October is fire prevention month. Fire prevention month began after the Great Chicago Fire on October 9, 1871. As many of you parents have already realized, most school age children are learning about fire prevention in class. Most kindergarten students will complete a fire prevention theme unit. Fire trucks and fire fighters often visit the children at school. To add to the learning that children are experiencing at school, parents can discuss fire safety and fire prevention at home. Your child may come home and ask you about some of the following ideas and topics. Make an escape plan. Make … Continue reading →

There are some required steps to take if you plan for your child to attend a boarding school. The recommendation from most schools is to start planning one year in advance. You need to gather the proper paperwork and complete the admission forms. Many boarding schools have an admission cut-off date at the beginning of the year either in January or February. Refusal or acceptance letters are usually mailed out sometime in March. International students must meet vaccination requirements. These students must also complete international traveling guidelines such as visas and passports. Many boarding schools require students to take an … Continue reading →

In my previous article, I discussed the basic characteristics of a boarding school. In this article, I will address the various types of boarding schools that students may attend. All Boarding Schools The most common type of boarding school that comes to mind is the all boarding school. In all boarding schools, all of the students are boarders. All students live on campus. Boarding Day Schools At a boarding day school, most students live on campus. However, students who live nearby or in a nearby neighborhood may choose to travel on a daily basis. Five-Day Boarding Schools At a five-day … Continue reading →

After hearing my husband jokingly comment that we needed to send our children to boarding school, I began thinking about the term boarding school. What is a boarding school? I had a basic idea in mind but I had never researched the topic. Therefore I decided to put some time into the characteristics of boarding schools. According to dictionary terms a boarder is somebody paying for food and bed: somebody who pays for a room and usually for daily meals, in a private home or boarding house. In my research I found several different types of boarding schools. The traditional … Continue reading →

In addition to reading for meaning and reading fluency, vocabulary plays a very important part in reading. At one point in time, vocabulary knowledge was taught by looking up and writing the definition to words. However, we know now that vocabulary is much more than defining a word. Expanding a child’s vocabulary can help with reading comprehension. When a child does not understand the words that are written it is very difficult for children to understand the meaning of the passage. In addition to hearing the meaning of words, children need to hear various words used in context. When talking … Continue reading →

In a previous article, I discussed that reading has many variations. My article addressed reading fluency. In today’s article, I would like to talk about reading from a different perspective. While reading fluently is very important, so is reading comprehension or reading for meaning. Some children, and adults alike, are very fluent readers. When listening to the person read, one might assume that the person is an outstanding reader. However, when questioned about what was read, they may not be as wise. Naming words and comprehending words do not always come together. It is very important for a reader to … Continue reading →

Yes, I do actually know that the spelling in the title is wrong. However, there are very few words that begin with the letter “X” that I could use for my series. Therefore, I decided to go with a word that begins with the sounding of the word “X”. So for this article, I chose xtracurricular (extracurricular) activities as a perk for public education. This perk for public education usually takes place outside of the typical school day. Extracurricular activities are activities that are “extra” for education. They are not taught in a classroom as a regular subject during the … Continue reading →