ABCs End Of The Year Review or Summer Practice

It is the time of year when many schools, homeschools, daycares, preschools and childcares are winding down for summer break. Plus many parents are looking for activities and products for practice and review over the summertime to keep their children's academic skills from regressing! 

Aa to Zz Letter and Sound Banners

This activity is a fun way to review the letters and sounds from Aa to Zz! It includes simple vocabulary words for the beginning reader, plus cut and paste activities for fine motor skill practice. The whole project creates a wonderful banner of ABCs or can be made into an ABC Book!

I have a wide variety of products and activities in my store for summer practice and review!

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart

Spring Brings Pussy Willows!

One of the first signs of spring is a furry bush called a pussy willow. Children love being able to touch these soft kitty cat feeling flower buds called catkins. 

There are several fun ways to create the pussy willow as a craft.

One is to make them by cutting off the ends of Q-tips! 

The children draw a stem stick with crayon or marker on paper. Have them notice that pussy willow buds alternate as they go up the stem. Simply make a little line on the stem where the Q-tip bud is to be glued on. Then color the bottom end of the Q-tip bud to look like the bud covering.

Another way is to do the same as above, but use clumps of cotton instead of Q-tips.

This third way is cheaper, but is messier to create! Again the child draws the stem stick, but this time the catkins are made by them pushing their pointer finger into a black ink pad, then pressing down on the paper in the spots where they should go.

The ink should be washable!

 It is always fun to bring a little spring inside to share!

Testing.....

I have never liked standardized tests for any age group, but especially for the youngest learners!

 

Good educators already have a true picture of each child's different abilities and talents without using a test that's administered, scored, and interpreted in a standard, predetermined manner.

 

Tests are neither fair nor objective! Their use promotes a narrow curriculum and excessive testing undermines our ability to produce innovators and critical thinkers.  Test-related jitters cause stress especially among young students.

 

The pros and cons of this debate about testing will continue for years to come, but children are not standardized. They are each a "one of a kind" precious creation, with special abilities and talents unique to them and should be treated as such.



Earth Day

Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970 and is now celebrated in more than 192 countries each year, coordinated globally by the

Earth Day Network.

 

I am sharing two free pages of my reading and writing activity

Earth Day Stationery.

 There are also blank pages for the students to write on, using no lines.  The littlest learners can dictate their story to an adult.

 There are three different writing grids pages, so you can pick the right one for your age group. They are in colors and gray shades.

 The students love to share their stories! They can be made into a class book or posted for all to see.

There are other pages in a variety of colors in the complete product.

Here are 21 pages of Earth stationery in a variety of color and gray shades. Each color and gray shade has differentiated lines for a variety of grade level writing assignments.

Earth Day Stationery

Enjoy!