Read Everyday! Count Everything!
Ask Questions About Students' Counting, i.e., "Which item
is there more of?", "Which item has less?", "How many more of
one item than another? How do you know?"
Look for Patterns! (In books, in street numbers, in clothing, in
poems, in names, etc., patterns are EVERYWHERE!). Ask, "What do you
notice?"
Remember that kindergarten homework is designed as a gentle
introduction to homework that will help you and your student learn
to plan and organize your time together. Create a special
place for doing homework where all the supplies you might need are
readily available. Your attitude about homework
will color your child's attitude. Make every effort to
be enthusiastic and portray homework as an adventure rather than a
chore.
Calendar: The calendar has many different activities to
choose from. I start out with having children choose two
activities each week from the calendar choices. In January,
it changes to 4 per week. These are fun activities that many
of you do with your children automatically, but maybe some will be
new ideas. Have fun with them. At the end of the month,
turn in your calendar with the activities your child completed
marked with a check-mark and the Fast Start Log plus any calendar
activities that required paperwork. I trust you on all the
others-you mark it, I'll know you did it.
Work on Fast Start to Reading Poems. I
will gradually post more poems each month until a maximum of 4
poems is posted on the website each month. Please
work on one of the poems each week for 10 minutes at a time,
preferably two nights in a row, i.e., if I send Patty Cake,
Eensy-Weensy Spider, Little Jumping Joan and Little Jack Horner
home, you would work on Patty Cake one week for two nights (ten
minutes each night), Little Jack Horner the next week, Eensy-Weensy
Spider the next week and Little Jumping Joan the last week---you
can do them in any order, but each one for two nights in a row, 10
minutes each night. Children who CONSISTENTLY
spend this one-on-one time with you and the poems will progress
rapidly into competent readers.
Start with the activities for "Looking at Words/Letters", if
it's too easy, try "Playing with Sounds", if that's too easy, try
"Beginning to Read". If any area is difficult for your child,
drop back to the previous skill, i.e., if sounds is too difficult,
concentrate on letters. If beginning to read is too
difficult, concentrate on sounds.
Be matter-of-fact and enthusiastic, even playful, take turns with
your child if they seem resistant. Pick a time when they are
ready for a natural transition to a quiet activity, rather than
trying to pull them away from an active play session. Give
them plenty of warning, outline what the evening will be like,
i.e., "Remember we'll eat dinner, clean up and then work on
homework". Give them choices, i.e., "Do you want to start
with the poems or the calendar activities?" "Which activities
do you want to start with?" (read them the choices), "You pick an
activity for me to do, and then I'll pick one for you to do."
The more you can have fun with homework, the more willing your
child will be.
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