Tag: education

10 Ways to Make Reading Fun for Your Child

Wow! What a year 2020 has been thus far, right? Those who are parents and/or guardians of grade school children were propelled into the homeschooling journey. Schools across the nation are closed until the end of the school year, and some states are considering keeping them closed for the fall, are considering keeping distance learning in effect, or are creating new ways for schools to operate. That also puts summer programs at risk of taking place. What does that mean? You’ll still be responsible for your child’s learning experience.

I personally advocate for parents to continue teaching and encouraging their children to learn throughout summer break regardless of what’s happening in the world. Why? It helps bridge the learning gap that exists at the beginning of the next school year. When your child’s teacher introduces new material you want to make sure your child isn’t left behind or struggling to keep up. There are ways to make sure that your child is having endless fun throughout the summer, but still learning. I remember when I was younger (all the way through high school), my mother would create summer work packets for my sister and I. They were always ELA/reading based so I’m sure that’s why I love it til’ this day. When our schools sent home Summer Reading lists, my mother was right on it! Our work and chores were to be complete before playing, watching TV, or going outside. If I was attending a summer camp or had a summer job, my packet needed to be worked on when I came home.

Since reading and writing are my favorite subjects to learn and teach, I thought I would start with a few tips on that subject alone first. I’m no expert, but these are some methods that work for my children and I. Every learning experience differs per household and that is just fine! Find what works best for you and yours. I’ll include other subjects in the future.

So how do you make reading a little fun? There are several ways to incorporate some fun into reading time, but here are my top 10 go-to’s.

Read aloud together-Children participate in reading aloud all the time in school. When they are preschool-aged it looks more like the teacher reading at circle time. As they grow older, children take turns reading aloud. This still takes place in middle and high school as well. The teacher will call on students to read instructions, syllabi, and paragraphs in reading materials or books. Keep that same energy at home! Reading aloud allows you to hear how your child reads. Is there a flow? How many words per page are they struggling with? Are they pausing at commas and stopping at periods? These reading sessions are great for the parent and child alone, siblings and parents, or the whole family. It can even turn into a family book club. Older children may enjoy knowing that they aren’t the only ones in the house tasked with reading. They will feel supported.

Use an accent or favorite character voice-  This goes along with reading aloud. As the adult, I would start it off in order to set the tone. I loveeee using an accent when reading with my daughters. I always tell my 8-year-old to become the characters in the book she’s reading. How do they sound? Where are they from? Are they short or tall? Are the filled with excitement, or sadness? Are they mean or timid? I want to hear that when she’s reading. Of course you don’t want to make fun of another culture, however; if the story is based in a place like Texas or Louisianna there are distinct accents associated with those states! Using an accent, a favorite character voice, or even mimicking a loved one’s voice will have your child saying, “Ok! My turn!” I introduced my daughter to Harry Potter books a few months ago. When she would read aloud I reminded her to become the characters. Lo and behold, I had a mini wizard from Hogwartz sitting beside me. LOL

Act it out- Bring entertainment into the home! After your child reads a chapter or two, put on a play. You can choose to stick with the chapters that were just read or start from the beginning of the book until the last chapter read. This is basically putting a book report into motion! Have them go around the house and grab some things to create the setting of the book, make a mini stage, and make a costume (bonus: arts and crafts). If you have them, grab some wigs, makeup, and more. You can leave it as a one-man/woman show, or you can get the whole family involved. This is a fun way to get your kid moving. It gives them something to look forward to at the end of their reading. It forces them to actually pay attention to, and comprehend what they are reading rather than just reading words on a page. Afterward, you can give your critiques. If you feel like they missed a major part of the main idea, you can mention “I loved what you did here! Wow. What an amazing job! I remember there being a part of the story where ______ learned _____ no longer wanted to be friends. I didn’t see that in your show. Is there a reason why you didn’t include it in the play?” If your child doesn’t favor putting on a show, try making them a broadcast news journalist. They can “report” the news from the book and provide weekly or daily updates. If they are interested in music, they can make a song (rap or sing) about it.

Read in silence together– So maybe your child doesn’t like all the extra stuff, and they’d rather just read independently. That’s just fine. You can still take the experience up a notch by you each reading your individual books in the same room, and then discuss them. It’s very simple. You’d simply take turns telling each other what is happening in your book so far and do a little reading comprehension aloud. For example, sharing how you relate or don’t relate to the main character and story. What do you think will happen in the following chapters? What would your alternate ending to the book be?

Scavenger Hunt- Time for a mini scavenger hunt! These are great for younger children and older children. The great thing about scavenger hunts is that you don’t have to have a lot of space in order to have one. It can be done indoors or outdoors, in an apartment or a house.  Find specific objects from the book in your house and scatter them wherever the scavenger hunt will take place. If it’s a hunt with older kids you don’t even have to gather the items. Leave them where they are and have your child find them and bring them back to you. Set a timer to bring the drama and excitement. We all know kids love games and small competitions. There’s nothing wrong including a prize or incentive at the end.

Arts and craft– The things you can do with arts and crafts are endless. Craft or create what the book was about in any way that your child finds fun. Color worksheets that feature items from the story, draw, sew, build, and more. If you’ve taken care of the writing for the day, doing an arts and craft book report is a fun and creative alternative. If your child needs more writing work, have them to write out their book report first, and then use that as their blueprint for their artwork.

Easy. Just Right. Hard– Oftentimes, reading isn’t fun to children because they aren’t reading the right books. Maybe they’re bored because the book is too easy (older children), or maybe the books they find fun are too easy for them (younger children). You may even find that your child dislikes reading and quits easily. With your young child, let them read an easy book first. It gets them excited for reading time and builds their confidence. They’ll most likely know the book by heart and make little to no mistakes. For all ages, find books of their interests that are just right for their reading level. For example, my daughter is 8 and still loves picture books, however, her reading level is that of an 8th grader. So I let her choose some graphic novels or picture books as her easy book to read, and then choose just-right books that still meet her needs. She loves unicorns and mystical/magical worlds and characters, so Harry Potter and books like them are right up her alley.  I also choose some books that I’d like her to read as well that aren’t in the same genre as those. Lastly, you want to challenge your reader as well.  Choosing a book that is a little more difficult isn’t a bad thing. It allows you to gauge their reading progress and gives you words to work on with them. To make it a little easier on them, let them help you choose some of the difficult books. If it peaks their interest, it may make them more interested in reading it regardless of the difficulty. Remember, it’s important not to focus on the harder books because it can discourage them. We often make the mistake of giving our children nothing but difficult work. That is the easiest way to make your child lose confidence in themselves. You have to balance the reading material out by giving them a challenge, but not taking it overboard.

Create a reading nook–  Create a space that is specifically for your child that encourages reading and comfort. Also, let them choose the books they’d like in their nook in order to encourage independent learning. When reading together, you can let them select their favorite choice from a list of books you have chosen that is “just right” for their reading level.

Combine reading with another subject– When homeschooling, I often combine my daughter’s reading lessons with other subjects. She absolutely loves science so we’ll read articles, stories, and more on whatever we’re learning then. I use this method for all subjects! Including, but not limited to music, health, history, and geography.

Switch up the reading format/platform– It’s easy for human beings, not just children, to become bored with routine. Try audiobooks, kindle, or other downloadable books, online stories, and reading games through learning sites. This gives you a little break also. Young children can watch/listen to stories on many websites, but you’ll never go wrong with YouTube. Just be sure to check the quality of the video and videos to follow to make sure that you’re protecting your child’s innocence from anything inappropriate that could pop up.

These methods are perfect for new homeschooling parents, experienced homeschooling parents, and distance learning parents. We tend to believe that our children’s learning only takes place inside of school walls and that is far from the truth. Even when schools open back up and you return to work, do your best to incorporate at least one of these methods into your weekly schedule. Reading together or having your child read independently should take place daily and be no less than 20 mins, but can be as long as you and your child desire. You can split the time up into increments if 20 minutes is too long for a sitting. When you’ve chosen one day of the week to add on the fun activities listed above, the entire session should last no longer than an hour. However, if the fun is too good to end, keep going until you’ve passed out!

Happy parenting and teaching!

 

Homeschool 101: Issa Global Pandemic!

It’s no mystery that the world is facing a global pandemic. People all over are being heavily impacted by these conditions. People are losing their jobs, being sent home with no pay, teleworking, schools and programs are closed, and the list goes on. Originally, schools that were closed in the United States were closed for two weeks. Those closings have now been extended for most of or the remainder of the school year. Working moms and dads are now experiencing what it’s like to be work-from-home and stay-at-home parents, in addition to being homeschool parents. So many lives were changed overnight.  Many families are scared because they have elderly, sickly, or essential loved ones, suffering a financial loss, and most of all nostalgic about how things used to be. How do I homeschool?  This was never my plan? Heres my take.

Now that you have a few more weeks added to your new (kind of forced) homeschool journey, RELAX! It’s not as bad as it seems. There are a few steps you should take in order to make the most out of this time with your beautiful child(ren). First of all, yes you are homeschooling/distance schooling, but please understand this is not the same as normal homeschooling. This is pandemic-schooling. Those of us who were homeschooling before COVID-19 aren’t even schooling the same! No co-ops, no playgrounds, no library visits, and more. So take a step back, breathe deeply, and take this new journey on day-by-day.

Unschooling/deschooling is one of the most important steps you can take during this time. It is the process in which both you and your child(ren) release your ideas and/or learned ways of schooling. It encourages exploration, student-led, and life learning. I stress that unschooling is not just for your child, but it is also for you. Teaching in a home environment is completely different than in a school building. While you may keep some of the public school methods that work for your child, it’s important that you do not force those things that to take place at home. Your child views you differently than he/she does their school teachers.

One of the biggest lessons I had to learn with homeschooling is to become flexible and to remain flexible. I’ve tried to stick to a schedule hundreds of times. It never works! Some days I’m up at 7am with a solid plan for my daughters, others I’m up at the same time, but not moving until 9:45-10am. I used to stress over having a strict schedule, but the flexibility works for my family. The days that I find myself moving slower, I actually notice my oldest daughter needed the extra time as well. However, I realize that many reading this blog will be running to the car or bus stop to get their children back in school once it’s open. So keeping a schedule similar to what it’ll be like once school begins again may work best. I also know that you may have to work! If your child has a zoom class meeting, set them up and work. If they can work independently, set them up and work! But if you are required or needed to help finish schoolwork, give your baby some simple tasks like journaling, cleaning, watering the plants, and more to hold them over until you have a break or you’re logged off for the day. Working, cooking, cleaning, and teaching is not easy, so don’t put that much pressure on yourself.

In addition to those two steps, be sure to incorporate a lot of fun and playing in your day. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, pandemic-schooling is not the same as homeschooling. Your child loves you and enjoys being home, but they are missing their friends, teachers, recess, extracurricular activities, festivals, dances, graduations, and more. Most importantly, those old enough to understand are under a lot of pressure and possibly scared. Try incorporating some of their interests into their learning experience. For example, if they are into music have them write a rap or song about one of their lessons or a topic. Let them put on a show and perform it. It combines music and creative writing all in one. You can discuss, proofread, and edit it together. You also never know what your child finds interesting. Bring them into the kitchen to cook with you. If it’s ok, let them see how you do your job, give them some assignments based on your work. They need real-life experiences still! I intentionally let my daughter watch me work on our family budget sheet, pay bills, and put money into our savings. I also let her work with me when I completed our taxes. You can really do anything and make it a learning experience!

Lastly, remain confident. Be confident that you are an excellent parent, employee, and person. You are doing your best with something that was just thrown into your lap. If your child only worked with workbooks, printouts, YouTube, and online lessons for the day, that was a productive day. If you were able to interact and actively teach for the day, that was a productive day. Every day doesn’t look the same, and that is OKAY! You have been raising and teaching your child since the day they were born. You are more than capable of teaching your child during this crisis. I understand that some of us are parents to younger children as well. I have a very active 2-year-old daughter. Some days we’re working together, others she’s learning through play. I am a parent who uses YouTube all the time for learning. We use puzzles, she plays with her dolls, blocks, and more. I recently purchased an Elevated Learning binder from Momi Swap. If you have a preschooler thru 1st-grade child, it is one of the best investments. The owner is Majidah Muhammad, a beautiful mother of two, who is an educator, but also homeschools and owns a homeschooling co-op. You can learn more about her and what she does through her website Momi Swap.

Be sure to subscribe and turn on your notifications. I will be posting a follow-up video where I speak a little more on what’s mentioned here and show a little bit of the changes that have taken place in our household.

Happy teaching!

Finding the Green Within: A Plant Based Vibe Added To Our Homeschool Routine

We have finally reached the end of our first year of homeschooling, and I am thrilled about the new activities that we are incorporating into our summer learning and what we will continue next school year. When Taniya was in public school, she was fortunate to have a program that came to visit once a month that taught them healthy eating and cooking. I genuinely want to incorporate her in cooking many of our meals, but I find myself getting anxious because of the time it takes. Most of the time I am in a frenzy trying to get the meal complete by any means necessary. I’ve spent all day teaching, chasing after Jayla, getting them outdoors to play, preparing breakfast, lunch and all snacks, and washing dishes each time. By the time I’m ready to cook dinner, I need it finished in enough time for my husband to be in bed early for his work day, and my children in bed early so that I can have my free time (wine). I began to feel bad, until an old friend came into the picture.

Liz and I went to middle school together and reconnected about 8 years ago when we both first became mothers (her; a year before me). Motherhood joined us, but I became more likened to her motherhood journey when I saw her brand develop over the years. She is the owner of Greenwithin, where the goal is to create opportunities for her community to explore and adopt a plant-based lifestyle. She recently expanded her footprint to include connecting as many individuals living the Washington, D.C. area to plant-based meals using locally grown produce from a local garden. Her goal is to be able to host events where she is able to educate the youth and their families with a hands-on experience.

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Once she has her entire program in place, we will be first in line to take part in the experience, but for now I absolutely love the one-on-one experience. Taniya’s first lesson was a simple fruit bowl. While she may not have liked each fruit that was included, she was taught how she could use any fruit to create a colorful and healthy meal. The fruits that were used on this occasion were champagne mangoes, blueberries, banana, watermelon and kiwi. She cut them with a reusable wooden knife like a pro.

Taniya and I love watching Food Network. One of our favorite shows is Chopped Junior and Chopped (the original). Because of the amount of hours she and I have spent watching that show lol, she is well aware of what a good presentation is when it comes to cooking. I was very pleased with how much effort she put into the placement of the fruits with the assistance of her great teacher, Liz. The outcome was both beautiful and tasty! Jayla and I waited patiently and then enjoyed every single bite.

I was also very happy to let go of the teacher role for a bit, and to watch Taniya be able to take her time to learn and cook without being rushed (by me). It was enjoyable for her also because it gave her a moment to say “this is just for me.” I always teach my children to share, but I think it’s great to give them moments where they can say “this is just for me and not my sibling.”

My husband and I were already very enthusiastic about living a more plant-based lifestyle, so now the goal is to get Taniya on board. We don’t plan on having a completely meatless diet, just a more fresh and natural colorful diet. Jayla would adapt well as I have only recently introduced meat to her, but Taniya has had years of an on-and-off again poor diet. When I had Taniya home with me for the first year and a half of her life, her diet was consistent and healthy. Once I began working and she was in school, we were always on the go. It was only her and I, being as though my husband was over-the-road and I always went for quick meals. That usually meant eating out. Once I became a stay-at-home wife and mother at the end of 2016, it felt good to hear her say, “Mommy, can we eat something outside of the house? We never eat out anymore!” Now I’m ready to hear her say, “Mommy, can we try adding a little more kale to our salad? We always have spinach!”

I believe with the continued guidance and motivation from Liz and Greenwithin, Taniya will be thrilled to live a more plant-based lifestyle. I plan to choose a day and time where Taniya can have more of these moments together in the kitchen where she and I aren’t in a rush. I don’t want her growing up thinking that her experience in the kitchen has to always be rushed and stressed!

If you’re interested in learning more about Liz’s efforts and seeing some of her amazing recipes, follow her on Instagram @greenwithin and twitter @plantbasedvibes.