Princess Teacher and my princess-in-training.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
WE'RE DONE!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Reading Out Loud to Your Kids
Also, reading out loud to children is one of the best ways to help them grow in language development and grow a true love for reading. Reading out loud starts with your infant and should continue on to their teenage years. Studies prove that students who have been read out loud to do better in school. Right now among fourth-graders, only 54% read something for pleasure everyday. Among eighth-graders only 30% read for pleasure each day and by twelfth grade, only 19% read for pleasure (Jim Trelease). Trelease also offers a helpful and simple, two part formula for reading:
1. The more you read, the better you get at it; the better you get at it, the more you like it; and the more you like it, the more you do it.
2. The more you read, the more you know; and the more you know, the smarter you grow.
Reading out loud to your children will truly be a positive and beneficial experience for you and for your children. Nothing can replace this. I encourage everyone to add reading out loud to their list of summer activities this year and watch the many changes that will happen because of your effort.
Condensed list of great read aloud books recommended by Jim Trelease:
1. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day By Judith Viorst
2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs By Judi Barrett
3. The Foot Book By Dr. Seuss
4. Heckedy Peg By Audrey Wood
5. Ira Sleeps Over By Bernard Waber
6. Snip Snap! What’s That? By Mara Bergman
7. The Story of Ruby Bridges By Robert Coles
8. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs By John Scieszka
9. Dinosaurs Before Dark By Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House series)
10. The Hundred Dress By Eleanor Estes
Miss Julie
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Importance of Father Involvement
The father’s role in a child’s life is often looked over as not important or insignificant. There have been several studies however that proves this thought wrong, father’s involvement is extremely important and beneficial to the success of a child. John Gottman, Ph. D. talks about the important role that fathers play in the life of their child in his book Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child. He specifically talks about the benefits of father involvement to girls and boys. The benefits towards girls are; they are more likely to have academic success, have positive relationships with males in the future, and less sexual promiscuity at a young age. While for boys they give them balance between assertiveness and self restraint, abilities to delay gratification, and self control. These are just a few of the things that Gottman says about father’s positive influence on the life of a child.
Now to take a different non-secular side to the role of the father for a minute, in the October 1987 LDS conference President Ezra Taft Benson spoke on fathers in his article called, To the Fathers in Israel. He states that the role of a father is an eternal calling from which one is never released. He goes on to talk about that as fathers in Israel, they have a great responsibility to provided for the material needs of their family and to have the necessary supplies saved in case of emergency. If all fathers were to take this role seriously and provide for their families we would have a lot less pain in the home. President Benson ends his talk by suggesting ten specific ways that fathers can be there for their families. I would like to just mention one of those it says, “Go on daddy daughter dates and father and sons outings with your children. As a family, go on campouts and picnics, to ball games and recitals, to school programs, and so forth. Having Dad there makes all the difference.” How profound that last statement is, having Dad there makes all the difference. If fathers will just be there for their children not just in the physical sense but in the emotional sense as well the whole family will benefit from positive interactions. In his closing remarks he says “…that fathers can do so much for the salvation and exaltation of their families” now we just need to help fathers realize their importance.
To move back to a secular source on the Involvement of Fathers, authors say, “The more that fathers are involved with their children, the more satisfied they are with their lives, the closer their ties with their communities, and the more connected they are with their families.” From this source we learn that fathers’ involvement not only benefits the child but the family and community. The amount of involvement a father has with his child depends on many factors. We learn from this text again, that fathers who begin to become emotionally involved with the child from the time that the partner becomes pregnant benefits the father and child for a life time. When bonds are formed from the very beginning there is a connection that will always be there between father and child.
By Miss Anna
Miss Anna
Hello to all of you parents!!! I am a new intern with Kari for the remainder of this fun and exciting school year. I have loved getting to know each and everyone one of your children and their little personalities, they are all so different and bring so much to the class experience.
So let me tell you a little bit about myself so I am not a complete stranger to you. My name is Miss. Anna and I am originally from Pocatello, I attend the university here in town and will be graduating in July with by BS in Child Development and a minor in Psychology. My
husband and I are expecting our first child in about two and a half weeks and are very excited. As we will both be graduating in July we look forward to new adventures in life, our current plan is to move down to Pocatello so that my he can attend ISU to work on his masters. I plan to open my own preschool down there and brighten the lives of our future. I look forward to working with your children for the remainder of this school year!!!