b'ages and ability levels, and it can range from you reading to thechild, you reading and the child pointing out high-frequency words,sharing the reading of a book (i.e., you read a page, the child readsapage),orthechildreadingindependently.Themoreachildreads, the more words he/she is exposed to and the wider theirvocabularyknowledgebecomes.Dontdiscountreadingtoyourcharges even if they are independent readers. Reading a chapterbook to your charges that they cant yet access themselves exposesthemtoahigher-levelvocabularyandcomprehension.Notonlythat, but its important for kids to hear how fluent readers read. Itwill pay countless dividends to have your charges get their noses inbooks in any capacity you can manage! Whileweoftenhearthatlearningshouldbefun,therealityofteaching means that sometimes its not. All children will eventuallyencounteratopicthatwillnotbetheirfavorite.WhileyoucanAlso, it is crucial to ask teachers about what kind of language they utilize strategies to make daily tasks more interesting and funlikeareusingtoteachcertainconcepts.Manywebsites,suchas writing words in shaving cream, building letters with dough, havingkhanacademy.com,willbreakaconceptdownintomanageable children highlight high-frequency words (kids LOVE to highlight!), orchunks that you can use to prepare for your lesson and to start your turning math facts memorization into gamessometimes childrensession off right.will not enjoy their learning time. While not everything in life is fun,encouraging a growth mindset can help students to see how theirDuring the summer months, some of the most important areas of hard work will pay off. If students learn how their brain works (i.e.,educational focus during the elementary school years are centered tailoring this information to fit the age of the child/ren) and whyaround reading and math. Setting aside daily time in each of these this learning is important (i.e., telling them that need to put the hardareas will help to support and continue learning at home. workinnowfortheirbrainstogrowlater),theywillcometounderstandthatyouhavetodothingsoverandoveragaintoHigh-Frequency Words: These are the words that most frequently create a new pathway in the brain for the information, and that theoccur in text. Since most of these words arent rule followers when new information will be useful to build on what comes next.it comes to spelling patterns, students must memorize what theylook like and how to spell them. Sightwords.com is a great resource Therearegoingtobetimesoffrustrationwhenstudentsarefor finding lists of high-frequency words. learning from home. I tell the parents and caregivers of my studentshttps://sightwords.com/sight-words/fry/ this: if you are spending more than ten minutes on home-basedworkandbothyouandyourchild/chargearefrustratedandPhonologicalAwarenessActivities:Thisisthenumberone confused,STOP!Nolearningorreviewoccurswhenfrustrationindicatorofearlyreadingsuccess,andtheyaresoeasytodo levels are high. Take a break, go outside, and have a mini recessbecause practice is all oral. Any work with syllables, onset-rime, and to clear your head and try going back to the work after the break.phonemes is crucial for reading development. Word rhyming games, Sometimes, however, this time still wont be successful because theclappingoutsyllables,andlisteningtoandnoticingnoisesare child needs another lesson or two to clarify the concept at hand. Ifphonological awareness activities that you are likely already doing you do not have the resources available to reteach the concept, tryathome.EarlyChildhoodTeacher.comhasseveralotherfun reaching out to the teacher. activities you can try with your charges. https://www.earlychildhoodteacher.org/blog/5-quick-easy-and- During the school year, I always encourage parents and caregiversfun-phonemic-awareness-activities/ to leave the worksheet/homework for another day and write a noteexplainingthefrustrationtotheteacher.ThisisusuallymuchMath Skill/Fact Practice: While the math skills/facts you practice appreciatedasitgivestheteacheraheadsupaboutanywill depend on the age of your charge/s, you can support math reteaching that the child might need at school. During the summerwith young children of any age. If your charge has not yet entered monthswhenyoumaybedoingalltheteachingyourself,usingfirstgrade,youllwanttofocusoncountingskills,one-to-one resources that have built-in support, such as Khan Academy, cancorrespondence (i.e., their counting matches up to the item they help to familiarize you with concepts that you will then be teachingare pointing to), and subitizing (i.e., being able to visually recognize to the children. Since many schools and school districts have theira quantity of five or less without having to count each item). For curriculumsonline,youmayevenbeabletousetheresourceskids in second grade and beyond, practice facts up to twenty for available (and which the child is already familiar with) to strengthenaddition and subtraction. Older students can practice facts up to and build knowledge over the summer months.twenty and memorize their multiplication facts. If you find yourself tasked with taking on a larger educational roleReading: On average, young children should spend at least ten during the summer, being prepared with the right information andminutes per day in a book.That time looks different for differentresources can help to make summer learning time successful.NannyMag.com15'