It's Time to Celebrate!!

Ending the summer with their skills strong and growing

 The other day I watched my dog River make muddy footprints on the sidewalk as we walked home in the evening and thought of the animal booklets your kiddos might be making. 😊 Do you have any photos of leaf prints or animal footprints to share?

Summer is so active, and it gives us many fun opportunities to strengthen and build their growing reading, writing and spelling skills with whole child/whole brain activities. Are you ready for another set of ideas? 

1. Study the world wherever you are, on vacation or at home. Explore their world for anything and everything that begins with or has phonetic concepts such as:

·       a particular sound that your children have previously studied

·       a particular consonant sound

·       a particular short vowel sound

·       a particular consonant digraph sound

·       a particular consonant blend sound

·       a particular long vowel sound

Have them draw and write about their finds and then have them learn more by exploring their finds on the internet for further reading, writing, spelling and drawing fun. This searching activity can be especially fun while gazing out car windows on long car rides.
 

2. Create outdoor art, outdoor paintings and/or sculptures.

Have them name their pieces and write descriptions about their motivation behind each piece. Explore different artists you or they enjoy, learning about the motivation behind their work.
 

3. Plan ahead - As the summer begins to wind down, plan a “gallery opening” of all their summer studies, booklets, and art projects. Make this a special time to be proud of their work and their growth. Have them create invitations and invite family, friends and neighbors for a fun picnic/potluck and “gallery” stroll. You’ll love watching their proud faces as they share their projects and learning with those who care about them.

This summer we send out four other whole child/whole brain summer activity emails with lots of fun and active whole child/whole brain activities that keeps their skills growing and strong. These are fun activities any time of the year, not just in the summer. 😊
Here are the links to the other four: 
It’s Summer – Whole Child/Whole Brain Ways to Keep Spelling Skills Strong
Keeping Skills Sharp During the Summer – It’s Important!
Having Fun While Keeping Their Skills Strong
Prints! Leaf, Foot, and Maybe Hand 
 
If you have questions about teaching whole child/whole brain or how Silent Elephant “e”™ truly is fun, effective and different, feel free to contact us here and go to silentelephante.com.

Keep a song in your heart!

Prints! Leaf, Foot, and Maybe Hand

Remember our main objective?
To keep their skills strong and growing in FUN and ACTIVE ways!

I’m pretty sure you and your kiddos are still in the process of writing and developing their skits or plays. Do you have any fun photos to share of the process?

What about photos from vacation adventures? I would love to see your photos and hear about how their skills stayed strong even when they were on vacation 😊.

Do you have other activities that have kept their skills active and growing that you would like to share with everyone? Send them to silentelephante@gmail.com and we’ll get them out for others to enjoy.
 
I have traveled back to Idaho for the months of July, August and most of September. Idaho’s dry climate is so different from Seattle’s that I always have to readjust to the weather. Thank goodness for air conditioning!
 
I do get to do three of my favorite activities when I’m in Idaho – working in our yard, having lunch with friends I haven’t seen in 9 months and huckleberry picking. I’m hoping the huckleberry crop is a big one, as I’m eager to get in the mountains and very eager for huckleberry apple pie. 
 
Would you like a few more fun and engaging ideas? 😊 

1. Study your own back yard—plants.

• Explore the plants in your yard or in your neighborhood in books and on the Internet.

• What do these plants need to thrive?

• Which plants are "friends", and which don't like to be around each other? There's a good deal of fun information out there about how plants communicate and how they help each other.

• Which plants are native to your climate, and which have been brought in?

• Write and draw a “How to Care For” booklet that includes the plants in your yard or in your neighborhood. Include what they need to thrive, how large they grow and who are their "friends".

• Explore YouTube for “how to” videos demonstrating how to make leaf prints, so your kiddos can include beautiful leaf prints in their “How to Care For” booklet.

 2. Study your own back yard—animals.

• Write and draw a booklet exploring the animals that are native to your environment, wild and domestic. Include where these animals live and what they need to thrive. Also include their friends. :)

• Get a book about animal footprints and/or research them on the Internet. Yesterday morning I saw racoon footprints! I love their little “fingers”. I’m including a photo.

• Include drawings of footprints in their animal booklet. Or, if you are lucky to see footprints like I was, include photos in their booklet.

• It’s also fun to extend this exploration into learning about their own fingerprints and how they are like no one else’s. 😊 They can include their hand or fingerprints in their booklet. They could also include all the handprints of those in your family and compare them.

3. Review the previous year’s reading, writing and spelling skills.

• If Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ was their reading program last year, review the skills they learned and analyze with them how those skills have made their summer explorations easier.

• If they didn’t learn with Silent Elephant “e”™ last year, do the same reviewing and analysis of the skills they learned and how their skills have grown through the summer.

HAVE FUN WITH THESE NEW IDEAS!  LEARNING WITH FUN IS IMPORTANT!
Fun is an integral part of Silent Elephant “e”™!
 

If you missed the last three emails with summer fun ideas, here are the links to the blog posts: 

• It's Summer - Whole Child/Whole Brain Ways to Keep Spelling Skills Strong

• Keeping Skills Sharp During the Summer - It's Important!

• Having Fun While Keeping Their Skills Strong

If you have further questions about summer activities that keep their skills growing, or wondering about how Silent Elephant “e”™ supports your teaching and their learning, contact us HERE or email us at silentelephante@gmail.com.

Having Fun While Keeping Their Skills Strong

Having fun while keeping their skills strong!

What fun new books have your children discovered? Have they found a new book series with the same main characters? Are they identifying with those main characters?
 

Please take a moment to drop me an email (silentelephante@gmail.com) about your favorite new books and the fun summer programs or activities that you and they have been enjoying.  Let’s share ideas and help each other.
 
Here are a few more fun activities that keep their skills strong:

1. Skits or plays use every one of their skills in reading, writing and spelling.

• Write skits or plays together. As you are writing a skit or a play with them, discuss characters, character development and setting to help them create believable characters and action. Have them write out the script either by hand or on a computer.

• Next do auditions for the parts, this is ALWAYS fun. Film the tryouts, watch each other and have fun positively critiquing.

• Together create scenery by researching the environment needed for the play or skit.

• During practice, help them memorize their parts and make their portrayal believable.

• Have them design invitations for the performance and send them out via hand-written cards, emails or texts.

• HAVE FUN AT THE BIG EVENT—performing for family, friends and neighbors.

• Lastly, review the performance with them by asking questions that encourage them to stretch their creativity as they think about their next play or skit.

1. Reviewing what they studied last year in science and social studies is important and can be really fun.

• Explore each subject further to extend their learning using the Internet, books, magazines, and your local library.

• Write, draw, and/or paint about how this new information and knowledge has changed their thoughts or ideas about their previously studied subjects.

• This expanded focus on subjects from last school year will keep their knowledge fresh and prepare them for the coming year.

1. Explore locations that your children might want to visit and locations that are on your bucket list.

• Research where you might want to go on the Internet and at your local library.

• Together draw, paint, or build projects that portray these places in art form. For instance, if Paris is a place you dream about, how can you build a model of the Eifel Tower or Notre Dame?

• Write about what you learned in your exploration that either excites you even more to travel to these places or has you thinking about taking it off your bucket list. This makes for good discussion. 😊

• Share your projects with other members of your family who might want to join you on your adventure.

 The main point is to HAVE FUN and to KEEP THEIR SKILLS GROWING!
 

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us. Also check out these blog posts at silentelephante.com, Ten Fun Spelling Activities and Summer's Here, Keeping Those Skills Active and Strong for more ideas. 
Again, send us any other fun activities you've found successful, and we will get them out to everyone.
Have questions? Contact us here.

Keep a song in your heart!

Keeping Skills Sharp During the Summer - It's Important!

It’s Summer - YAY!

 Sometimes when the warm weather arrives, it can bring a feeling of
“It’s summer! The kids need a break from reading.”

But the truth is, nothing could be further from the truth—especially for your young (or older) one who is in any way iffy in their reading, writing and spelling skills or has any learning difference such as dyslexia.
 
It’s true that you and they may enjoy a break from the “normal” routines, but taking a break from practicing the skills they have accomplished thus far isn’t a great idea.

In fact, and I know you know this, it’s very important for you to read to your children and have them read to you every day all year long. 😊 And, especially important if they have a learning difference like dyslexia or are struggling in any way.
 
Taking a long break from their reading, writing and spelling skills can cause them to lose ground they worked so hard to achieve. And worse, this sense of loss causes their confidence to take a large dip when they try to get back into the swing and realize they aren’t as good as they were.
 
This dip is one they don’t need to experience and one that is easy to avoid.

Here are some beginning ideas to change up reading, writing and spelling for the summer. We'll be sending others out as the summer goes along. We have some great summer ideas planned for you. 😊
 
With your kids, make a plan for reading, writing and spelling for the summer!

• Check out summer reading programs at the local library and bookstores.

• Make a list of books you and they would like to read.

• Write and draw about the books you/they enjoy by sharing what interested you/them in the book, your/their impressions of the book and author, and how the book sparked new interests to explore.

• Make a list of subjects you and they are interested in exploring. Write about why these subjects caught your/their attention. Then discuss why you and they are interested in learning more about them.

• Before you head off on a trip, even if it’s just for the weekend, explore where you’ll be going in books and on the Internet, and write plans for what you’d like to do when you arrive. Exploring and planning practices their skills plus, it sets up positive expectation for fun.

• Make a daily plan for when you will be reading to them and they to you.

• Review my blog post “10 Fun Spelling Activities” and get out the pudding!

THE main objective–
KEEP THOSE READING, WRITING AND SPELLING SKILLS STRONG AND ACTIVE.

If you have questions about other summer activities or have some you have enjoyed and would like to share, email us at silentelephante@gmail.com or head to our Facebook group Silent Elephant "e"™, LLC Group. 
If you have questions about Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ there's plenty of info at silentelephante.com and, of course, you can always email us or go to here. We'd love to set up a time to visit with you. 

It's Summer - Whole Child/Whole Brain Ways to Keep Spelling Skills Strong

It's Summer - Whole Child/Whole Brain Ways to Keep Spelling Skills Strong

It's summer and everything always looks a little different in the summer, even our schooling. 

Let's look at some different multi-sensory techniques that activate the whole child, the whole brain, and will keep spelling skills strong through the summer (or any season 😊).

1. When children are writing spelling words with a regular pencil, have them write the letter(s) that are tricking them or challenging them in a bright red color. This analysis of what is tricking them takes the word and its meaning into another part of their brain enhancing their retention of the word. The red color helps stimulate visual memory. 

2. Have them practice their words with two fingers (pointer and middle) in pudding spread on a rimmed cookie sheet. As you can imagine, this is a very popular way to practice spelling words. The tactile sensations of the coldness and smoothness of the pudding plus the sweet smell activates multiple parts of the brain. (Have them wash their hands first because you know they are going to lick their fingers. 😊) 

3. Using two fingers to write their words in red aquarium sand spread out in cold water on a rimmed cookie sheet stimulates both tactile and visual parts of the brain. The tactile sensations of the sand and the cold water plus the red color of the sand activates multiple parts of the brain. 

4. Shaving cream is also fun. Like the pudding and aquarium sand the tactile sensations and the smell of writing their words in shaving cream on a cookie sheet activates multiple parts of the brain at the same time. (I buy shaving cream for this purpose at a dollar store.) 

5. Writing their spelling words in the bathtub using bathtub crayons always brings giggles. It also stimulates many parts of the brain and is, of course, just fun and oh so pretty. 

6. Take their words outside! Let them write spelling words with two fingers or using a stick in sand or mud. When your kids move outside to focus on spelling, their brain connects their learning with all environments. Spelling isn’t just a school related skill. 

7. Another tactile stimulus that helps them feel the writing of their words through their fingertips is writing them on sandpaper. Have them write the words first in bright colors and then trace them with their fingers. This activates visual parts of the brain as well.  

8. Then there is "Rainbow Writing". :) "Rainbow Writing" is writing their spelling words using multiple crayons, colored pencils or colored markers at the same time.  Kids love this and the colors activate the visual part of the brain as they form the letters of their words. 

9. Get a strong, sturdy large rectangular cardboard box about 12” x 10” x 1.5” with a lid. Line it with red duct tape. Pour two to three boxes of table salt into the box. Now, have them practice their spelling words with two fingers in the salt. This stimulates both tactile and visual memory with the roughness of the salt and the color of the box.

10. Pretend that your child’s back is a writing board and write their spelling words with two fingers on his/her back. You may need to write slowing as they will be intensely figuring out the word you are writing.  After they have figured out the word you're writing “erase” the word by gently rubbing their back. This is especially important if they are dyslexic or a struggling with spelling. “Erasing” helps their brain “let go” of what they were just intensely figuring out and get ready for a new word. 

• Writing on their back takes their words into so many parts of their brain. They must activate multiple parts of their brain that help them identify the letters in a completely different way. They are not using their sight at all. Their brain must connect the letters they have identified through the touch on their back into a word that has meaning to them and that they can identify by sight. 

• Now, switch places with them and let them write on your back. You'll both get the giggles. 

• IMPORTANT - Do this activity only after they have written the word in other tactile activities and have both a solid knowledge of the word's meaning and visual memory of the word.                                                             

Have fun “playing” with your kiddos as they keep their spelling skills strong this summer. You’ll enjoy their smiles and feelings of success!

If you have used other multi-sensory spelling activities that you have enjoyed and found successful, please send it our way. (silentelephante@gmail.com) We'll get them out to everyone to use this summer.  
If you have questions about spelling the Silent Elephant “e”™  way, feel free to contact us.
Keep a song in your heart!

End of a School Year Celebration

End of a School Year Celebration

 Wow! Here we are at the beginning of May when our minds turn to planning what we’re doing this summer and, for many, winding school down for the year. 
 
Looking ahead like that makes this time of the year the perfect time to celebrate all the growth in learning that has happened since the leaves turned colors last fall. I strongly encourage celebrating your kiddos growth. They have done a lot of hard work that needs acknowledgment with celebration.
 
Here are a couple of ideas that will hopefully spark ideas for celebrating.
 

1. First, let’s let celebrating have no boundaries. 😊 So, get out all the art supplies - pencils, pens, paints, and notebooks. You will want to have anything they and you could possibly want to use to create works that celebrate the progress of this year.

   Yes, you get to celebrate too! You have grown this year as well and celebrating with your lovelies shares with them that they get to enjoy growing even when they are adults.
    

2. To get the mental juices flowing, begin with a fun brainstorming session to help you and your kiddos remember where they were and the path they enjoyed getting to where they are now in all their studies.

   What do I mean by brainstorming? Just start writing and/or quick drawing as fast as they can anything and everything as it comes to mind about the year. Have them share as they are recording their thoughts and you do the same. This will stimulate more memories and fun.
    

3. Take time to celebrate as you go along. Step back with them and admire yours and their brainstorming “work”. Take time to truly enjoy ALL that you’ve discovered this year.

4. You can approach Step 4 in a couple of ways.

• They can timeline their writings and drawing to share the steps from then to now. They may find more to add to the timeline.

• They can pick out projects they accomplished that demonstrates their progress at specific points in time. They may want to write and draw more about those.

It doesn’t matter how you approach it with them, the only thing that matters is continuing the feeling of celebration that is growing as they look at their own progress through the last year.

Then, decide a way to culminate their celebration. You may want to have a special time and invite family and friends to share in the fun as they share their learning of this last year. Food is always fun at these occasions. 

On this topic, I must share a fun post I ran into of a young boy celebrating his year by putting on a piano concert for all his stuffed animals. He published a pamphlet sharing the pieces he would be playing and their origins. He arranged chairs for his audience and took time to announce every piece with a little background. It was a delight to watch, in fact, I had to watch it twice. 😊
 
I hope you have fun celebrating this school year as it comes to a close. I welcome pics or videos of your celebrations. I would love to share in your joy.

Click here for information about Silent Elephant “e”™ .

Contact us at:

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones 208-859-4406 Nina Henson 208-860-3125

or email at silentelephante@gmail.com.

Summer Loss Can Be a Real Thing

Summer Loss Can Be a Real Thing

How to make sure your children return to school in the fall

having advanced or remained steady in their skills not dropped in reading levels.

As educators, we need to ask ourselves what we can do to ensure all of our students advance their reading level during the summer. 

Summer usually presents unique opportunities for learning: traveling, camping, visiting relatives and friends, swimming lessons, educational camps, etc. 

Summer is also a time when we hopefully can slow down and catch our breath.  We relish quiet, peaceful times. We enjoy relaxing visits to grandma and grandpa’s house.  We delight in the time when we’re having fun baking, drawing, playing, and reading with our children at a much slower pace.  

We value and appreciate these gifts of summer so much so that it makes it difficult to pull ourselves and our children away to focus on their reading, writing and spelling skills. 

I know this. I’ve been in your shoes. 

I also know THIS:  

Struggling readers, writers and spellers especially must not experience a lapse in routine, review and practice over summer vacation. Their need for a predictable schedule that continues to reinforce and grow their skills cannot be overlooked.  

A daily routine of 30–180 minutes of reading aloud, reading silently, reading sight word cards, reviewing the previous school year’s worksheets and subject content is critical to prevent summer loss.  

I always end the school year by giving multiple suggestions and materials to parents to help maintain and advance their child’s skills over the summer. For further summer support, my summer emails share multiple fun and interesting ideas for engaging children’s language arts skills as summer progresses. I check in from time to time with parents to encourage them to continue striving towards their goal that their children will experience no summer loss. 

When tutoring begins in the fall, I ask my students’ parents about the reading, writing and spelling activities their child engaged in during the summer.  

I ask if their child read a book or books over the summer, reviewed their papers from last school year, practiced their sight word cards, and/or did other reading, writing and spelling activities such as writing plays and journaling their summer explorations.  

My students whose skills remained solid and my students who advanced a reading level practiced language arts skills plus they challenged themselves to read challenging books. Many parents actively participated in practicing their child’s reading, writing and spelling skills consistently with their children. Parents and children alike bubbled over with eagerness to share what they did over the summer. 

One of my goals when I wrote Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” was to write a reading program that prevents summer loss.  

I am so pleased that this goal has come to fruition.  

Here’s another wonderful indicator of the power of learning reading, writing and spelling skills with Silent Elephant “e” - my students who have graduated from the program are flying with success in school.   

When they graduate from me, they are two to four grade levels ahead in reading! 

I know I don’t have to worry about summer loss with them, because they are doing so well in school and loving language arts so much that they read and write all of the time.  

I do know this, because I get lots of phone calls, letters and texts from my Silent Elephant “e” graduates and their parents. We miss each other so much after developing such a caring, rewarding bond that we need to keep in touch! 

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Silent Elephant “e” Will Help You Through the Summer and Beyond

Silent Elephant “e” Will Help You Through the Summer and Beyond 

How are you feeling about your kids as summer approaches? 

Do you have concerns about their reading, writing and spelling—

concerns about how ready they are for next fall? 

Do you want to spend productive learning time this summer that doesn’t cut into summer fun? 

Are you looking for summer school materials that insure thorough, complete, easy to follow directions that actually make learning to read, write and spell successful and fun? 

LET YOURSELF IMAGINE THAT YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

AND YOUR WORRIES ABOUT YOUR YOUNG ONES (OR TEENAGERS) HAVE DISAPPEARED! 

Imagine you have a program that is

easy for you,

successful for them,

doesn’t require hours a day,

is FUN,

and you can take it on the road!!

Imagine a program with a success record like this: Over the last eight year, on average, students:

Advanced 1 grade level for every 2 months of instruction

Advanced to their age-appropriate grade leve in 4 months (some in as little as 2.5 months)

Advance 4.5 grade levels with 6 months of instruction

Mastered Part 1, Phonemic Awareness within 3 months

OF COURSE, that program is Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”!

Easy for you, successful for them, and FUN!

Here’s another important piece of data: Those wonderful results were accomplished in only 45-60 minutes of instruction periods TWICE A WEEK!

Just imagine the multiple grade level advancement children will achieve in a full week summer school program providing 60-minute instructional periods using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. 

Now imagine they are feeling strong in their reading skills, proud of their knowledge and accomplishments and eager to take on the next school year. That is a GOOD feeling. 

OH YES, I get to share the data that makes my heart sing every time I share it: 

In the last five years, 9 of my students have successfully exited out of Special Education!

This really is special. Being staffed out of special education is pretty much unheard of. All 9 of these students are now competent, confident students, eager about learning and proud of themselves and their accomplishments. (Check out Testimonials - some of their stories are there.)

And now imagine that Silent Elephant “e” is not only

easy for you,

fun for them,

successful for everyone.

easily fits into your schedule, and

it’s easy to order!

Check out our store! 

Put a copy of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” in your hands! It will change things!

If you have further questions, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

Get a PLAN for Summer Activities and Do It

Get a PLAN for Summer Activities and DO It

A FUN summer (or anytime of the year) activity is practicing writing words in pudding. It’s a wonderfully fun way to begin educational summer activities and there are many different flavors of pudding which keeps it interesting.  

Sometimes when the warm weather arrives, it can bring a feeling of “It’s summer! The kids need a break from reading.” 

But here’s the truth!! 

Nothing could be further from the truth—especially for a dyslexic reader, a struggling reader, a child with learning differences, and really for every reader! 

It’s true that they’ll get a break from the “normal” routines of school,

but taking a break from practicing their reading, writing and spelling skills is not a good idea.  

In fact, it’s absolutely vital that you read to your children and have them read to you every day summer, winter, spring and fall.   

This is especially vital if they are dyslexic or struggling in any way.  

Taking a two to three month break in practicing their reading skills will cause them to lose ground on their skills they worked so hard to achieve.  

This sense of loss will cause their confidence to take a large dip when they return to reading, writing and spelling, because they will realize they no longer have the skills they worked hard to learn.  

This is a dip they do not need to take and one that can set them back further than the two to three months of summer break. 

What to do? 

Make a plan for reading, writing and spelling this summer!

·       Check out summer programs at the local library and bookstores.

·       Make a list of books you and they would like to read.

·       Make a list of subjects you and they are interested in exploring.

-Write a couple of sentences about why these subjects have caught your and their attention.

-Discuss why you and they are interested in learning more about these subjects.

·       Before you head off on vacation, explore where you will be going in books and on the Internet, and write plans for what you’d like to do when you arrive at your vacation destination. Exploring and planning practices their skills and sets up positive expectation of the fun they will have.

·       Review my blog post “10 Fun Spelling Activities” and get out the pudding! 

Make your main objectives –

KEEP THEM READING, WRITING AND SPELLING!!

KEEP THEIR SKILLS STRONG. 

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us. We have MANY ideas waiting for you.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

Fun Multi-sensory Whole Child Summer Activities

Fun Multi-sensory Whole Child Summer Activities

Our main objectives this summer –

KEEP THEM READING and KEEP THEIR SKILLS STRONG! 

What fun new books have your children discovered? Have they found a new book series with the same main characters? Are they identifying with those main characters?  

Please take a moment to drop me an email about your favorite new books and the fun summer programs or activities that have been meeting our objectives of keeping them reading and keeping their skills strong. Let’s share ideas and help each other. 

Here are a few more activities to keep children’s skills strong:

1.    Skits or plays use every one of their skills in reading, writing and spelling.

·       Write skits or plays together. As you are writing a skit or a play with them, discuss characters, character development and setting to help them create believable characters and action. Have them write out the script either by hand or on a computer.

·       Next do auditions for the parts, as this is ALWAYS fun. Film the tryouts, watch each other and have fun positively critiquing each other.

·       Together create scenery by researching the environment needed to make the scenery fit the play or the skit.

·       During practice, help them memorize their parts and make their portrayal believable.

·       Have them design invitations for the performance and send them out via hand-written cards, emails or texts.

·       Enjoy THE BIG EVENT—performing for family, friends and neighbors.

·       Lastly, review the performance with them by asking questions that encourage them to stretch their creativity.

2.    Review with your children topics they studied last year in science and social studies.

·       Explore each subject further to extend their learning using the Internet, books or magazines.

·       Write, draw, and/or paint about how this new information and knowledge has changed their thoughts or ideas about their previously studied subjects.

·       This expanded focus on subjects from last school year will keep their knowledge fresh and prepare them for the coming year.

3.    Explore locations that your children might want to visit and locations that are on your bucket list. 

·       Research these locations on the Internet and at your local library.

·       Together draw, paint, or build projects that portray these places in art form.

·       Write about what all of you learned in your exploration that either excites you even more to travel to these places or has you thinking about taking it off your bucket list.

·       Share your projects with other members of your family who might want to join you on an adventure.

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

More Fun Whole Child Summer Activities

More Fun Whole Child Summer Activities

Remember our main objectives –

KEEP THEM READING and KEEP THEIR SKILLS STRONG. 

Do you have any fun photos to share from your skits or plays?

What about photos from vacation adventures? 

I would love to see your photos and hear about your travels. 

I have traveled back to Idaho for the months of July and August.

Idaho’s dry climate is so different from Seattle’s that I always have to readjust to the weather. Thank goodness for air conditioning! 

I do get to do two of my favorite activities when I’m in Idaho – yard work and huckleberry picking. I’m hoping the huckleberry crop is a big one, as I’m eager to get in the mountains and very eager for huckleberry apple pie.   

Do you need a few more fun and engaging ideas? 😊 

1.    Study your own back yard—plants.

·       Explore the plants in your yard or in your neighborhood in books and on the Internet.

·       What do these plants need to thrive?

·       Write and draw a “How to Care For” booklet that includes all plants in your yard or in your neighborhood.

·       Explore YouTube for “how to” videos demonstrating how to make leaf prints, so children can include beautiful leaf prints in their “How to Care For” booklet.

2.    Study your own back yard—animals.

·       Write and draw a booklet exploring the animals that are native to your environment, wild and domestic.

·       Get a book about animal footprints and/or research them on the Internet.

·       Include drawings of footprints in their animal booklet.

3.    Review the previous year’s reading, writing and spelling skills.

·       If Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” was their reading program last year, review the skills they learned and analyze with them how those skills made their summer explorations easier.

·       If they did not learn with Silent Elephant “e” last year, do the same reviewing and analysis with the skills they learned.

HAVE FUN WITH THESE NEW IDEAS!

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Even MORE Whole Child Activities

Even MORE Whole Child Activities

Our main objectives are always –

KEEP THEM READING and KEEP THEIR SKILLS STRONG. 

Summer is moving along!

Do you have any photos of leaf prints or animal footprints to share? 

I saw my dog River’s muddy footprints on the sidewalk and thought of the booklets you might be making. 😊 

Here’s one more fun set of ideas to keep their skills strong! 

1.    Study the world where you are, whether on vacation or at home, exploring for anything and everything that begins with or has: 

-a particular sound that your children have previously studied,

-a particular consonant sound,

-a particular short vowel sound,

-a particular consonant digraph sound,

-a particular consonant blend sound,

-a particular long vowel sound.

Draw and write about their finds. For further reading and writing, explore their finds on the Internet.  

This searching activity would be especially fun while gazing out car windows on long car rides.

2. Create outdoor art, outdoor paintings and/or sculptures.

Have them name their pieces and write descriptions about their motivation behind each piece.

3. As the summer begins to wind down, plan a gallery opening of all their summer art projects and booklets. Make this a special time of sharing what they are proud of. Invite family, friends and neighbors for a fun picnic and gallery stroll.

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Question - How Are You Feeling About School Starting?

How Are You Feeling About School Starting? 

It’s August! And even though summer is in full swing, thoughts of school are in the air. 

If you ended last school year eager for summer to begin because you were concerned about your children’s learning and you needed a break from watching them struggle, you’ll find that your worries are still lurking around the hotdogs and the swimming pool. 

Now is the time to sit down and ask yourself these questions:

·       Am I feeling confident about this coming school year?

·       Am I feeling concerned--a little concerned, or a lot concerned?

·       What specifically am I concerned about?

·       Am I feeling that my children are ready, eager, and confident to begin this new school year?

·       Am I sensing that my children are feeling stress at just the thought of the quickly approaching school year? 

No matter how old your children are, you know their feelings about the coming school year, and you know that you are experiencing similar feelings. 

If they are stressed, scared, and unsure, you are feeling that stress too.  

Here’s an action you can take to relieve your mind and heart if your answers to these questions leave you wondering, “WHAT can I do?” 

Contact us!

It’s that simple.

Call or email. 

We have expertise, knowledge and experience, and we will truly love helping you. 

Together we’ll explore and find the best path for your child/children. We’ll begin with an understanding of how they learn. We’ll discuss if they have dyslexia and/or another learning difference. We’ll discover and list skills they need. 

Whatever their individual and specific needs are, we will address them and set up the best path for you to guide them to achieve their successes in school and life.  

Together our intention will be to ensure that your child/children are eager, ready and competent for whatever the school year brings. 

EVERY child, EVERY student deserves to feel that they are and always will be successful.  

For those of you are who are reading this and thinking, “YAY! I feel so good about where my young ones are and how they are doing,”

THAT IS SO EXCELLENT! 

And please do this! 

Please stop for a few minutes and let your mind think back to any conversations or times when you noticed a friend or family member who was not feeling that same confidence in their children’s success. 

PLEASE tell them about Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” and explain why you are telling them about Silent Elephant “e” —because you are concerned about them and their worries about their children. 

AND, because EVERY child, EVERY student deserves to feel the confidence

that they are and always will be a success! 

We feel so honored that we are here to help! We are eager to visit with you. 

If you have further questions about preparing for the coming school year, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Winter Break Ideas :) Keep Budding Skills Strong During Winter Break

Keep Budding Skills Strong During Winter Break

Winter break isn’t different, just shorter. :) 

We all know that the holiday season is a time when things get hectic as we add many exciting activities into our days. The winter break from school is a welcome relief for our children and us. 

But please remember, just like during summer break, your kiddos need to practice their reading, writing and spelling skills during winter break. If they don’t practice, their skills can slip, especially if they struggle with reading, writing and spelling. I don’t want any of them to begin a new year feeling like they’ve lost ground. 

Winter break does give us the opportunity to introduce different subjects as they practice their skills. 

Here are a few ideas: 

1.    Have your children write and draw about your family’s holiday traditions and where they came from. Interviewing you, their grandparents, their aunts and their uncles will open up your children’s eyes about family traditions and why they are important to your family. Interviewing requires them to use all their skills as they speak clearly, take notes and write stories. Plus, interviewing loved ones strengthens family ties.

2.    If you are traveling for Christmas, it’s the perfect opportunity to explore new places. Research with you children where you are going, how long it will take to get there, how many miles you will be traveling, what the weather is like where you’re going and how winter holidays are celebrated there. These activities offer lots of opportunities to write and draw.

3.    Another fun exploration is researching holiday customs in other parts of the world. For instance, in Australia Christmas is in the middle of summer. How different are their customs?

4.    Cooking and baking is a great way to write, draw and practice skills. Children have to read recipes and use their decoding skills on any words that are unfamiliar. They will learn new vocabulary and practice measuring.

Holiday baking is filled with some wonderfully tasty and aromatic spices. Explore where cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves come from.

A VERY fun exploration is researching what is happening when something is baking or cooking. How does that blob of cookie dough turn into that flat cookie you want to eat? They can watch with you through the window of the oven and document what is happening by drawing and writing. What happens if you don’t bake it long enough or if you bake it too long is another fun exploration.

5.    And of course, it’s very important to take a half hour or more each day to reread their work from the first part of the school year. This keeps everything fresh in their minds and ready for January.

Perfect times to reread their past work are:

o       Traveling - there’s lots of down time.

o       During the 12-14 minutes it takes for cookies to bake.

o       While they are eating a warm cookie and waiting for the next batch to bake.

o       During those last sweet moments before you tuck them into bed.

o       I know you have many other perfect times.          

My strong, heart-felt encouragement – please don’t let your kiddos’ skills fall back during winter break, especially if they have been struggling. Plan your explorations and practice with them before the winter break begins. With your plans in place, their practice and explorations won’t slip to the sidelines. They have to practice daily in order to keep their budding skills strong.

If you have further questions about winter break activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson