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Parent Newsletters - Issue 21
No Limits Learning
kids goals Ezine
Issue 21, November 4th, /06
IN THIS PARENT NEWSLETTER
1. A WORD FROM THE EDITORS
3. READING JUST FOR THE JOY OF IT
4. KIDS CORNER COOKING AND CRAFTS
5. TICKLE YOUR FUNNYBONE (JOKES FOR KIDS BY KIDS)
6. WORDS OF INSPIRATION
7. SPONSORS
1. A WORD FROM THE EDITORS
Welcome to the next issue of the kidsgoals.com newsletter. Spelling the English language is difficult at the best of times what with all the strange ways we spell words. For instance, if you really want to make yourself crazy just think of all the ways to spell the sound "sh": position, shoe, ocean, issue, mansion ... need I say more? Our first article will give you tips on how to help your child improve his spelling.
We all know the importance of reading books with our kids, but it's not always easy to find the time and energy to do it. Our next article deals with how to help your child learn to love to read by finding the time to read with him.
From Monicka
2. HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD BE A BETTER SPELLER
Help Your Child to be a Better Speller
Even in these days of computers and spell checkers there are still times that we need to write. An improperly spelled word is one of the first things the teacher will notice. Some teachers are sticklers when it comes to spelling and will give a lower grade to an otherwise well written paper, due to incorrect spelling.
If your child is not good at spelling they are in good company. Even some of the most renowned writers have trouble spelling. Luckily spelling has more to do with memory than intelligence and there are things that you can do to help your child become more proficient at spelling.
* Encourage your child to read and write as much as possible. Reading will expose your child to the correct way to spell words; writing gives your child the opportunity to apply his existing knowledge of spelling rules. Keeping a daily journal is a good way to make sure your child writes on a daily basis.
* Play games where proper spelling is key such as Scrabble, Hangman or Boggle and Anagrams.
* When they ask you how to spell a word suggest that they give it a go first before you give them the correct spelling. Even better suggest they try to spell it first and then look it up in a dictionary to check if they have the correct spelling.
* Help your child to learn the proper pronunciation of words by singing songs or reading funny rhymes or poetry, so the child can hear the correct sounds of the words.
* Suggest that your child helps you with tasks that require knowing how to spell, such as making shopping lists and writing thank-you notes or invitations.
* Have your child make a list of the words that cause him the most trouble and have him write them out and practice them until he can master them.
* Make sure to offer praise to your child when he recognizes a misspelling.
Finally the most important thing is never to judge or make your child feel ashamed if he has trouble spelling. Help your child improve his spelling gradually. Have him work on it for a few minutes every day and make it fun. Make a game of it and you will be amazed at how quickly his spelling will improve.
By Monicka
3. READING TO KIDS - READING JUST FOR THE JOY OF IT
We've all been told over and over again that reading to our children is a good thing to do. Do you have any special memories of being read to? My childhood was not a happy one, and of my mother in particular I have very few fond memories. But I do remember her reading to my sister and I - the Doctor Who series was one of her favorites to read to us - and we used to have a bowl of peeled, chopped apples to nibble on with our bedtime story. To this day whenever I hear someone eating a juicy apple and talking with their mouth full, which should really be a little annoying, I feel that warm, happy feeling inside - that feeling that you only get from being read aloud to!
So how can we fit reading bedtime stories into our routines, when there are so many demands on our time and sometimes just getting the kids' teeth brushed and pajamas on seems like a mammoth task after a hard day's work?
Here are some tips to help reading to your kids feel like less of a chore.
1. Read something YOU enjoy! My mother read us lots of sci-fi stories when we were little. They've never been my cup of tea, but that didn't really matter - it was the fact that she was reading to me that made me feel loved and nurtured my own love of reading. Ideally, pick something that you and your child both like, and make SURE it's something you'll enjoy, otherwise the chances of you doing it over and over are much less.
2. When your child is old enough, take turns - have them read to you one night and you to them the next. This makes it more educational and more fun for BOTH of you - which is the aim.
3. Make bedtime earlier. Kids need a lot of sleep and often school-age children don't really get enough. What if you moved bedtime to an hour earlier? That way you might feel more generous about reading a story, knowing that you have an extra hour of grown-up-time afterwards (I know I would!) Worried about the kids starting to wake up earlier and get you up too early? Well it's possible to teach them to play quietly in their room when they wake up early in the morning with a little patience.
4. Don't feel like you have to be perfect, and read every single night. You could aim for reading a bedtime story on four nights in the week, and allow yourself to put the kids to bed with an audio book on the other nights, saving these for when you've had a particularly hard day.
5. Share the load! Assuming you're a two-parent family, it's a really good idea to take turns. It gives the kids two different reading styles and preferences to absorb, and lightens the load on each of you.
I hope these ideas help you - we all know the benefits of reading with our kids, I think the key is to develop a routine that doesn't put too much pressure on you, so that both you and the children can enjoy reading together to the max!
By Cassie
4. KIDS CORNER COOKING AND CRAFTS
No-Bake Yummy Yogurt Pie
A healthy and easy to make recipe (with adult supervision)
Ingredients:
1 9" pre-made graham cracker pie crust shell
1 8oz. container of orange flavored yogurt
1 C. thawed whipped non-dairy topping
1/2 C. canned mandarin orange slices - drained and
broken into pieces
Combine yogurt and whipped topping together in a bowl and stir with a spoon. Add mandarin orange slice and stir. Spoon the mixture into graham pie shell. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.
Tip: You can also freeze this pie and thaw slightly before serving.
Other delicious flavour combinations to try:
Vanilla yogurt with banana slices
Lemon and lime yogurt combined
Peach yogurt with fresh or canned peach slices
A FUN LADYBUG BOOKMARK TO MAKE WITH YOUR KIDS
What you will need:
1. A small piece of thick card
2. Scraps of red and black construction card (or felt)
3. Glue
4. Scissors
5. Knife (for adult to use!)
We've uploaded the pattern and some cute photos to the website for you to make this craft! Here is the link:
5. TICKLE YOUR FUNNYBONE (JOKES FOR KIDS BY KIDS)
Q: What are the cleverest bees?
A: Spelling bees!
Why we shouldn't depend on our spell checker!!!!
Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it's weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
-- Sauce unknown
6. WORDS OF INSPIRATION
"A speaker of the language should be able to pronounce correctly any sequence of letters that he may meet, even if they were previously unknown, and secondarily, to be able to spell any phonemic sequence, again even if previously unknown." -Archibald A. Hill, distinguished U.S. linguist
"George Bernard Shaw, one of the most eminent proponents of English spelling reform, ridiculed our embarrassing, disgraceful orthography -mixed up and messed up for centuries-by spelling fish as follows: ghoti gh as in laugh, o as in women, ti as in motion."
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." --Groucho Marx
"I must say that I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book." --Groucho Marx
"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket." --Chinese Proverb
"A library is a hospital for the mind." --Anonymous
"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." --Walt Disney
"A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you." --Daniel J. Boorstein
7. SPONSORS
If you can suggest any organizations or websites that might want to sponsor this newsletter, or reprint our articles, please email Cassie or Monicka at kidsgoals.com.
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