As you may know, when kids get a break from school for the summer, they often come back in the fall with a decline in reading and academic skills. The good news is that the so-called "summer slide" can be avoided if kids read as few as four books over the summer.
Open Road Media has created a campaign to help educators and parents fight the summer slide with recommended reading, excerpts of books found on summer reading lists, and videos from authors who create books that are geared toward reluctant readers. We've culled recommended reads for kids of all ages—from those on the "see-saw" (kids who are pre-reading) to those who are "mastering the monkey bars" (reluctant readers) to "high-flyers on the swings" (books for middle-schoolers and teens).
Want to win a FREE ebook from Open Road Media? Leave me a comment in this blog spot about which book you'd like to receive (contact info as well, please). I will do a random draw on Sunday July 29th for one lucky winner.
Good Luck!
Not only is Spigot Science a great publication, it initiates thought provoking questions for further discussion opportunities;
Discussion 1. Why are cells sometimes called strange and mysterious?
2. Why do cells grow and change? Why do they die?
3. What evidence do we have that that the cells in our bodies are undergoing changes?
4. Why are cells called building blocks?
5. Why do the words associated with cells have foreign-sounding names?
Spigot Science at; http://www.spigotscience.com
Today is a great day! My name is Trevor, and it’s been exactly three years since I had the bone marrow transplant that saved my life. Dr. Brown and I spent a lot of time together when I was in the hospital. Now I visit her once a year to make sure I’m still healthy.
When I was eight years old, I got really sick. I was tired all the time and I got bruises really easily. Then I developed a sore throat that wouldn’t heal. When I wasn’t getting any better, my mom took me to Children’s Hospital, where Dr. Brown gave me the scary news that I was sick with a disease called leukemia (loo-KEE-mee-uh), a kind of cancer in my blood. I needed immediate medical care!
READ MORE...
Here are some quotes about cells. Pick one of the quotes and tell in your own words what it means. Share your meaning with others and see if they have different ideas about it.
"Everything you'll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body."
Dan Millman, teacher/coach/author
"Ideas not coupled with action never become bigger than the brain cells they occupied."
Arnold H. Glasgow, American humorist
"Stem cells have the potential to be used to treat and better understand some of the world's most deadly and disabling diseases."
Mark Udall, politician
READ MORE... http://www.spigotscience.com
How Kids Can Stay Sharp Academically Over the Summer
By Rick and Teena Kamal
When students think of summer time, they often look forward to beach trips, playing outdoors, hanging out with friends, and sleeping late. While these are all indulgences that kids deserve after a long, hard school year, too much of a good thing can have negative consequences come next school year. In fact, it’s a well-known fact that students lose an average of two months’ worth of instruction over the summer, forcing teachers to spend the first few weeks or more of the school year remediating instead of introducing new concepts. Luckily, staying sharp academically during the summer months doesn’t have to be a grueling process. Given the right resources and techniques, helping your child retain the necessary skills to continue down the path of achievement can be fun—for both parents and kids alike!
Here are some summer enrichment activities and strategies you can begin implementing as soon as the final school bell rings to prevent summer learning loss from affecting your child’s academic performance:
Reach Out to Your Child’s Teacher(s)
The first step in preventing summer learning loss is to talk to your child’s teacher(s). Find out which skills are necessary for your child to have in order to succeed academically during the following year. The teacher may also be able to give you insight into which areas your child in particular needs to work on in order to be proficient in the next grade level. You might also ask your child’s teacher to point you in the direction of useful resources and possibly summer enrichment activities and programs to enhance your summer learning efforts.
Read
We all know that one of the very best ways to learn is through reading. Luckily, summer offers hours and hours’ worth of potential reading opportunities. Encourage your child to read at least an hour each day by offering him reading material directly related to his interests. When choosing texts, be sure to pick titles that are appropriate to your child’s reading level.
You can further foster your child’s enthusiasm for literacy by engaging in summer enrichment activities that include reading. For instance, many public libraries host summer reading programs for young children. These programs often feature crafts, puppets, singing, and other such activities that help your child associate reading with having fun.
For older children, creating a book club is an excellent way to promote summer learning through reading. Your club can consist of just the two of you, or you may consider inviting neighbors or school friends to join in as well. Participating in discussions about reading materials can help your child learn to interpret and analyze texts, a necessary academic skill across the curriculum.
Take Advantage of Teaching Moments
Not all summer enrichment activities require careful planning. Some can be purely spontaneous. Learning opportunities are all around us, after all. Make an effort to turn ordinary experiences into teaching and learning opportunities. For instance, at the grocery store, you might ask your child to help you build a nutritious meal by including items from each of the food groups. While on vacation, invite your child to keep a journal of your adventures or pick a town that you visited and learn about its history. As you keep your child’s academic goals in mind throughout the summer, you’ll be surprised at how many summer learning opportunities arise on their own.
Teach Time Management Through Chores
Although time management isn’t an academic topic per se, it’s a necessary skill that will benefit your child in every subject and throughout his academic career and professional life. So use the summer as an opportunity to teach your child how to manage his/her time effectively. Start by creating a list of chores that need to be completed each week. Then, assist your child as he or she creates a chore calendar detailing which chores are to be done for each day of the week. Finally, make a daily schedule that includes the time of day your child will perform each chore. Ask your child to consider other summer enrichment activities you have planned when creating the calendar and schedule so that these activities don’t conflict with household chores. As your child follows the schedule each day, he or she will feel a sense of accomplishment while seeing the benefits of time management as well. As an added perk, you’ll have a cleaner house to enjoy all summer long!
Participate in a Career Project
Time away from school and extracurricular responsibilities presents the perfect opportunity for your child to concentrate on his or her career goals. All children need someone to look up to for inspiration—what better kind of role model than one who is practicing in the field or industry your child is one day interested in pursuing? As part of your summer learning program, ask your child to select a successful professional who is currently working in this field to research. There are a variety of ways that your child can present his findings. For instance, you may encourage him to create and deliver a presentation to the family, create a website honoring the individual, or make a timeline of the person’s life. This summer enrichment activity will not only help your child hone his research skills, but he will be acquiring a special role model in the process. Even young children can participate in a career project. For instance, researching a ballerina and creating a storybook about her life would make for an enjoyable summer learning experience for your aspiring dancer.
When planning a summer learning program for your child, be sure to cater it around her interests and make it as much fun as possible! It shouldn’t feel like work; if it does, then your child will no doubt be reluctant to participate. It’s also important to leave plenty of time for rest and leisure as well, so that your child returns to school feeling reinvigorated and ready for another year of academic success.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Authors: Award-winning study and life skills experts Rick and Teena Kamal founded EduNova to prepare students to lead and thrive in the global economy. They worked with 33 top university education experts and many successful senior executives to produce resources that empower middle school, high school and college students to succeed. Learn more at www.HowToStudyBest.com.
From the Publisher
Our Mission
The mission of Spigot Science Magazine is to help children understand how and why the world works and to inspire young minds to be curious and thoughtful stewards of the world that will be theirs one day.
Spigot's Cell Issue now available; http://www.spigotscience.com
This wonderful book is packed full of projects for your kids to do while they're learning all about bridges and tunnels. Here's what's inside;
Introduction - Lifelines
Chapter 1 - Engineering and Thinking Big
Chapter 2 - Building Big : The Physics of Bridges
Chapter 3 - Amazing Bridges
Chapter 4 - Disaster! When Bridges Collapse
Chapter 5 - Building Big: The Physics of Tunnels
Chapter 6 - Amazing Tunnels
Chapter 7 - Tunnel Disasters
Along with 25 do it yourself projects Bridges and Tunnels has amazing facts, Words to Know, Notable Quotables and so much more! It's the perfect book for summer fun and learning for kids ages 9-12.
Check out Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering at Nomad Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local book stores.
