Top Brain foods to give your children a major boost

Top Brain foods to give your children a major boost

The new school year is approaching and the smell of new sneakers and school supplies are filling the air.  This year give your children the fuel to power through the day feeling energized, motivated and eager to learn!

Helpful Brain Foods:

1.    Start off the day right with a healthy breakfast.  Studies have shown that children who eat a health breakfast do better academically with fewer behavioral issues.  Try oatmeal, scrambled eggs and toast.

2.    Keep the energy up with a balanced lunch.  Your children are relying on lunch to get them through the remaining day, so settling for many of the school lunches which are high in fat and sugar will result in an afternoon crash.  Try making a turkey wrap, peanut butter and banana sandwhich or salmon salad just like a tuna salad.

3.    End the day with a flavorful dinner that has half the plate covered in fresh colorful vegetables, and the other half split between lean protein and whole grains.

4.    Everyone loves a snack so try apple slices dipped in honey or peanut butter, yogurt or trail mix.

What meal gets you through the day?  Tell us in the comments below.

Does Music Enhance Math Skills?

Having children participate in sports, band and extra curricular activities is a positive way of getting them involved in the community and developing necessary social skills.  

The influence of music may actually do more than just having your child meet new friends, or build upon a passion and learn new songs.  In fact, research has proven that teaching music increases math and literacy skills in children of all ages.

Uncovering the research behind the statement showed two groups of children where one group studied music while the other did not.  In the group that studied music, the children showed a greater improvement in literacy, math and IQ.  To read the full report visit http://www.ehow.com/about_7231124_music-affect-reading-math-scores_.html

The dreaded four letter word M-A-T-H is often feared among children and even adults.  We are quick to say, “I am not good at math.”  The idea that you are poor at math transfers over to a more difficult time learning it.  Instilling a positive image for your children throughout their life, including math, will reduce frustrations and help provide a stimulating learning environment that welcomes math instead of cringing at the thought.

Improve math skills while learning a new instrument and enjoying the sound of music.  What instrument does your child want to learn? Tell us in the comments below.

Top Ways to Motivate Learning Among Children

Are you ready to get those creative minds going and keep your child learning throughout the remaining summer days?

Here are 5 tips to keeping children motivated long after the last day of school.

1) Scrabble tournaments are perfect in helping children learn, build vocabulary, play and channel excitement towards a productive challenge.

2)  Take it outside!  Learning outdoors is more fun than the routine indoor classroom.  Read and complete homework assignments outdoors to change up the atmosphere and get the creative juices flowing.

3)    Challenges allow students to use creativity and critical thinking to create a solution.  Try making a floating boat out of recyclables or a device to prevent an egg from cracking when it is dropped.

4)    Everyone is an author.  Have children create their own story using drawings and writing skills to make it cohesive.

5)    Grow seeds and record their growth.  Children will be excited to learn how plants and vegetables grow and even more thrilled when they see how they made it happen.

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10 Ways to keep children motivated.

Kids love it and parents dread it…the last day of school.  How do you keep your children from checking out prior to the last school bell?

Keep them motivated by channeling that end of year excitement and energy into constructive learning.

1)    Learning tables that highlight different projects and tasks help children focus on one project at a time and rotate to another learning table once the task is complete.

2)    Class scrapbooking allows children to create their own special page that showcases what they learned by writing a school letter and using their creativity to design visual pieces that describe the school year.

3)    Cooperative learning encourages discussions, interaction and involvement among children.  Have each child write down an idea and begin brainstorming thoughts on each topic.

4)    Reading aloud with your child and taking turns throughout the story increases engagement and allows the child to hear a fluent reader with expression.

5)    Friday Fun Day.  Read about a famous place or American icon and visit the historical landmark to learn more about the place.

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Are your children strong readers?

Classroom teachers rarely have time to work one on one for 15 minutes with a student during school hours or even after school help. 

The solution to building a confident reader is Neurological Impress Method.  This reading method is a form of paired reading in which a student and adult read the text simultaneously.

So how does it actually work?

Sitting next to each other, the adult will read the text slightly faster than the student while they both use a finger to follow the text.

Next steps,
1)    Use reading material that is at the students independent level.
2)    A Kumon instructor will guide the students finger under the words as they are being read to- ensure the voice and finder are operating together.
3)    If the student begins to mumble or fall behind where the finger is, then you must stop the reading and have the student reread the sentence with you.

According to http://myweb.stedwards.edu/mikekb/ReadStrong/nim.html, research on Neurological Impress Method showed students who significantly improved their fluency after only a short period of instruction.  

Doing this reading method for 15 minutes a day for at least 21 days will show a noticeable marked improvement in fluency.

What did you and your child read today? Share at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kumon-of-West-Worcester/272005642850078?sk=wall

Change your learning environment

Spas are painted neutral for calmness, art studios are painted bright to inspire creativity and classrooms are filled with drawings, posters and books to motivate learning and growing.  The colors and items that surround you in a certain environment have much to do with your perception and mood towards the activity.

Where a child learns explains how they process material and this affects their understanding of new information.  Differential instruction is important because it uses key elements that need to be changed in order to help accommodate children to grow and learn at their own pace and style.  The way a classroom looks and feels is a large element that contributes to the overall learning experience and process.

 

According to the online article www.readingrockets.org, here are 3 ways to help change a learning environment for students needs.

•  Utilizing sections of a classroom to encourage both a quite time for independent work and a separate space for students to collaborate.
•   Cultures and home environments play a role in learning. Providing information that reflects those values and styles in a particular setting will prove to be helpful.
•  Each individual works differently, therefore providing guidelines that match those learning needs will make independent work more successful.

Where do you feel more creative? The most inspired? The most motivated?  

Tell us @ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kumon-of-West-Worcester/272005642850078?sk=wall