Mark Making and Emergent Writing: Supporting Writing at Home

Although there is more to education than the 3 Rs, reading, writing and arithmetic have long been considered the basic foundation to a successful education. Of the 3 Rs, writing has often been the area that we have trouble encouraging the boys with. Many parents tell me it’s a “boy thing” so we’ve employed all manner of ways to encourage handwriting practice. Here

Learning to Write – Getting Ready, Posture, and Pencil Grip

In the era of technology, handwriting is fast becoming a lost art but there are many benefits that handwriting practice can offer which make it a worthwhile art to preserve: Helps develop reading skills Trains the brain Affects the way children learn Develops thinking, language and working memory Getting ready for writing If you want to help your

The 3 Rs: R for ‘Riting – How to Encourage Children to Practice Their Handwriting Skills

Successful Kids have a strong foundation in the 3-Rs – reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. Today, we will focus on “writing”… Similar to Math practice, encouraging Aristotle to pick up a pencil and practice his handwriting is like trying to make a rock bleed. To make this uphill battle a little easier, I’ve had to devise ways

Successful Kids have a Strong Foundation in the 3 R’s

There is more to success than academics, but I believe there are three key basics that you can’t do without – the 3 R’s (reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic), although why they call it the 3 R’s is beyond me. Yes, the 3 R’s are important. Every parent knows that. Why would I even have to write about

Handwriting Activities: Linking Memory Story Writing

This activity was something we started doing recently for a number of reasons: handwriting practice exercise creativity screen-free activity Daddy is very particular about Aristotle’s handwriting, but the thing about handwriting, unfortunately, is that you have to practice to get better at it. The problem with practicing handwriting is that Aristotle finds it boring. I

Early Literacy – is Early Important?

There is an interesting article on early literacy on the Pacific Standard written by Janet Hopson (contributor to Scientific American, Smithsonian, and Psychology Today) titled: “Infant Intelligentsia: Can Babies Learn to Read? And Should They?” It is a very long article but a very good read. If you don’t have time to go through it,

Apps: Teach Me (Reading, Math, Spelling, Writing) for Toddlers, Reception, Grade 1 and 2

24x7digital LLC has created a terrific series of apps to teach reading, math, spelling and writing for: Toddlers (iPad, iPhone) Reception (iPad, iPhone) Grade 1 (iPad, iPhone) Grade 2 (iPad, iPhone) Grade 3 (iPad, iPhone) Features: Achievement screen encourages and motivates learning by showing progress for each topic. 6 different sticker reward scenes: beach, underwater

Writing Practice: Letters to an Imaginary Friend

I was lamenting to Aristotle’s teacher over his reluctance to practice writing. To be honest, I can’t really blame him. Who wants to practice writing line after line of a’s and b’s? Unfortunately, practice makes perfect and he won’t get better at it unless we find a way to motivate him. So his teacher suggested

LeapFrog Scribble and Write

Light the way to early writing with Scribble and Write Four learning modes can help your child progress from drawing simple shapes and pictures, to writing upper- and lowercase letters Features a child-sized stylus, single retraceable surface and stroke-by-stroke guidance Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog Learning Path for customized learning ideas and insights

Handwriting Practice: Back to Basics – Correcting Bad Habits

Aristotle has been writing letters and numbers for a while but because practicing writing is so tedious, he hates to do it and his handwriting is atrocious. Figuring that he just needed more practice (and incentives to practice), I got him an exercise book to practice writing letters. It wasn’t until I peeked over his