Wednesday Resource: ABCya

Play educational games that are organized by grade level at www.abcya.com.  Choose from categories such as letters, numbers, strategies, or skills to target specific areas.  

Article of the Week: RTI definitions

If your child is receiving RTI services, you might be wondering what exactly that means?  This article from Reading Rockets does a nice job explaining some of the terms we use.

Read the article HERE.

Article of the Week: Supporting Early Writers

When my daughter was a toddler, she was constantly grabbing markers, pens, and crayons to scribble on anything she could get her hands on.  Our kitchen cupboards and refrigerator are proof of her early writing adventures with a sharpie!  I was frustrated at the time, but feel much better after reading this article about supporting early writing habits.  Encourage that writing...but hide the sharpies!  :)

Wednesday Resource: Starfall

Practice phonics while playing fun games and using interactive activities at starfall.com.  You can pay for a subscription, but I recommend taking advantage of the free activities instead.  This was a family favorite at my house when my kids were little!

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Article of the Week: Building Vocabulary

When you think about building your child's vocabulary, do memories of flash cards and looking up definitions come to mind?  Authentic learning of vocabulary through reading and conversation is much more effective than memorizing a definition for a test.  Check out this article from Reading Rockets that offers some ideas to help expand your child's vocabulary at home.

Wednesday Resource: Storyline Online

The Screen Actors Guild operates a website called Storyline Online, where famous actors read their favorite childhood stories.  Visit storylineonline.net to find your favorite book or celebrity!

Article of the Week: More on Common Core

More on Common Core...I promise this will be one of my last posts about Common Core.  It just seemed like a logical place to start for the year.  This is a great article from Reading Rockets on how parents can support Common Core Standards at home.  It explains the vocabulary you may have seen in the Illinois Learning Standards, and how you can help your child at home.  Find the article HERE.