Schoolfamily.com blog entries

With Learning, It Doesn't Matter How Long It Takes

Livia McCoy — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:39:24 +0100

Last week, I wrote about grades and what they really mean. Do they really reflect actual learning? Teacher Ron Simmons tells a story in his math classes at Hilton Head Prep School. He shares this with his math students when they tell him they’re not good in math.

He asks his students, “How old were you when you learned to walk?” He pauses for a moment. Read more...

Don’t Let Language Confuse Young Math Students

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:25:27 +0100

When teaching the value of double-digit numbers in my classroom, I noticed that my students often became confused with 11, 12, and the rest of the -teen numbers. This was a puzzle to me, and I was determined to solve it. After research and applying what I know about how young students learn, I realized this was not a numbers problem—it was a language problem!

In va Read more...

Grades: How Much Do They Really Tell About Learning?

Livia McCoy — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:23:30 +0100

After visiting a school that has made a concerted effort to change how they evaluate their students, I started thinking about the grades teachers give to students. If a student gets a C at the end of the quarter, what does that really mean? Generally, a C means average. So a C should be an acceptable grade. Most students should get a C. But parents expect their children Read more...

More New Words for Your Child’s Word Bank

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:49:45 +0100

This month’s words for your child’s word bank involve consonant blends and consonant digraphs. Simply put, consonant blends consist of two or three consonants used together in words, where each letter sound is distinct, such as the “p” and “l” in the word “play” or “str” in the word “street.” Consonant d Read more...

Think Carefully Before Skipping ADHD Medication

Livia McCoy — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:32:22 +0100

Many children take medications to help them focus their attention in school. It is a difficult decision to put a child on medications, but it can be extremely helpful for some children. Sometimes students don’t take their attention meds before school. At other times, parents allow their child to take a day off from taking it. It might be tempting to do when schoo Read more...

Do a “Reading Survey” With Your Child

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:20:24 +0100

There is a strategy that teachers use in classrooms to identify various interests in student reading. It’s a concept that parents can easily incorporate at home called a “Reading Survey.”

Teachers use a Reading Survey to discover what really interests a student. We want Read more...

Make the Most of Museum Visits With Your Child

Livia McCoy — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:34:15 +0100

Museums are marvelous places to learn about our culture—history, music, art, science, and current events. Many families are making plans for summer trips that will include visits to local museums.

I went recently on a field trip to Washington, D.C., where we visited the Ford Theater and the National Museum of American History. I was assisting another teacher on the Read more...

Middle and High School: Helping Teens Solve Their Own Problems

SchoolFamily — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0100

This guest blog post is by Erika Cook, a high school administrator who works directly with parents and students.

When your teen has a problem at school, what should you do? Perhaps your child has a streak of missing assignments, feels the teacher made a grading e Read more...

Help Good Readers Become Good Writers, Part 2

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:04:56 +0100

In “Help Good Readers Become Good Writers, Part 1,” I explained the “six traits of writing” that many school districts use to teach young authors. This week’s focus is on the three types of writing most required by Common Core State Standards in the early grades. They are:

Opinion writing (explain and defend an opinion)
Informati Read more...

Reduce the Stress of High-Stakes Standardized Tests

Livia McCoy — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:42:01 +0100

Many schools are focusing on the standardized tests coming up soon. These tests are so important to schools because they stand to lose their accreditation if their students do not perform well enough on them. In addition, many teachers are evaluated based on how well their students do. And, students cannot graduate until they have performed well enough on specific tests. Th Read more...

Help Good Readers Become Good Writers, Part 1

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:08:01 +0100

Being a good reader does not automatically make your young child a good writer. Like reading, writing is a learned skill, and there are simple ways to help her learn to write well.

Many school districts across the country base writing instruction on the &l Read more...

Families and Learning Differences

Livia McCoy — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:44:42 +0100

It is common that learning differences run in families. It is not totally clear whether these differences are inherited. However, I have personally witnessed many, many cases of a child who has the same trouble in school that one of his parents did. This is very difficult for the parent who had the same difficulties in school. Their typical response goes something like thi Read more...

3 Strategies To Build Strong Reading Skills

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:08:21 +0100

When a young student starts to read, it’s a very exciting time for parents! But progressing from a beginning reader to a good reader takes time, practice, and knowing and using certain strategies.

Here is a list of three simple strategies to practice with your child that will promote good reading.

1. Have her use the pictures in a story mu Read more...

AudioNote: A Technological Solution for Note Taking

Livia McCoy — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:30:58 +0100

In an earlier blog I wrote about the Livescribe Pen which is a recording pen that assists students who have trouble taking notes. In this same blog, I mentioned the AudioNote app. At that point, I did not have any experience with it. Since that time, several of my students purchased it and have been using it in my class.

AudioNote is available for the Mac, iOS, Windows and Read more...

New Words To Add to Your Child’s Word Bank

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:56:20 +0100

Last month I provided a list of 30 common sight words, along with directions on how to build a word bank. As promised, here is a new word list. These words are called “word family words,” or phonograms, formed with one short vowel word chunk, and different beginning sounds.

Adding words like these to the bank will help your child hear and see patterns i Read more...

Necessary Skills for Students in the Digital Age

Livia McCoy — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:49:06 +0100

My 8-year-old grandson recently picked up the television remote control, turned on the satellite dish, found the recorded program his mom wanted to watch, highlighted the correct one, and then handed the remote to his mom. He said, “Here, I think you can handle it from there.”

It is amazing how children growing up in the digital age think. It is a Read more...

Celebrate Spring With Stories and Common Core Activities

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:12:34 +0100

Warm weather is coming, and seasonal books, with fun and easy connecting activities, are a great way to celebrate with your young child. A variety of springtime books are readily available at your local library or on an e-reader. Here are tw Read more...

Let Kids Know That Failure Is a Normal Part of Life

Livia McCoy — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:50:04 +0100

As parents, we want to protect our children from failure. What we don’t realize is that failure is an important part of life. If children do not experience failure, they may not learn to struggle through to success. Think about when you watched your child learn to walk. If every time she fell down you rescued her, she would have taken much longer to learn to walk on her own. Read more...

A Fun Memory Game To Help Build Confidence

Connie McCarthy — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:12:13 +0100

Does your child have difficulty remembering school lessons, homework assignments, spelling words, etc.? Her memory is probably just fine, and you can help her it prove to herself by teaching her how to play a fun memory game.

Children are typically much better at this game than adults. Once your child understands the game, he can challenge any adult in the family, and wil Read more...

Struggling Students Require More Energy To Learn

Livia McCoy — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:26:55 +0100

A person’s brain occupies approximately 2 percent of the body’s weight, yet it uses 25 percent of the body’s energy. This amount of energy is required to stay alive, move around, and think. Studies have shown that struggling students require more energy in order to process what they are learning, especially if what they are asked to do stresses weak abilities such as wor Read more...