy was a much better choice.

Later, as I headed to lunch, Amy approached me. What did she want? To rub in the fact that she won? Did she want me to be her vice president? Did she want to borrow some of my killer presidential ideas?

Her blue eyes fluttered at me as she twisted the bottom of her dress. Once again, I stood in front of her as speechless as I was earlier, frozen like a statue.

“Berticus, would you like to sit with me at lunch today?” she asked. To which I suavely responded, “I, uh… um… well, uh, um, well, uh, I…”

Anyway, Amy took my answer as a “yes,” and as she walked away, my stomach did a cartwheel, a front handspring and a whole bunch of triple back-flips.

Don’t miss the next “School Success Newsletter” to read what Berticus gets into next now that the election is over.

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Happening Now at Strong Learning.com

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Do Your Kids Struggle with Math?

With basic arithmetic facts?

Some kids who struggle with math have a learning disability called "dyscalculia."

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