Reading Over the Summer, Can Teachers Tell?

June 30, 2009 Uncategorized No Comments

It is so important to read over the summer.  Children who do not read over the summer can lose many of the reading skills that they learned during the school year.  Now according to this article in the Times Colonist teachers can tell when school starts back up again which students have read and which ones have not.

I encourage you as parents to read this article.  Let me know what you think.

Bird Watching Fun for Your Third Grader

June 30, 2009 Nature, Science, Summer Activities No Comments

Bird watching is not just for senior citizens!  Children can have lots of fun during the summer watching birds right in their own backyard.  Here are a few websites that can get you started.

  • Bird Sleuth gives you a great start by providing with a project guide to download.  It is excellent.  Try it!
  • This Bird Search Guide is also wonderful.  It will help you identify the birds that come to your backyard and help you identify the different sounds of each bird.  Very cool!
  • Wild Birds Unlimited is another great resource for you.  If you have a Wild Birds Unlimited store near you, take a trip to visit it.  You and your child will enjoy it.
  • Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website has a web cam of different birds.  You can see birds building nests, feeding their young and baby birds hatching.

If you and your child enjoy wild life and being outdoors, this is a great summer time learning experience.

Let me know what you think.