Blog - Page 41

Kids Academy is teaming up with yet another amazing app to bring high-quality reading materials to the screens of kids across country! We’re happy to announce a new partnership with Rivet, an innovative app that offers free leveled reading books to help children grow their literacy skills using the same technology they already love! 

As teachers or even parents, when we think about utilizing games in learning, most of us think of objective subjects with clear answers, like math or science. In preschool and kindergarten, kids might play games using sight words or phonics. But for older children who already know the basics of reading, how can games possibly enrich reading comprehension when questions are text-dependent? The answer requires a bit of creative thinking, but we’re here to tell you that it can be done! Read this article to discover the benefits of using games for reading, how to use them effectively, and to try out the best reading games to play in class!

It probably goes without saying that Thanksgiving is all about reflecting upon what makes us grateful! But sometimes children miss the message as they are getting even more excited for the upcoming Christmas season. Before the turkey hits the table, show kids how to express their gratitude and share it with those they love. Read this article to find Thanksgiving gratitude games and activities that are great to both at home or in the classroom!

As a parent or a teacher, you might notice that kids struggle with learning to subtract. Unlike addition, subtraction asks children to do something foreign to them by taking numbers away, and worse yet, borrowing or regrouping. To make matters more confusing, in the past, we taught kids to borrow without telling them why. But now we know that kids must understand the math concept behind the strategies they use. If you’re looking to begin teaching subtraction with regrouping, keep reading to discover why it’s so tricky for kids, the best strategies to use, and games and activities to support learning!

It’s hard to find an adult today who hasn’t learned how to round numbers by using a rhyme or trick. Unfortunately, when kids are taught tricks and steps to take without learning the underlying concept, we shortchange their education and number sense! This article explores the pitfalls of teaching kids to use mental “hacks” and rhyming expressions and offers you the best ways to teach rounding numbers to enhance your child’s knowledge of math and place value!

When children are born, any pediatrician will tell parents to begin reading aloud to infants and toddlers. Some parents will even play music or read to babies while still in the womb! But what about older kids who are gaining literacy skills, and those that have started reading independently? You might be surprised to find out that reading aloud can help kids throughout childhood, and even until middle school! Check out this article to learn how this can bolster early reading skills and to discover the best read aloud books for kids of all ages!

Nursery rhymes have been around for ages, but have you ever thought about what gives them the staying power to stick around preschool classrooms? The answer is because of the rhymes! Learning to rhyme is fun for kids, but it’s also an important pre-reading skill. This article explores the importance of teaching children to isolate and listen for phonemes and letter sounds and offers easy and fun activities to teach rhyming words! 

Today more than ever before do teachers and parents have the best opportunity to help their children unleash their full potential! Because of a paradigm shift from teacher-centered learning to one that guides kids to take ownership of their learning, kids have never been more equipped to become successful. This article explores how to develop a growth mindset and offers six super strategies to encourage children to take charge of their own academic achievement!

All parents want their kids to love learning and enjoy school! But just like adults, kids can easily become burnt out and frustrated when faced with more than they can handle. Let’s face it: homework stress is a real concern for many families now that many elementary students are expected to complete more than double the amount of homework that has been suggested for decades. Keep reading to discover more about homework in the primary grades, and to find 10 tips to help kids manage it to reduce stress. 

As kids get older, both parents and teachers alike are faced with children who love to watch or play on screens! Today’s generation of children have grown up with technology all around them, with many kids having used YouTube since before they could remember! But along with the apps and devices that children love the most, come the responsibility to manage their usage by caregivers and educators. This article explores what the experts say about children and technology and offers 5 fantastic tips to manage kids’ screen time.