Children can gain a better idea of the concept of measurements through the things they see and understand. Then, teaching children inches on a ruler or the meaning of cups in a recipe will be an easier concept for them to grasp. Plus, parents can add a little creativity to such lessons. For example, children can measure the length of a cookie with chocolate chips. They can measure a person’s height using pop cans. Or they can measure the length of a table using plates.

Parents can work with their children to measure different objects around the house. This also makes a great classroom activity for teachers.

Here are just a few measurement questions parents and children can find answers to:

1. How many crayons long is a notebook?
2. How many pillows long is the bed?
3. How many hands tall is the table?
4. How many spoons tall is mom?
5. How many pencils tall is the refrigerator?
6. How many baseballs long are the back steps?
7. How many paperclips tall is the television?
8. How many magnets wide is a pencil box?
9. How many glasses does it take to fill up a pitcher?
10. How many pitchers does it take to fill up a bucket?

Parents and children also can find measurements for even more objects around the house.

Learning about constellations is a lot like playing connect-the-dots. And just staring at the night sky on a nice warm night with a child will give him or her a foundation in astronomy and provide an extra fun for camping trips or nights when the family is driving home late.

The following are a few examples of constelations parents can teach their children.

Andromeda (Chained Lady)

Cassiopeia (Lady in the Chair)

Cygnus (Swan)

Draco (Dragon)

Hercules (Kneeling Man; the Son of Zues)

Lyra (Harp or lyre)

Pegasus (Winged Horse)

Sagitta (Arrow)

Urasa Major (Great Bear)

Ursa Minor (Little Bear)

You can look up these constellations and others on the Internet and learn more about their histories and why they are sygnificant.

Also, the characters associated with each constellation make great characters for a story. Parents and their children can write their own stories about the constellations. This also makes great handwriting and spelling practice if children use paper and pen.

Constellations source: The Science Teacher’s Book of Lists by Frances Bartlet Barhydt, M.A. and Paul W. Morgan, PhD. Copyright 1993 by Prentice Hall.

Images Source: http://www.purplehell.com/riddletools/constellations.htm

The Education Salary Premium for Families with Degrees and Diplomas

Graduate degree mean annual salary: $93,000
Undergraduate degree mean annual salary: $75,000
High school diploma mean annual salary: $28,000
High school dropout mean annual salary: $28,000

The Impact of Family Salary on Children’s College Graduation Rate before Age 24

$90,000 income: ½ of their children graduate from college
$70,000 income: ¼ of their children graduate from college
$45,000 income: 1/10 of their children graduate from college
$30,000 income: 1/17 of their children graduate from college

The Impact of Family Income on Attendance at One of the Top 146 Colleges and Universities

Only three percent of the children in the lowest economic quartile attend one of the top 146 colleges and universities.

NAEP Results

The results of our most trusted national reading test (NAEP) for fourth-grade performance at grade level show the following:

14 percent of African Americans are at grade level
17 percent Hispanics are at grade level
43 percent Caucasians are at grade level

Dr. Heuston points out, “Notice the economic trend is getting worse every year. We need to halt this trend and reverse it lest our society be torn apart with dissension. Clearly we need to build the software (real software, not games) that can harness the limitless power of the emerging technologies on behalf of our most precious resources: our children.”

Learn more at www.thethirdsource.org.

You may also purchase Dr. Heuston’s book online.

Here are just a few:

Shapes: Parents can find all kinds of activities to teach their children shapes. Everything is made out of some sort of shape, and you can usually see a more common shape (square, rectangle, triangle, or circle) in the objects around the house. For example, a TV is a big rectangle and a bowl’s lip is in the shape of a circle. Parents can create a game with their child to find these shapes around the house. See who can find the most circles or triangles. Or parents can have their child draw objects using only the basic shapes; this is also a great art activity.

Counting: Counting is a big part of our daily lives. We count how many bills are in our wallets, how many plates we need for the dinner table, how many stop lights until our destination. . . . Parents can make these tasks a part of teaching their child. With their child, they can count how many forks they need for lunch, how many apples they put in the bag at the grocery store, how many carrots they have for snack, etc.

Number recognition: Numbers are all around us, providing many opportunities for parents to teach their children about them. Parents can help their child recognize numbers by pointing them out on street signs, license plates, grocery aisles, cereal boxes, etc. Parents can also create activities for their child using dough, crayons, or beads. Children can use such craft items to create the shape of the numbers . (Note: This is also a great letter recognition activity.)

There are many more activities where these come from. Have suggestions? Send us a comment.

Read every day.
Children are more motivated to read when they get to select reading materials that match their interest. Consult with your local librarian for books that match your child’s interest. While you are there, find out about the summer reading program . . . nearly every local library has one! Also, summer can be a good time to help children catch up on important reading skills. Rusty and Rosy Reading™, award-winning kindergarten through second-grade curriculum from Waterford Institute™, provides engaging instruction while guiding each child through an individualized learning path—reinforcing skills a child may lack, or helping her move ahead as she is ready.

Don’t forget math!
All children lose math skills during the summer, and they can fall back as much as 2.5 months in math ability if they don’t continue to reinforce their math facts and use what they know. Just a few minutes doing math activities, like doubling a recipe, calculating a baseball score, or even a quick flip through a stack of flash cards, can help strengthen your child’s knowledge and automaticity with math facts.

Use music to build skills.
Music can help teach a concept in a way that can be easily recalled and remembered. Downloading instructional songs, like Waterford’s Rusty and Rosy and Friends can be a great way to teach and reinforce basic reading and math concepts for preschool and early elementary aged learners . . . and they can make the long miles fly by during a road trip. (Available through iTunes).

Build endurance.
When children help with jobs around the house during the summer, they learn valuable skills about sticking to a task until it’s finished. This will pay off when homework starts up again during the school year.

Be a tourist in your own town.
Watch out for museum ‘free’ days, or find city passes for discounts on local museums, aquariums, zoos and other attractions.

Take advantage of teachable moments.
Help your child map your summer road trip, look for shapes, numbers or letters while running errands, or just play word games (like changing the first sound in a word, or naming all the rhyming words you know) to provide learning experiences as part of daily activities.

Written by Jay Fleming and Amy Morris at Waterford Institute.

He goes on to explain his recently published book, The Third Source: A Message of Hope for Education. The third source, technology, will allow all children to receive an individualized and equitable education. Waterford Institute is focused on providing such education through the development of its preschool through second-grade software.

Listen to the interview to learn more.

In his book, Dr. Heuston addresses the need for additional “work” to help teachers reach their goal to provide all children a quality and complete education. The continuing advancement of technology offers that extra “work”. As Dr. Heuston explains, the amount of work available directly correlates to ensuring each child learns effectively. His equation (THE WORKER x EFFICIENCY x LEVERAGE FACTOR = TOTAL USEFUL WORK) illustrates this concept.

Dr. Heuston goes on to explain the pitfalls of the current education system with its many reforms that don’t work, the summer slide, etc. The solution: For schools, homes, and ‘the third source’ support center to utilize the power of technology in order to start young children on the path for success in school and, ultimately, their futures.

As Dr. Heuston says in his book, “Only great software supported by the help of a third source can enlist the stunning hardware and networking potential that is emerging independently of the education market but will provide the solution we all desire for our children.”

The Third Source is available in hardcover as well as for Kindle and Nook. Read the book and find out for yourself how technology is the future of the educational delivery system. Also check out The Third Source Website at www.thethirdsource.org to learn more about the message and cause.

With Rusty and Rosy Reading℠, children can experience that same engagement and learning from home. Parents love the program because it creates a learning experience unique to their child’s skill level. And it only takes 15 minutes a day, five days a week to see great results in their child’s learning progress.

The amusing voices and characters present activities and songs that become a part of children’s learning experiences. The Pirate ABC song is just one example of many that children can sing along with in their own way. See this video of a child singing the Pirate ABC song.

Rusty and Rosy Reading is a great learning companion for any child, either as a review of things learned in school or as a part of a homeschooling experience.

You can learn more about Rusty and Rosy Reading on the new Website www.rustyandrosy.com, launched today. Be sure to take a look at the Success Stories page and see why parents love Rusty and Rosy.

You can also get songs from the software at the iTunes store.

The following are just a few resources you can use to learn more about reinforcing skills your child learns in school; also included are tips on motivating your child to read and educational news sources.

Developmental Activities

For Children from Ages 4 to Age 5

This link is full of helpful tips on what to expect from your child at this age, what children need, and how you can help them establish basic math and getting-along skills. There are also instructions on how to make a book with your child that will help him or her develop language skills.

http://www.liveandlearn.com/4to5.html

NAEYC

This site includes many resources, including information for back to school. You’ll find a “Play Resources for Parents and Families” section, and you can sign up for an e-mail newsletter that is packed with education stories and news.

http://www.naeyc.org/

100 Books Everyone Should Know

This list is from the Office of Children’s Services at the New York Public Library. You can find many of these books at your local library and share a love of reading with your child.

http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=61

Great Schools

Here you’ll find plenty of information for your child’s education from preschool all the way up to college. Explore the different grades to find worksheets, activities, and education articles.

http://www.greatschools.org/

Education.com

Similar to Great Schools, this site provides plenty of resources from activities and worksheets to finding answers to questions, such as “How do I help my child pay more attention in school?”

http://www.education.com/

Don’t forget, of course, www.waterford.org. Keep reading our blog, which keeps educators and parents in mind. If you have a topic you would like us to address, please comment below. We’re always looking for new ideas.

For children who love slimy animals, a whole world of discovery awaits. It’s the world of amphibians, or cold-blooded vertebrates. These creatures usually start their life in the water as a tadpole with gills. Later they develop lungs so they can live on land. But even after they develop lungs, they have to return to the water to keep their scaleless skin moist.

This summer, you and your child can learn more about amphibians. Here are just a few suggestions:

If you live in an area where there are frogs or lizards, you can take your child on a frog/lizard hunt. When you find a creature, try to put it in one of the categories of amphibians below.

Take your child to a natural science museum to learn about frogs, lizards, newts, salamanders, and caecilians.

Or you can use the World Wide Web to look up different amphibians and learn more about them.

Learning about these three major subgroups of amphibians is a great way to teach your child some fun new vocabulary. Your child can amaze his or her teacher when he or she goes back to school.

Three Major Subgroups of Amphibians

Urodela: Newts and Salamanders

• Asian salamander
• Axolotl
• Dwarf siren
• Fire salamander
• Greater siren
• Hellbender
• Mudpuppy
• Olm
• Two-toed amphiuma
• Rough-skinned newt
• Warty newt
• Slimy salamander

Anura: Frogs and Toads

• Arum lily frog
• American toad
• Bullfrog
• Boulenger’s arrow-poison toad
• Giant toad
• Golden arrow-poison frog
• Green toad
• Northern leopard frog
• Natterjack toad
• Spring peeper
• Wallace’s flying frog

Apoda: Caecilians—limbless, burrowing amphibians

• Panamanian caecilian
• Sao Tomé caecilian
• Sticky caecilian
• Seychelles caecilian

Source: The Science Teacher’s Book of Lists by Frances Bartlet Barhydt, M.A., and Paul W. Morgan, PhD. Copyright 1993 by Prentice Hall.