18 minute read
Dear Teachers
QA DEARTEACHERS &
BY PEGGY GISLER AND MARGE EBERTS
THE DILEMMA FACED BY PARENTS OF BRIGHT KINDERGARTNER
QUESTION: I have a young son who learns things rather
easily. He began reading at 3, and now, at 5, he can add, subtract and multiply and understands fractions. He also can do his older cousin’s third-grade work. The local school placed him in kindergarten. Their policy is not to advance children until third grade and then for only one grade. He enjoyed kindergarten at first because he got to play and made new friends.
Recently, the class started to learn the alphabet and count to 10, and our son began to hate school because it was so boring. We asked the teacher if he could bring his own books to read while the other kids did what he already knew. She said that the books were not age appropriate.
We have now taken him out of school and let him learn at home. Next year, when he is 6, he will have to return to school. Can anything be done in public schools for an advanced learner, or do we need to consider homeschooling? – Perplexed
ANSWER: Parents of gifted children like your son have the responsibility of finding creative ways to keep learning interesting for their children. A failure to do so can result at times in gifted children’s becoming so bored with school that they actually become disinterested in learning. You need to become educated on all facets of giftedness. You can find abundant information by going online and searching for gifted organizations. One helpful site is the Davidson Institute (DavidsonGifted.org), as it has a list of gifted organizations that deal with different facets of giftedness, as well as their lists of resources. Our Dear Teacher website also has a list of organizations in the helpful websites section. Be sure also to investigate what organizations for the gifted are available at your local and state levels. They can give you the opportunity to interact with the parents of other gifted children. Within your area, there will be other bright young children like your son. Become part of a gifted organization to learn of all the ways to give your son an education that matches his abilities.
Gifted students tend to stay advanced of their peers throughout their years in school unless they become bored and disinterested in learning. Do not consider your son’s time in kindergarten a complete negative—there were some benefits. Your son was learning socialization skills and acquiring some art and music skills. Many teachers would not have the attitude of this kindergarten teacher and would have set him loose on the computer and in books to provide a more challenging curriculum.
Finding the appropriate education for gifted children is always challenging. It has become more difficult in some communities that have eliminated gifted programs in favor of the same curriculum for all students in order to make education the same for everyone, no matter their ability level.
If your son continues in this local public school for first grade, he obviously will not be advanced several grades. You might want to look for a different public school or a private one that would let him do more challenging work in the classroom, skip him one or two grades, or let him take classes such as reading and math on a more advanced level while letting him remain in first grade for most of the day.
Homeschooling is a viable option if you have the family situation to do it. There are now a great number of exciting programs to choose from, so you would not necessarily have to develop a special curriculum for your son. Furthermore, homeschooling is no longer just an isolated at home experience. Homeschoolers can get together with other homeschoolers to offer an exciting curriculum on several levels. This is more like a school. Also, you could join other homeschoolers for field trips and special advanced classes.
THE BEST WAY TO STUDY FOR TESTS
QUESTION: My children have a lot of tests in middle
and high school. What should they be doing to prepare for these tests? – Concerned Parent
ANSWER: The best way to study for any test is for students to use as many of their senses as they can. For example, they can write note cards, reread the note cards out loud or even study with a friend.
You may be surprised to know that change is good for studying. Researchers have discovered that instead of staying in just one spot, studying becomes more effective when learners actually change the study environment. So if your children are only studying in their rooms, suggest they consider moving to another room or even outdoors at times. In this way, they force their brains to make multiple associations with the same material. It enriches the material and slows down forgetting.
And, of course, students should take practice tests and quizzes. Doing so gives them practice in retrieving material, which seems to make recalling it on actual tests easier. In fact, the harder the trial test material is to remember, the harder it is to forget later. This is a strong argument for learners’ always completing study guide questions and textbook questions in preparation for a test.
© Compass Syndicate Corporation, 2022
CREATE A HOMEWORK STATION
Since studying in different locations can be helpful, consider stocking necessary homework supplies at a central location. That way, you and your child are prepared for any homework task, which lessens the chance of fizzling out of energy when you don't have a needed supply. A small rolling cart is a convenient way to store everything for easy access. Here's a short list of items to have on hand: n Post-its, index cards, notepads, graph paper n Markers, crayons, colored pencils, highlighters n Extra pencils, and don't forget
the pencil sharpener!
n Glue, tape and scissors n Ruler and calculator
SILVER DOLLAR CITY
AN OLD TIME CHRISTMAS FEATURES A NEW PRODUCTION SHOW, BRILLIANT HOLIDAY EXPERIENCE
Bright lights line streets, buildings, pathways and trees during Silver Dollar City’s An Old Time
Christmas, running Nov. 5 through
Dec. 30. The 2022 season marks the debut of a new production show,
Coming Home for Christmas, along with more than 6.5 million lights, an elaborate eight-story, animated
Christmas tree, a light parade, holiday foods and more. Silver Dollar
City shines brilliantly with so much entertainment that the park is the five-time reigning champion for
Best Theme Park Holiday Event in
America.*
Throughout the streets of The
City, carolers sing and stroll, while the centerpiece of Joy on Town Square, an eight-story Christmas tree, and surrounding lights glow spectacularly. Even brighter is Christmas in Midtown, with its remarkable display of light tunnels, wreath portals, flying angels and special effects nine stories tall. For thrill seekers, rides soar under the Ozark Mountain starlight, with all the Christmas lights visible below. Craftsmen, in the Christmas spirit, create one-of-a-kind heirlooms, demonstrating glass blowing, wood carving, pottery and more.
The City’s stages offer more than 30 shows each day and night. Along with the longtime favorite production, A Dickens’ Christmas Carol, the new show, Coming Home for Christmas, features a live band and a cast of 14 singers and dancers presenting holiday music, stories and family traditions. Other productions include The Living Nativity and the Saloon Frontier Fa-La-La Follies. Rudolph’s Holly Jolly Christmas Light Parade winds through The City each evening with lighted floats, characters, dancers and performers. Guests aboard the Frisco Sing-Along Steam Train enjoy a Christmas story.
Throughout the streets of The City, carolers sing and stroll, while the centerpiece of Joy on Town Square, an eight-story Christmas tree, and surrounding lights glow spectacularly.
To add to the festivities, menus offer a variety of seasonal treats, including holiday dinner with smoked turkey, ham, prime rib and trimmings; specialty soups like potato leek; and Silver Dollar City’s Miner’s Beef Stew. Plus, savor a variety of sweets such as hot chocolate and wassail, s’mores or warm apple pie with homemade cinnamon ice cream. Tasting Passports let guests sample their way through The City.
The two-month-long holiday event boasts some impressive statistics: 680 miles of lights, 1,000 decorated Christmas trees, 600 wreaths and more than three miles of garland and ribbon.
www.silverdollarcity.com
*By USA Today’s 10Best
TIMELESS HOBBIES
FOR KIDS TO EXPLORE
As you go about your day, you have so many ways to encourage your children’s learning through play, from setting the table and jumping rope to counting glass beads. My son played Mancala when we went to the Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs. It’s played by two players, each placing an equal number of glass beads in each of the pits on the game board. On a turn, a player removes all the beads in one pit and deposits them one at a time in the following pits, including one pit at each end of the board where the beads are “captured” by the player who controls that particular pit. At the end of the game, the player who captures the most beads wins.
My son actually beat the guy selling the games! He then gave him a certificate saying he beat the Mancala Man!
Another fun game is Texas Hold’em poker. We played that a lot, and my children got pretty good at it. It’s a simple game that encourages math skills and patience. You can find the rules online.
Another fun activity that builds math, coding, dexterity and mental agility? Tried-and-true Legos. Children spend hours building mazes and following directions. Many architects began their journey as little children sitting on the floor putting blocks and Legos together. This activity also limits screen time and builds confidence.
Sidewalk chalk is another simple activity that can be transformed into a learning game without your kiddos realizing it. Have them draw squares, then add letters to each one. (Numbers work, too.) As kids hop along the squares, help them learn to spell: the words dog, cat, fun, happy and more. Some artists draw incredible scenes with chalk, and your children can do the same. There is no wrong way to draw a flower or a sun or a dinosaur! The children in our neighborhood once drew pictures on each square of the sidewalk on our block. It took them all day, but they learned teamwork and that Popsicles are great on a hot summer day.
Playing sports, of course, gives children life lessons like nothing else. Baseball, football, soccer, swimming—all require counting, planning and listening. Working together is a valuable lesson everyone needs to learn, and when a coach explains a play, and all players must do their part, they learn to lean on each other. Memory skills come into play here, too, with coaches’ sending home playbooks to study and go over. When my son played football, the coach gave each player the loop from a chain. They wore it on their belt buckle or put it on their keychain. He was teaching them that all the loops make a strong chain. At the end of the school year, he had each player add his loop to a chain, showing they all were bound by time. My son is in his twenties now and still has the loop the coach gave each boy upon high school graduation. The intangible knowledge this coach put in each of the boys’ hearts is a forever part of their personalities.
Playing sports also hones important cognitive skills: focus, visual attention, visual tracking and fast decision-making. For instance, research shows that the most elite quarterbacks move their eyes more quickly to the most open receiver. Their visual attention allows them to quickly decide to throw the ball or keep it and run. They also hold their focus and attention on their target longer, using their visual tracking skills to give their brains more time to make the right decision.
Play from the past can be valuable, too. My father had an electric train his father gave him, and my sisters and I loved when he put it together and the metal cars rolled around that track. The added plus was when
Who knew knitting was so beneficial? Our grandparents knew, and many young people are taking up the hobby now to relax. My daughter even made me a scarf during her senior year of high school. Children learn mathematical skills from counting stitches and rows, adding stitches and working math of gauge. With any knit, kids strengthen skills of multiplying, adding, measuring and more. They’ll enjoy math without even knowing! Problem solving is another skill crafters pick up, as knitting requires following instructions, reading and troubleshooting. Making and correcting mistakes in knitting helps children discover how a problem occurred and then how to fix it. This breaks the need for perfection. When you learn from an early age that it is about the journey not the destination, you become a happier adult. When your child creates an imperfect product and still loves it because she made it, her confidence level goes through the roof! Hand-eye coordination is required to knit, as is creativity as knitters choose what type of fiber and color and the type of garment they want to make.
Best of all, knitters learn patience. We all know the excitement we feel when finishing a project, and sharing this experience with your kids will result in a sense of patience—and a sense of achievement.
our dad talked about the history of trains and how he carried that big box with the tracks and cars around for years.
Building and designing train sets can actually teach children valuable lifelong problem-solving skills. A child must piece the tracks together in a way that allows the trains to run smoothly, he must learn to avoid obstacles to the tracks, such as an area rug or a chair leg, and he must assemble the tracks in such a way that the tracks connect at a certain point. These skills are essential when a child is confronted with problems in life. He needs to have patience, foresight, ability to use trial-and-error and planning skills in order to succeed in school and in a future career.
Playing with trains and reading about trains also sparks a child’s creativity and imagination. There are endless ways to assemble train tracks, connect trains together, build cities around the tracks, reenact what the child has seen on a television show or read in a book, and create a new world each time the child drags out the box of trains, tracks and accessories.
An avid outdoors girl, Judy Goppert lives in Lee’s Summit. She enjoys drawing on her personal experiences to write about the nuances of everything wonderful about life.
Sources: MathPlayground.com, GoodHousekeeping.com, PattyLyons.com
Building Great Smiles for Life!
Four convenient locations near you!
IMPORTANT THINGS TO TEACH YOUR CHILD
These common sayings represent good lessons about money but can be confusing for kids. It’s important to teach our kids the value of money, how to save, spend wisely and practice financial responsibility. Simply saying, “We have to pinch our pennies,” or “That costs an arm and a leg,” is not going to help kids truly understand these complicated concepts. Here are some simple but important lessons to teach kids of any age about money.
Money has to be earned
Earning money is hard work, but this concept can be difficult to understand for children. You can start teaching your children about how money is earned by paying them for assigned chores. Some families may find giving an allowance helps children understand the concept of earning a “paycheck” or allowance and other families may assign a dollar amount for specific chores. Either way, you are showing your child that money is earned. “My kids have been getting an allowance since they were 4 years old,” says Sarah Brandt, Lee’s Summit mom of three. “I rarely buy extras, like toys and treats. All of that comes from their allowance. They budget and save better than I do.”
Budgeting
“Starting in first grade, we give half their age per week for allowance and allocate 10% for giving, 10% for saving and 80% to use as they wish,” says Joy Alsup, Olathe mom of four. “This frees me to say no to little things like candy or going places with friends because they can use their own money. They have a choice and can ‘suffer’ going without if they have spent it all.” Alsup shares that after her children start their first job, they save 50% of each paycheck to give them a good start for spending money in college.
Candice Zimmers, Olathe mom of three, does something similar. “Any money that our children earn or receive is divided into four categories: tithe 10%, family tax 10%, any amount they choose for savings and the rest is money to spend or donate. We feel this gives them a sense of how to allocate their funds and has them realize that not all that they earn will be theirs when they receive a paycheck.”
Every family has different categories for savings, spending and other uses. The main goal is to help your children understand how to budget and save while giving them choices on how they spend their money. If they make a poor choice to spend all they have earned, they are forced to face the consequences. This lesson is best learned when the stakes are lower, at a young age, than as an adult when the consequences can be life-altering.
It’s hard for kids to understand the value of money when they don’t have a realistic understanding of how much things cost. While you’re running errands with your children, show them how much it costs to fill the car with gas, how much the grocery bill is and how to compare prices while shopping. Give your child $20 in cash and ask him to purchase the family lunch at the grocery store. This is a simple lesson that helps kids understand the cost of living. “I put the kids in charge of the family eating out money,” says Brandt. “You want to eat at McDonald’s tonight? Cool, but that means no pizza this weekend.” These comparisons and trade-offs give your child valuable lessons in the value of the dollar.
Easy Ways to Teach Kids About Money
• Assign chores and pay kids an allowance. Help them create a budget for spending. • Set a savings goal, small at first, and let them go out and purchase the item when they’ve reach the goal. • Teach kids to give to others. • When your child receives a gift of money, explain that someone worked hard for the money and chose to give it freely. • Take them shopping and allow them to help compare prices and options. • Give kids cash and have them pay for items in the store themselves. • Be careful about always using a credit card. Use cash to show children that money is exchanged for goods and services. • Encourage your teen to get a part-time job. • Set a good example by budgeting and spending carefully. • Be open and honest about money and spending, and be willing to answer questions that come up.
ABOUT MONEY
Understanding banking
Investing, saving and navigating how banking works are great lessons to teach kids. If your children are preschool age, have them place money in a glass jar. This gives them a visual of the money they are earning, and they can watch it grow. Older kids may benefit from opening a bank account. “I opened a checking and savings account for my 11-year-old,” says Michelle Lyons, mom of three from Lavista, NE. “I asked for a check register so she can learn how to balance her account. I also got her a stack of deposit slips to learn how to do that as well. I explained to her the importance of not telling people her PIN, how to shut off her card if it is misplaced and the importance of saving.” Warn your kids about the dangers of credit card debt. The credit limit is often far higher than a young adult can handle, and the ease of swiping a card to pay for items they want or need is tempting. Interest rates are high, and the debt can quickly stack up. Talk with your teens and young adults about credit cards before they make mistakes that can cause problems long term.
The best ways you can teach your children about money are to give them real life experiences, allow them to start making decisions on their own at a young age and to lead by example. If you are a spender and buy items on impulse, they may develop these bad habits as well. If you are a saver and keep a careful budget, your kids will likely develop these healthy habits. If you and your partner often fight about money, this could cause your child to view money discussions in a negative context. Try to remain positive and help them understand that money is not always an enjoyable topic to talk about, but it is important and can help develop security and independence in the future.
Sarah Lyons is a freelance writer who lives with her family in Olathe.
