education

Navigating Life, Work, and Study: A Guide for Parents

08/15/2024 by admin

Photo via Pexels

Here is another insightful Guest Post by Susan Good, a 38-year veteran of the classroom! Be sure to check out her website at retiredteacher.org for sage advice about teaching and writing!

Parents Can Navigate Life, Work, and Study With This Guide

Juggling the demands of family, career, and further education often feels akin to navigating a labyrinth with shifting walls. Nevertheless, the pursuit of educational development alongside personal and professional responsibilities remains an enriching experience. This guide, presented by Kinney Brothers Publishing, offers tangible steps to harmonize these elements, ensuring you remain steadfast on the path to lifelong learning and personal development.

Involve The Kids in Cleanup

Involve your children in tasks like tidying and organizing your home. One approach is setting a 30-minute countdown, encouraging kids to see how much they can clean up before the buzzer goes off. Not only does this make your living environment more conducive to study, but it also instills a sense of responsibility and teamwork in young minds. Furthermore, you’re actively demonstrating how organization aids in balancing multiple life aspects — valuable life wisdom children can carry into adulthood.

Create a Work and Study Space

Creating a dedicated room in your home for working and studying can greatly enhance productivity and focus. Start by choosing a quiet area with plenty of natural light, and furnish it with ergonomic furniture to ensure comfort during long study or work sessions. For any construction or renovation tasks that you don’t feel comfortable handling on your own, use a home repair and maintenance app to connect with qualified contractors who can assist with the setup. This way, you can ensure the space is professionally completed and tailored to your specific needs.

Craft a Purpose-Driven Agenda

The essence of mastering multiple responsibilities lies in effective scheduling; design a daily plan that partitions time for studying, working, and family activities. Allocate time slots judiciously, paying heed to deadlines and levels of importance. Following a calendar isn’t just about ticking off to-do lists; it’s a practical strategy to harmonize different life facets. This way, stress dissipates, and a newfound sense of control prevails.

Explore Learning Resources

Exploring learning resources beyond the classroom is an excellent way to support your children’s education and cater to their unique needs. Whether it’s for supplementing schoolwork or exploring new interests, a variety of tools can enhance their learning experience. For children learning English as a second language, ESL worksheets from Kinney Brothers Publishing offer engaging and comprehensive materials to help build language skills. These resources are designed to be both educational and enjoyable, making learning a rewarding experience for young learners.

Leverage Digital Tools for Time Allocation

Managing time effectively doesn’t have to be a cumbersome, hands-on task, especially with the proliferation of contemporary digital tools. Applications that function as calendars, task organizers, and reminder systems play a pivotal role in maintaining a well-ordered life. These digital resources act almost like virtual personal organizers, keeping you abreast of academic deadlines, work obligations, and important family events. By automating these reminders, you free up mental space for more pressing decision-making tasks, enhancing overall productivity.

Cultivate a Support System

While individual prowess is commendable, a supportive environment magnifies your capabilities. Whether it’s divvying up household tasks with your partner or leaning on friends for emotional backing, collaboration makes the journey smoother. Establish open lines of communication with your support network and make delegation a part of your strategy. Doing so not only lightens your load but often provides a more diverse set of solutions to everyday challenges.

While the expedition of balancing career, family, and education may be intricate, it is far from insurmountable. Involving your children in home organization, sticking to a well-crafted schedule, taking advantage of remote learning, employing digital tools for time management, and nurturing a network of support are formidable steps toward mastering this balance. It’s not just about surviving the juggle; it’s about thriving through it. With a committed approach and these actionable strategies, success in this multi-faceted endeavor isn’t just possible — it’s achievable.

Fun and Educational Toys For Your Little Ones

07/14/2022 by admin

This is a guest post by writer and designer, Andrea Gibbs, a blog contributor at Baby Steps Preschool where she writes story-time themes, parenting tips, and seasonal activities to entertain children. Enjoy!

As parents, we want to witness our children become the best they can be. We want them to have opportunities to explore and see the world in so many ways. However, in order to be ready for the world outside, a child must improve the essential skills needed to succeed in school. As a parent, we obviously want to encourage our children to be good readers, gain the knowledge they need to succeed in the future, and lastly, we want them to become faithful in the process.

This article will discuss various fun educational toys that can help a child become a better learner. The toys will aid the child’s learning by providing them with enrichment activities that promote their cognitive abilities. The toys are made with interdisciplinary studies in mind and teach lessons through play.

What are Educational Toys?

Educational toys are those that have been developed with the purpose of helping children learn and enhance their development. They may be toys specifically designed to help a child develop certain skill sets, or they may be your normal traditional toys that have been modified slightly to provide more learning opportunities. Some toys have been specifically built to stimulate the senses and help get kids excited about learning. This is an important part of early child development. Some educational toys teach reading, writing, listening, and math skills. A lot of educational toys are available, and the most popular ones have been developed with the help of parents with children in consideration.

Fun and Educational Toys For Your Little Ones:

There are many toys out there that can help your children learn in an entertaining way. You have probably seen some toys at the local toy store, but there are even more online that you can buy for your little ones. We must try to be as interactive as possible when teaching our kids something new. Putting some sort of teaching material in front of a child and expecting them to learn while playing is a very ineffective way of getting them to learn something. If you want your kids to learn something, sit down with them and play with them as they use the educational toy.

The following are some fun and educational toys for your children.

1. LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set

It is an excellent first phonics toy for your little one, who is learning to determine uppercase letters and their corresponding sounds. Phonics Magnetic Letter Set is portable and includes a magnetic backing to be placed on the front of the refrigerator or a magnetic whiteboard. Kids choose a letter, utilize their small hands to maneuver it into place just like a puzzle, then push it to hear the letter and letter sound through a song.

2. Board Books

Board books are excellent for little hands and are a simple way to teach your children the basics of reading. Most of the best sellers out there have been published in board book format, so even if you want to give your little ones a taste of what reading good books is all about, you can always buy them one. There are various types of board books out there, including phonics, counting, and color recognition books.

3. Watercolor Paints

Watercolor paints are very good for young children because they have the opportunity to use their imagination and creativity to just doodle and paint anything they want. It is a great way to develop their sense of color recognition and increase their fine motor skills as they try to use watercolor paints with small brushes. You can set up some easel or table and let them go at it.

4. Alphabet Marks The Spot Floor Mat

This mat is a good addition to any child’s play area. This mat is great for play but also is a learning tool. Children will love running towards the letter or letter sound you mention. You can begin with playing by letter names and if children get comfortable playing it, then progress to letter sounds.

5. Dominoes

While it is essential to enhance your child’s muscle strength to perform tasks, it is also important that you provide them with educational toys to improve their memory. This is where you can use dominoes. These dominoes will help advance your child’s memory and counting skills. You can also end up teaching them the concept of one-to-one correspondence with letters through the use of this toy.

6. The Sound Box

This box is an ideal first toy to help your child develop a good sense of hearing. And the great thing is you don’t need to spend an amount to buy this toy. You can make this at home with your child if you want to. You may use your old small containers like the old camera canisters, then collect items that make a distinctive sound like shells, pennies, sugar, rice, and bells. Your child will truly love this toy.

7. Bicycle

A bicycle is one of the most common toys used by children. It is a fun way to get exercise while at the same time helping them learn to ride a bike. Children will get more than just exercise when riding a bicycle; it will help them improve gross motor skills by working on endurance, strengthening, and coordination. Additionally, bike riding helps with full-body sensory awareness along with visual stimulation.

8. Alphabet Tracing Board

For toddlers who are just learning their letters, the tracing board is a great toy that can help them understand each letter’s formation. It is a good way for them to develop hand-eye coordination and dexterity as they try to hold their pointer and place it in the correct spot on the board. It is a great learning toy and will help enhance your children’s fine motor skills.

9. Magnetic Tiles Building Blocks Set

Critical thinking is an essential skill for preschoolers as well. It involves the ability to problem solve and try to figure out a solution for the problems that they come across. Using magnetic tiles is a great way to develop their mental development. Children will be able to form any structures of their own or make any vehicles that they want. They will spend hours building and trying to get the perfect structure. Kids can build in any direction, so they never run out of things to do with this toy.

Final Thoughts

These educational toys should not be simply set out for children to play with; adults should engage in play with these toys as well. As a parent, it is important to engage with them during their play time as you have the opportunity to increase their vocabulary, improve conversation skills and learn how they think. You can do this by adding additional questions or challenges while they are playing.

These toys are not only educational but will also help give your children confidence and encourage them to explore their full potential. If you want to know more about toys for children, it is best for parents to consult their pediatricians and ask for recommendations on what educational toy would be best for their kids.

Author Bio:

Andrea Gibbs is currently the head of content management at SpringHive Web Design Company, a digital agency that provides creative web design, social media marketing, email marketing, and search engine optimization services to small businesses and entrepreneurs. She is also a blog contributor at Baby Steps Preschool where she writes storytime themes, parenting tips, and seasonal activities to entertain children.

Spelling Bees – A Brief History

07/26/2020 by admin

Though this post was intended to be exclusive to my weekly Fun Facts About English, I feel that, given the events happening in the United States in 2020, this bit of history is quite apropos and a story worth sharing more widely. As Americans, we are being called upon to acknowledge our racist past, join together in solidarity, and move forward with greater efforts to ensure equality and fairness for all Americans — including those seeking asylum on our shores.

Kinney Brothers Publishing Spelling Bees A Brief History

I hate to admit that, even given multiple tries, I probably wouldn’t be able to spell the two dinosaur names above. I sit in awe of people who spell well. I also know I’m not alone when it comes to my spelling disabilities.

The English language has had spelling issues for a very, very long time. In centuries past, there have been compilers and reformers who tried to catalogue and standardize the English language. From Richard Mulcaster’s The first Part of the Elementarie in 1582, Samuel Johnson’s comprehensive and highly influential dictionary of 1755, and Noah Webster’s 19th century American dictionary, we are making strides toward standardization, but the myriad exceptions force us to rely on rote learning and memory to be a good speller.

Blue-backed Speller Kinney Brothers Publishing

First published in 1786, Webster’s spelling books, known colloquially as “The Blue-backed Speller,” were an essential part of the elementary school curriculum in the United States for five generations. These spelling primers were the impetus for the earliest spelling contests; an activity to motivate students to learn standardized spelling. The first such spelling matches were recorded in 1808. From about 1850, local events were referred to as “spelling bees.”

The word bee has been used to describe a get-together or communal work, such as a husking bee, a quilting bee, or an apple bee. The word likely comes from a dialectal been or bean, meaning “help given by neighbors” from the Middle English word bene.

Spelling bees were usually held in individual schools and towns and weren’t yet nationally organized. In 1908, the National Education Association (NEA) held the “first national spelling bee” in Cleveland, Ohio as part of its 46th annual convention. The NEA Spelling Bee was a team-based competition held at the Hippodrome Theater where six thousand people attended, including convention speaker, Booker T. Washington.

NEA Spelling Bee Kinney Brothers Publishing

Even before the competition, some members of the all-White Louisiana team took offense at having to compete on the same stage with Ohio’s racially-integrated teams. Nonetheless, Marie Bolden, a thirteen-year-old Black girl from Cleveland, was named champion and awarded the gold medal. Marie’s victory made national news because it upset the day’s stereotypes about what Black children could or should be allowed to accomplish. Back in New Orleans, the local Black YMCA organized a spelling bee in honor of Miss Bolden’s victory, but the mayor, embarrassed by the upset in Cleveland, withheld the permit and canceled the event due to tensions “over race questions.”

Seventeen years later, in 1925, the first annual United States National Spelling Bee was held in Louisville, Kentucky, and was sponsored by The Courier-Journal, a local Louisville newspaper. The winner was eleven-year-old Frank Neuhauser. In celebration of his victory, Master Neuhauser met President Calvin Coolidge, was awarded five hundred dollars in gold pieces, given a hometown parade, and a bicycle by his school in Louisville.

In 1941, the Scripps Howard News Service acquired sponsorship of the spelling contest, and the name changed to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. This was later shortened to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Today, the organization is administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company from its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. The contest has been held every year except 1943-1945 due to World War II, and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 1994, the competition has been regularly televised on the cable-television sports channel, ESPN.

Although most participants are from the U.S., students from countries such as The Bahamas, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, India, Ghana, Japan, Jamaica, Mexico, and New Zealand have competed in recent years.

Spelling matches have come a long way since the early 19th century. Today, we can view the competition from home and watch movies about the fierce competition and gargantuan effort these kids make to reach the grand stage. If you’re a teacher, student, or parent interested in organizing local spelling competitions, visit the Scripps National Spelling Bee website where you can download information booklets and read more about the awesome kids participating in this yearly event.

Fun Facts About English #65 – The History of Spelling Bees

07/26/2020 by admin

Fun Facts About English 65 Kinney Brothers Publishing

The English language has had spelling issues for a very, very long time. In centuries past, there have been compilers and reformers who tried to catalogue and standardize the English language. From Richard Mulcaster’s The first Part of the Elementarie in 1582, Samuel Johnson’s comprehensive and highly influential dictionary of 1755, and Noah Webster’s 19th-century American dictionary, we are making strides toward standardization, but the myriad exceptions force us to rely on rote learning and memory to be a good speller.

Even before the competition began, some members of the all-White Louisiana team took offense at having to compete on the same stage with Ohio’s racially-integrated teams. Nonetheless, Marie Bolden, a thirteen-year-old Black girl from Cleveland, was named champion and awarded the gold medal. Marie’s victory made national news because it upset the day’s stereotypes about what Black children could or should be allowed to accomplish. Back in New Orleans, the local Black YMCA organized a spelling bee in honor of Miss Bolden’s victory, but the mayor, embarrassed by the upset in Cleveland, withheld the permit and canceled the event due to tensions “over race questions.”

Seventeen years later, in 1925, the first annual United States National Spelling Bee was held in Louisville, Kentucky, and was sponsored by The Courier-Journal, a local Louisville newspaper. The winner was eleven-year-old Frank Neuhauser. In celebration of his victory, young Master Neuhauser met President Calvin Coolidge, was awarded five hundred dollars in gold pieces, given a hometown parade, and a bicycle by his school in Louisville.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also be interested in the legacy of the word dude, the history of crossword puzzles, or how Hello, a word used to incite hounds to the chase, became the formal greeting for the telephone!

See the previous or next Fun Facts About English.

Whether you call them sight words, high-frequency words, or popcorn words, look no further than Donald’s English Classroom for an extensive library of learning materials! Download sight word flash cards, games, and worksheets and start using them today!

Unique Scrap Designs

06/28/2020 by admin

This is a Guest Post by Danna Rodebush from Unique Scrap Designs. Enjoy!

I am so excited to be joining you today for a FREEBIE!

Hi! My name is Danna Rodebush, and I am the face behind Unique Scrap Designs. I am wife to my high school sweetheart, Mom to two silly boys and a Chocolate Lab, and 5th grade teacher in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I am living my lifelong dream of teaching, as I knew as a young girl that I was born to be a teacher. Life’s paths took me in a different direction in college when I went into the dental field as a dental hygienist, but I found my way back into education when my oldest son hit kindergarten! I couldn’t imagine not going back to school to get my teaching license at that point! So that is exactly what I did… and WOW am I glad that I did! I absolutely love my job!

I have been in the classroom now going on six years, and I have been a graphic designer for over ten years. I started on Etsy with card designs and have just recently started creating awesome teacher resources using my love of education mixed with my design background. I would love for you to come visit me! Be sure to FOLLOW ME so you can stay updated on my NEWEST PRODUCTS!

Now for what you have been waiting for… I have been creating LOTS AND LOTS of DIGITAL, INTERACTIVE activities to keep students engaged IN THE CLASSROOM or to use FOR DISTANCE LEARNING. One of my recent products is a set of INTERACTIVE GRAMMAR activities.

Interactive Grammar Bundle Unique Scrap Designs Kinney Brothers Publishing

You can try WEEK ONE FREE today! You won’t be disappointed! It has a lot to offer your students! Just click the image below to try it out!

Unique Scrap Designs Freebie Interactive Grammar Activities Kinney Brothers Publishing

Within the download are links to the four units and a BUNDLE that includes all four units. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today! I hope to see you on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Fun Facts About English #21 – Irregular Plurals

09/06/2019 by admin

Fun Facts About English 21 Kinney Brothers Publishing

You’re likely familiar with irregular plurals like children, geese, and mice. For many English language students, the logic, or lack thereof when it comes to plurals, can be mind-boggling. Even for native speakers, there are many words that baffle us as well. Without any rules or guidelines, many irregular plurals must simply be learned and remembered.

The language roadmap becomes even more complicated when irregular plurals have alternate plural forms. ThoughtCo explains, “Sometimes, alternative plurals have even developed different senses, as in the cases of (spirit) mediums vs. (mass) media, appendixes (in bodies or books) vs. appendices (only in books), or antennae (for insects) vs. antennas (for televisions or radios).”

As you’ll see in the shortlist below, many words with irregular plurals are loanwords that have kept their foreign plural forms.

The plural of beef is beeves. This is true only for beef in the sense of ‘cow.’ Multiple arguments are beefs.
The plural of opus is opera or opuses.
The plural of sphinx is sphinges. Sphinxes is an acceptable secondary option.
The plural of biceps is bicepses.
The plural, gender neutral form of nieces and nephews is niblings. Coined in 1951, this neologism is reserved for specialist literature.
The plural of attorney general is attorneys general. Similar plurals would be postmasters general, mothers-in-law, and coups d’etat.
The singular form of spaghetti is spaghetto! Likewise, the singular form of confetti is confetto, and graffiti is graffito.

Test your knowledge with this list of the 100 most common irregular plurals!

Mistaking compound words can make a writer (and reader) facepalm! Learn the difference between everyday and every day. You might also be interested in the conundrum with contronyms or the problem with gender neutral nouns!

See the previous or next Fun Facts About English

Bingo may seem like just a game to kids, but as teachers, we know it is another chance to review! Check out all the Bingo games ready for download in Donald’s English Classroom!