Idiom of the week: “To pull someone’s leg”

May 30, 2012

IDIOM: “To pull someone’s leg” DEFINITION:  To joke around with someone, to try to fool someone EXAMPLES:  1. I told you there was a monster in the closet, but I was just pulling your leg! 2.  Quit pulling my leg!  I know that’s you behind that mask! ACTIVITY:  Draw a picture of someone pulling a […]

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Preventing the Summer Slide – Part 2

May 29, 2012

Last week, I told you about the phenomenon known as the “summer slide”, or the losing of academic ground that can occur over the summer months.  I talked about some strategies that you as a parent can use to help prevent this slide from happening in your young child.  Today, I will talk about your […]

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Joke of the Week: What did the duck say to the cashier?

May 24, 2012

JOKE: What did the duck say to the cashier? ANSWER: Just put in on my bill! EXPLANATION:  This is an example of a homonym.  The word “bill” can mean the piece of paper that tells how much someone owes (ex: at a restaurant).  The word “bill” also means the beak of a duck. WANT MORE? […]

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Idiom of the week: “Straight from the horse’s mouth”

May 23, 2012

IDIOM:  “Straight from the horse’s mouth” DEFINITION: To get information directly from the source EXAMPLES:  1. I heard straight from the horse’s mouth that the Principal is moving schools! 2. Rumor has it that our teacher is pregnant; I heard straight from the horse’s mouth that it isn’t true! ACTIVITY:  Draw a picture of a […]

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Preventing the Summer Slide – Part 1

May 22, 2012

You may have heard about something called the “summer slide”, but what exactly is it?  The summer slide is what teachers call the loss of learning that can occur over the summer months.  Students who do not have focused educational opportunities while they are not in school over the summer can lose 2 months or […]

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Joke of the Week: Where are pencils made?

May 17, 2012

JOKE: Where are pencils made? ANSWER: In Pencil-vania! EXPLANATION: The state of Pennsylvania sounds like “pencil”, so it is a play on words with the word pencil. WANT MORE? As always, playing math games at home is a great way to reinforce math skills learned in school. Have questions or ideas about this story? Need […]

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Idiom of the Week: “Let the cat out of the bag”

May 16, 2012

IDIOM: “Let the cat out of the bag” DEFINITION:  To tell someone something that was supposed to be kept secret EXAMPLES:  1. He let the cat out of the bag when he accidentally told his sister about the surprise party. 2. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag, but I think […]

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Beginning Multiplication Facts (0’s, 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s)

May 15, 2012

If your child is just beginning to learn his multiplication facts, he will hopefully not be introduced to all the facts at once.  This can be very overwhelming to a child, so you will want to break the facts up into parts.  Many programs teach the facts in order, i.e. they cover the 0’s, followed […]

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Telling Time to the Quarter Hour

May 8, 2012

Once your child has learned to tell time to the hour and half-hour, she will be prepared to tell time to the quarter hour.  This is typically a difficult step for most children to take, so be prepared to spend more time on it than you may have spent on teaching time to the hour […]

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Joke: Why didn’t anyone want to sleep with daddy dinosaur?

May 3, 2012

Children LOVE telling jokes.  Kids often tell a joke and giggle hysterically, but often they don’t really understand why the joke is even funny.  That is because most jokes are play-on-words, or they are funny because a word in the joke might have two meanings, or the word could be a homonym.  Being able to […]

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