While preparing for work on my masters degree in Leadership Development, I knew I’d need support to pass the GRE. I’d been in education for over a decade and I felt a little hesitant about taking an important entrance exam for the masters program I’d chosen. (I understand most people nowadays aren’t required to take …
Summer Reading Support That’s High on Engagement
Three families have contacted me in the last few weeks asking me to meet with their children over the summer months to read, write, and talk about texts. Today was the first meet-up with two of the families which included five students total, ages 5-14. There will be– no worksheets no pre-packaged summer packets no …
PreKindergarten in Pictures
The last few weeks in PreK for our youngest grandsons has been full of learning. I’m sharing images with a few brief comments. A few weeks ago we sampled, measured and sketched drawings of different kinds of apples. We read the Gail Gibbons book about apples (I chose specific pages to share as it’s a …
Fostering the Identity of Emergent Readers
As an educator, I enjoy reading articles written primarily for people in the corporate world. Harvard Business Online had an interesting piece about making the most of unique experiences in an effort to build one’s own identity capital. The article began with how to build identity capital and in particular how Meg Jay, author of …
PreK Learning in 2020
In this time of COVID, our adult kids decided not to send each of their youngest children to preschool. I asked the kids if they were willing to send their sons to our home a few days a week so that I could learn with the boys. My original teacher certification is age 3 through …
Let’s Talk Straight About Supporting Kids When We’re Back in the School Building
It’s funny how conversation with districts I support have turned from the “now” to the “then”. For weeks we’ve worried over getting devices to kids, worksheet packets to kids who don’t have online access (don’t start with me, that’s another long post for another day), meals for those who need them, calls to families to …
Why (and How) Educators Need to Disrupt Now: Four Not-So-Easy Steps
What our global community has experienced since the new year began, is unprecedented. Three months ago, no one knew that SARS-CoV-2 existed. Now the virus has spread to almost every country, infecting at least 446,000 people whom we know about, and many more whom we do not. It has crashed economies and broken health-care systems, …
Supporting Kids in Emotional Empowerment
So often when kids are working to recognize and regulate their own emotions, adults step in to tell or even dictate what kids need to do. Our Scholabox team chose to share resources for teachers and families to facilitate discussions, writing, reading, inquiry experiences for kids all around Emotional Intelligence. During this really tricky time …
Reading = Making Meaning
A pivotal point in a reader’s journey is when she realizes, either intuitively or explicitly, that the goal of reading is to obtain meaning. Understanding the goal of reading moves our students from Reading as Compliance to Reading as Learning — a critical shift. —Dave Stuart Reading for meaning should be the goal for all readers. It …
Read-Aloud: What It Is, Why It Matters
Reading books aloud to kids can be one of the most powerful practices in your classroom or, for that matter, your home. There’s much for us, families and educators, to appreciate about the read-aloud. This post will be short, but hopefully informative in a “reminder” kind of way. Here for our benefit, quotes from professional …