School Success Newsletter | November 2011

In This Issue

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Note from Dr. Linda: Thanksgiving and Thank You

Fun with Basic Skills: Teaching with Turkeys

School Success Tip: Homework without Stress

Books for Young Readers and Older Kids Too: The Mayflower, Pilgrims, and Giving Thanks

Family Fun: “The Adventures of Berticus Barns,” Part Fifteen

Now It’s Your Turn: Let Us Know What You’d Like

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Note from Dr. Linda: Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks

Hi Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, and Friends:

Won’t be long now, and we’ll all be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Doesn’t seem possible. Time certainly flies!

Of course, Thanksgiving is such a fun family time and lots of yummy food. Younger kids make Pilgrim hats and Indian headdresses at school. Older kids read about the first Thanksgiving and Pilgrims coming on the Mayflower.

But sometimes in all this excitement, we forget that Thanksgiving is also a time to give thanks.

To teach children the importance of being thankful, go around the dinner table and let everyone tell what they are thankful for: everything from the delicious dinner to the dog to getting an A on last week’s spelling test. If you just have a few at the table, you can easily go around two or three times. The only rule is not repeating something someone else mentioned.

We’re keeping the Thanksgiving theme in this month’s “Fun with Basic Skills.” You’ll find out how to help your kids figure out everything you need to know about your buying and roasting your turkey.

You’ll also find recommendations this month for for three great books about the Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving plus a lovely short book for preschool kids about giving thanks.

But with the holidays, not to mention the recent snow storm that left so many of us in the East without electricity, homework can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. So I’ve got some basic homework tips for your kids.

As for Berticus, the long awaited time has come. He gives his Presidential speech. Oh dear!

Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving,

Dr. Linda

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

Help your children develop skills with Strong Learning’s Improve Your Study Skills, Memory Skills, Reading, Writing and Math Skills Workbooks. These workbooks offer advice and activities to improve basic skills. Appropriate for fifth grade and up. Order these books from our website.

Fun with Basic Skills: Teaching with Turkeys

If you’re going to roast a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner at your house, get the kids to help you do the calculations. Ask them what size bird you need to buy, how long it needs to be in the oven, what time to put it in the oven, and how much stuffing you’ll need for it.

Tell them to get this hint to figure out how big your family’s turkey should be. Go shopping together and have them find the right size. Now the easy part is done.

Let’s make it harder. Suppose you roast your turkey for 15 minutes per pound. Have your kids figure out how long the turkey will have to be in the oven. Let’s say you’re going to have dinner at 5 pm. Ask the kids what time you need to put the turkey in the oven based on their calculations.

And what about the stuffing? How many cups of stuffing will you need for your turkey? If you buy pre-packaged stuffing mix, how many bags will you need? They’ll need to read the fine print on the bags of stuffing when you go to the store. If you need a bag and a half, how much water and how much butter or margarine will you need? If you’re following Grandma’s recipe, will you need to double it? Cut it in half?

Of course they can help measure the ingredients, mix them all together, and stuff the turkey. At my house, we always end up with more cups of stuffing than the package says because we add so many extra ingredients. If you do the same thing, let the youngest kids tell you why you have more cups of stuffing than the package says.

Kids are practicing math skills, reading directions and store labels, and cooking all at the same time. They’re having fun being involved during the holiday, and they’re practicing important skills at the same time.

Do your kids have trouble with math? With basic arithmetic facts?

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

Find out more about dyscalculia and how to help your kids with our free “Dyscalculia Toolkit.”

Download your copy today

Discover what to do if your child has trouble with addition and subtraction

Learn great ways to teach measurement, money and time

Use singing as a mathematics tool

Play games that really build self-esteem and improve all kinds of math skills

Don’t wait. Get your free copy of Strong Learning’s “Dyscalculia Toolkit” now.

School Success Tip: Homework without Stress, Part 1

Snow storms that take out the electricity and holidays are disruptive, but they don’t have to be disastrous if your kids already have good homework habits. Following these four tips should help:

1. Kids need to run around and play and then eat a healthy snack before homework.

2. TV needs to be after homework and not before. It’s not a punishment. Research has shown that TV before school, before homework and right before bed is stimulating even if it doesn’t seem like it.

3. Homework needs to be done in a regular place and at as regular a time as outside activities allow. If outside activities are getting in the way of homework, work with your children to figure out which activity or activities could be dropped.

4. No calling, receiving calls, or texting during homework. Make an agreement with your children that they will turn off their phones during homework. If they’re worried about what their friends might think, tell them to tell friends that their Mom or Dad made them do it. Let them blame you.

Watch for Homework Tips, Part 2 in your December “School Success Newsletter.”

Books for Young Readers and Older Kids Too: The Mayflower, Pilgrims, and Thanksgiving

How much do you and your kids know about the people who first came to our country? What was it like to live in Plymouth? What did they eat at the first Thanksgiving dinner? You’ll find such interesting books about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving that you’ll enjoy reading them with your kids.

But first as I reminded you above, Thanksgiving is also about being thankful. Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks, by Margaret Sutherland and Sonja Lamut for ages 3 and up, asks kids to tell what they’re thankful for. And then suggests things like grandma’s hugs, dogs, hot chocolate, even lollipops that make your tongue turn purple. This picture book can be read over and over to help young children talk about what they appreciate.

The Very First Thanksgiving Day, by Rhonda Gowler Greene and illustrated by Susan Gaber for ages 3-6, presents Thanksgiving and the events leading up to it in delightful rhyme. The story is a bit simplistic but appropriate for the age group and a wonderful way to help little kids begin to understand why we celebrate Thanksgiving. The superb illustrations add to this delightful poem. Read it to your children a few times and soon they’ll be saying the rhymes along with you.

If You Were at the First Thanksgiving, by Anne Kamma and Bert Dodson, is for 7 and above which includes the whole family. This a great read-aloud for everybody after Thanksgiving dinner is over. You’ll find out what they wore at the first Thanksgiving, what they ate, what medicine to take if you ate too much. And you’ll get those important questions answered: Did they serve beer at the first Thanksgiving? Did they have pumpkin pie for dessert? How often did they wash the napkins and who washed the dishes? It’s a great introduction to life in America in the 1620s.

Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, written in 1620 and 1621 by William Bradford and Edward Winslow, was published anonymously in England. It’s the earliest published account of the Pilgrims’ lives and work. The book describes daily life in Plymouth including making food, building houses, and the first not-so-friendly meetings with the Wampanoag Indians. Their account takes advanced middle school and high school kids up through the first Thanksgiving. Although obviously written in archaic 17th century English, the short sentences, the narrative itself, and the phonetic spelling of words makes the volume a good place to start introducing kids to an earlier form of English.

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, procrastinater, 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 Fifteen: Berticus Gives the Worst Presidential Speech in History and Counts 37 Navy Blue Speckles on Each Tile on the Floor.

When we last left him, a very nervous Berticus was waiting to give his campaign speech. He was counting the tiles on the ceiling to calm himself while Farley gave a speech that rambled on forever. Then all of a sudden, it was his turn!

I peered around the room to find everyone staring at me including Ms. Vanderbeek. She stood pointing to the podium as if to say, “We’re waiting.” Icy chills of terror shivered through my body as I walked up to the front of the class to deliver my Presidential speech. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to burst out of my chest.

“Be cool,” I repeated to myself. “It’s like walking to the electric chair.” When I got to the podium, I looked around and took a deep breath.

“My fellow classmates, you have been told many things by these candidates. They have made all kinds of promises that they may or may not keep. But I stand before you a man of my word. I will bring peace and joy to our class. With my plan you will get better grades, you’ll study less, and will get to play more! I am the future of this school. I ask each and every one of you to join me and we will all be victorious together!”

The class erupted into applause and a marching band burst into the room playing “Hail to the Chief.”

Of course, what actually came out of my mouth when I reached the podium was simply a giant gulp so loud that it startled everyone. Then Crazy Bobby Bigglia shouted, “Hey Burpicus, did you swallow a frog?” And the entire class cracked up.

I had to pull myself together. So I just started talking and hoped that something good would come out of my mouth. “Hi everyone. My name is Berticus and I would like to be your President. As President, I, um, promise to do many great presidential-like things.

Really great things, in fact. Like, I, um, promise to, um, form a more perfect union, establish things, insure some sort of tranquility, provide lots of defense by securing liberty. Plus, I’ll ordain and promote all kinds of posterity and stuff. So, um, ask not what your classroom can do for you, but, ah, what you can do for your classroom.”

My head was filled with the sounds of large bombs falling and exploding on the ground because I was going down in flames. My mouth was so dry it felt like I’d swallowed a handful of sand.

Suddenly one of Thatch’s promises popped into my head and I bellowed, “I will also start an after school tap dancing club!”

What was I saying? Out of all the promises, that’s the one I remembered? I looked out into the sea of students and every face had an expression like they had just eaten a rotten egg. Everyone except Thatch, of course, who was beaming and excitedly nodding in agreement, his big head of hair bobbing around in joy.

With nothing left to say, I bowed my head and walked to my seat. The only thing to be heard over the deafening silence was an evil laugh from Mary M’Gerkin and then her nose started whistling the funeral march song.

After a valiant attempt to deliver the worst presidential speech in history, I sat with my head hung low and stared at the floor tiles in front of me. Funny how even at my lowest moments, the smallest things distract me, like the 37 navy blue speckles I counted on each floor tile.

As I continued counting all the speckles, categorizing them into light blue, royal blue and navy blue, Ms. Vanderbeek explained that the next event would be the presidential debate. Then I heard the sound of someone clearing her throat.

Don’t miss the December “School Success Newsletter” to find out who’s trying to get Berticus’ attention–could it be Amy Appleton? What could she want?

Now It’s Your Turn

Go over to Dr Linda’s Blog now and subscribe by email or RSS feed so you won’t miss anything. Leave a comment. I love to hear from you. Let me know what you’d like to see in the next newsletter and on the blog.

Thanks so much for all your emails, calls and comments.

Wishing all you terrific Moms and Dads and your families a Happy Thanksgiving and a successful school year.

Watch for my December Newsletter for more school success tips and great books for kids.

* * * * *
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