Image by Elizabeth/Table4Five via Flickr Up until recently, I had been feeling like I really messed up not sending Kaitlyn to preschool last September. I kept running across blog posts from other Moms of four year old girls, and their kids were writing their names and coloring pictures of people and houses and flowers, and since Kaitlyn isn't yet doing either of those things, I was feeling like a failure. Even though she wasn't fully potty trained at all last September which was our deciding factor in not sending her to school, and even though she CAN do a whole lot of pretty smart things now (including taking herself to the bathroom, FINALLY), I was doubting myself. But then over the last couple of days, Kaitlyn and I met some little girls who were exactly her size, who she instantly wanted to play with, who she just clicked with. Twice at the library and then again at the Sprint store, I sidled up to the other Moms and after telling them how cute their daughters were, … [Read more...]
Read This- Educating Esme: Diary Of A Teacher’s First Year
Originally published in 1999, Educating Esmé is technically the diary of Esmé Raji Codell’s first year teaching in a Chicago public school. But this book is so much more than just "today we did this, the next day we did that". Parents, teachers, anyone interested at all in our country's educational system, you really need to read this book. Hired at 24 to help open a new schoo and to teach fifth gradel, Madame Esmé (as she preferred to be called) soon finds herself taking phone calls from her boss at all hours of the night, teaching phonics to her class by having them make an alphabet museum "for the kindergarteners", bringing in her own reading books instead of using official textbooks, roller skates down the hall to pick up her kids from gym during a unit on inventors, teaches her students conflict resolution, makes a student teacher for the day, and has the kids do the Cha-Cha to learn double digit multiplication. Of all the out-of-the-box things that Madame Esmé describes … [Read more...]
Last minute SAT help!
So, the SATs are THIS SATURDAY. And your high school student might still need a little help getting ready. I don't know how much SAT prep courses usually cost, but Brightstorm's SAT Package Special, originally $147, is selling for $98. It includes: • 14+ hrs of online videos covering content review, strategy, tips and tricks • Interactive quizzes and downloadable practice problems and study guides • Self-diagnostic test to point out areas to improvement with links of specific videos to review • SAT practice problems and sample tests • Daily study planners • 24/7 access to online videos and downloadable practice sheets • Dynamic teachers who use real life examples to make learning fun If this sounds like something you can use, click here: I did absolutely nothing to prepare for the SATs and my scores reflected it. My verbal score was okay but my math score was horrible. I don't remember the minimum score required for the … [Read more...]
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