Thoughts on Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmetic

Ever feel like this when you try to do math?

If so, ALP can help! Check out our math program, and call or email us for more information.

There's nothing better than hearing from an former student who is doing well. Check out the following graduation announcement:

Crystal Pater's graduation letter

We'd love to hear your suggestions and reviews!

Playful Chef (3-9)

Dot-to-Dot counting books

Talking Teaching Cash register

Pizza Party Math

For some more games that exercise your child's brain through fun, check these out:

Design and Drill

Cart before the Horse

CityScape Time

Equate

With Black Friday only a week away and Christmas shopping already in full swing, here are some ideas for gifts that will entertain your kids as well as helping them learn important thinking skills.

For visual motor skill-building:

Imaginets (3+)

Batik (5+)

Color Stix (5+)

Rainbow Mosaic (2-5)

What are some educational games you've found? We'd love to hear from you!

Check back daily as we continue our series of gifts to help kids learn!

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Thoughts about Learning

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When Eilis Leptien began coming to ALP, she hated spelling in school. After 12 weeks of treatment to improve her orthographic processing and phonemic awareness, she doesn't quite have the same opinion on the subject.

She came in for treatment a few days ago with a big grin and a story to tell. That day in spelling, the teacher decided to have a quick spelling bee at the end of the hour. One of the first words was "incalculable."

The first nine people in line missed the word. Then Eilis got up to spell.

"I-n, c-a-l," she began, using the ALP strategy of breaking long words into syllables.

The next syllable had been the one to stump her classmates, and she wasn't entirely certain of the letters. Instead of blurting something out, Eilis employed another technique she learned at ALP - using the motor action of her mouth to segment sounds.

"C-u-l, a-b, l-e."

Eilis's teacher gave her a piece of candy to celebrate the success. We at ALP were pretty thrilled, too. Now that Eilis has internalized the strategies we've taught her, spelling is no longer just a headache to be endured.

And the benefits of that are incalculable.

Rachel Phelps
Clinician

National Geographic Kids

 

Offers great nature videos, activities, games, stories, and more

 Learning about measurement doesn't have be take the textbook route, but here are some fun books that help introduce the concept to young learners.

Recommended by LDOnline:

Cook-a-doodle-do!

By Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

A charming picture book about a hen who decides to make a strawberry shortcake with her friends... none of whom know anything about cooking. Iguana tries to measure the flour with a ruler! Hen teaches them about measuring properly with the right tools and the author includes side notes about dry versus liquid measuring, as well as equivalents such as 1 stick of butter = 1 cup = 8 tablespoons. (Recommended ages 4-8)

How Big is a Foot?

By Rolf Myller

The Queen's apprentice needs to build a new bed for the Queen. But how big is a bed when beds haven't been invented yet? The amusing story is a fun introduction to the concept of standard measurement. (Recommended ages 4-8)

Measuring Penny

By Loreen Leedy

A girl named Lisa has an assignment to measure something in as many ways as she can. "Use your imagination!" says the teacher. Lisa chooses her dog, Penny, and discovers, among other things, that Penny's tail is one biscuit long. This engaging book teaches the difference between standard and non-standard measurement.

How Tall, How Short, How Far Away

By David A. Adler

Learns the units of measure (including the metric system) by comparing the lengths to fingers, arms, feet and other body parts. You'll find lots of examples of how we use measurement in everyday activities as well as hands-on activities such as asking how tall you are using units of measure from ancient Egypt. (Recommended ages 6-9)

An important component of measuring is comparison. This pile of laundry is bigger than that one, or the runt is the smallest puppy in the litter.

For youngsters who are still discovering measuring concepts, frequent use of these words is key. As discussed in a previous blog post, kids do not internalize meanings after hearing a word once.

Introduce the words in conversation, and be sure your child is using the word correctly. Give them opportunities to use the words as well.

"That flower has shorter leaves than this one, so what would we call these leaves?"

When appropriate, use or reference measuring tools such as a ruler, scale, clock or thermometer. The more exposure a child has to a tool, the easier it becomes for him to take the next step of using it himself.

Coming soon: Books and other reference materials to help with visual-spatial awareness