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 Academic Development
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I can...
At Agriculture Education
K-2
- None
3-5
- None
6-8
- Understand where my food comes from
- Learn about careers in Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
- Develop leadership and personal skills
I can...
At Arts
K-2
- Sing a song based on a simple rhythm and melody
- Create a dance that communicates a life experience, theme, or idea
- Act out a character using my voice, my actions, or facial expressions
- Share and describe a personal artwork
3-5
- Take a photograph and describe the artistic elements that make it an artwork
- Describe what makes a waltz different that a march in music
- Fance for you demonstrating my control, balance and coordination
- Make a sculpture and describe to you the tools, materials and techniques I used to create it
6-8
- Use technology tools such as a computer to research, document or give feedback about a work of art
- Play a musical instrument with musically expressive qualities such as phrasing, dynamic contrast or articulation
- Look at a painting by a native American artist and tell you about it's social, cultural and historical contexts
- Create a short video in a variety of styles
I can...
At Business and Marketing Education
K-2
- Participate in field trips and school activities that start to explore the world of business
3-5
- Participate in field trips and school activities that start to explore the world of business
- Join a club or organization that has an entrepreneurship focus
6-8
- Explore the career options available in Business and Marketing Careers, including Information Technology careers
- Join a club or organization that has an entrepreneurship focus and participate in the business aspects of the club, such as marketing and selling a product, accounting for funds, etc
I can...
At Career Development
K-2
- None
3-5
- Describe what I like and don't like to do
- Work together with other kids
- See that work is an important part of being grown up
- Understand that doing well in school is important
- Set goals and achieve them
6-8
- Describe my strengths and weaknesses in school subjects
- Work cooperatively with other kids
- Identify a number of occupational groups that match my interests and abilities
- Identify school subjects that are important regarding my career goals
- Understand that I have a responsibility to plan for my future
I can...
At Family and Consumer Sciences
K-2
- None
3-5
- None
6-8
- Learn about the career options available in Family and Consumer Sciences/Service Occupations
I can...
At Health Education
End Of Grade 2
- Describe ways to prevent communicable diseases
- Identify healthy behaviors that affect personal health
- Identify trusted adults and professionals who can help promote health
- Explain how media influences my thoughts, feelings and health behavior
- Identify a short-term personal goal and take action toward achieving the goal
- Demonstrate behaviors that avoid or reduce health risks
End Of Grade 5
- Describe the relationship between healthy behaviors and personal health
- Describe when it is important to seek health care
- Identify how friends can influence healthy and unhealthy behaviors
- Identify characteristics of valid health information, products and services
- Demonstrate refusal skills that avoid or reduce health risks
- List healthy options to health-related issues or problems
- Encourage others to make positive health choices
End Of Grade 8
- Describe how family history can affect personal health
- Explain how appropriate health care can promote personal health
- Describe the influence of culture on health beliefs, practices and behaviors
- Locate valid and reliable health products and services
- Demonstrate effective conflict management skill or resolution strategies
- Predict short-term and long-term impact of unhealthy behaviors. State a health-enhancing position on a topic and support it with accurate information
- Explain the importance of assuming responsibility for personal health behaviors
I can...
At Health Science Technology
K-2
- None
3-5
- None
6-8
- Learn about the career options available in Health Science Technology
I can...
At Language Arts/Reading
End Of Grade 2
- Analyze words, recognize words, and read grade level texts fluently
- Learn and use unfamiliar words introduced in stories and informational texts
- Recall facts and details from informational texts
- Make inferences about forthcoming information during read alouds and shared reading
- Read, listen to and make connection to texts and compare characters and events between fictional texts
- Write narrative and informational texts and use a variety of written forms
- Apply knowledge of spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization and penmanship to writing
- Organize and give a simple oral presentation
End Of Grade 5
- Read a wide variety of grade-level informational and narrative texts with fluency and expression
- Determine the meaning of words using contextual and structural clues
- Draw inferences or conclusions about an author's meaning supported by facts and events from the text
- Summarize sequence of events, main ideas, facts, supporting details and opinions in texts
- Analyze, interpret and evaluate a wide variety of texts
- Write multi-paragraph compositions in a wide variety of genres
- Apply spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization to both hand-written and word-processed documents
- Locate and use information from reference materials
- Organize information to clarify and support spoken ideas with evidence and examples
- Critically analyze information found in electronic and print media
End Of Grade 8
- Analyze words, recognize words and read grade-level text with accuracy and fluency
- Use a variety of strategies to expand reading, listening and speaking vocabularies
- Summarize and paraphrase main ideas, trace the development of an author's argument, evaluate supporting details for adequacy and accuracy
- Analyze, interpret, evaluate and compare a wide variety of literature
- Create multi-paragraph informative, expressive, narrative and persuasive writing
- Apply standard English conventions when writing and speaking
- Formulate questions, collect, organize and synthesize relevant information from a variety of sources
- Format word-processed texts to present information in an organized, readable format, integrating graphics, illustrations and bulleting as needed
- Demonstrate understanding and communicate effectively through listening and speaking
- Apply research strategies and analytic skills when investigating a topic
I can...
At Mathematics
K-2
- Make sense of the world by reasoning, problem-solving and thinking in sophisticated ways
- Construct, modify and integrate ideas by interacting with the physical world and with peers and adults
- Make connections that clarify and extend my knowledge, thus adding new meaning to past experiences
- Learn by talking about what I am thinking and doing and by collaborating and sharing my ideas
- Use many varied representations to build new understandings and express mathematical ideas. I represent my thoughts about, and understanding of, mathematical ideas through oral and written language, physical gestures, drawings, and invented and conventional symbols. These representations are methods for communicating as well as powerful tools for thinking
3-5
- Recognize, create and use equivalent representations of numbers and geometric objects
- Infer, measure, communicate, classify and make predictions based on what I observe
- Formulate conjectures and assess them on the basis of evidence to reason about general properties and relationships
- Communicate and share my thinking, ask questions, and explain and justify ideas
- Represent problems and ideas to support and extend my reasoning. My representations help to portray, clarify or extend a mathematical idea by focusing on essential features
6-8
- Make and examine conjectures raised by solving a problem and posing follow-up questions
- Use inductive reasoning to search for mathematical relationships through the study of patterns
- Present and explain the strategies that I used to solve a problem, and analyze, compare, and contrast the meaningfulness, efficiency and elegance of a variety of strategies, not just procedural descriptions or summaries
- Use and make connections between the ideas that I am studying. For instance, I understand the connections between rational numbers, proportionality and linear relationships
- Create, use and compare representations to organize and record my thinking about mathematical ideas
I can...
At Physical Education
End Of Grade 2
- Skip, hop, gallop and slide
- Perform a simple dance step keeping a specific tempo
- Change directions and/or speed while I skip, hop or gallop
- Balance on one foot with my arms outstretched from my side
- Identify correctly various body parts such as knee, foot, arm, palm and others
- Describe the short-term affects of physical activity to my heart and lungs
- Run, jog or walk a half-mile
End Of Grade 5
- Throw a ball overhand and hit a target
- Jump to a height of nine inches landing on both feet
- Enter and exit a long jump rope routine
- Demonstrate a simple polka step (hop-step-together-step)
- Participate in lead-up games for team sports
- Play within the rules of an activity
- Describe the different components of fitness that include cardiovascular, psychomotor, and muscular endurance
- Meet age and gender specific health-related fitness standards in sit-ups, push-ups (or pull-ups), and mile run, walk or jog
End Of Grade 8
- Self-assess my heart rate before, during and after exercise
- Plan and implement a personal fitness plan for seven days
- Demonstrate competence in modified versions of a variety of movement forms
- Identify critical elements of more advanced movement skills and game strategies
- Show self control by accepting a controversial decision by an official
- Perform a variety of folk, square and other dances utilizing more complex movements
- Perform more complex skills in games activities (dribbling and changing directions, placing the ball away from the opponent in tennis)
I can...
At Science
K-2
- Bring a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world, whether watching snails in an aquarium, blowing bubbles, using a flashlight to make shadows, or experimenting with objects to see what sinks or floats, I like to find out how the world works
- Create strong and enduring mental representations of what they have experienced in investigating the everyday world
- Readily acquire vocabulary to describe and share these mental representations and the concepts that evolve from them
- Rely on the mental representations as the basis for further learning and for higher order intellectual skills such as problem- solving, hypothesis testing, and generalizing across situations
3-5
- Increase my knowledge of the world and how it works on a daily basis
- Value and use science
- Become excited about science when I get the chance to "do" science
- Plant and watch a seed germinate, and develop a strong framework for abstract thinking later in life
- Observe, infer, measure, communicate, classify, predict, interpret data and develop models
6-8
- Develop intuitive concepts of the natural world which can be both resources and barriers to emerging understanding. Experiences and discussion help clarify the concepts
- Learn faster at some times than at others, depending on the context
- Develop concepts in many different ways. Some kinds of conceptual change occur naturally as a consequence of my everyday experiences, whereas others require intentional effort, often by both me and a teacher
- Have difficulty making major changes in conceptual frameworks because they require me to break out of my familiar frame and reorganize a body of knowledge, often in ways that draw on unfamiliar ideas. Such changes are facilitated by instruction that helps me construct an understanding of the new concepts, and provides opportunities for me to strengthen my understanding of the new ideas through extended application and argumentation
I can...
At Social Studies
K-2
- Compare family life in my community to earlier times
- Discuss people who have made cultural contributions to world history and analyze the significance of their contributions
- Place events in chronological order and construct timelines
- Locate on a map the major world countries, states and major cities of the United States
- Identify the difference between basic needs and wants
- Explain the importance of participation and cooperation in a classroom and community and explain how people can make a difference in others' lives
3-5
- Compare ways of life of Indian Nations from different regions of North America
- Describe significant historical achievements of various cultures of the world
- Develop a chronological sequence of persons, events and concepts in each historical era studied
- Locate and name all 50 states, territories, mountain ranges, major river valleys, state capitals and cities that I have studied
- Define and give examples of basic economic terms
- Identify people who have dealt with challenges and made a positive difference in other people's lives and explain their contributions
6-8
- Identify and analyze the main ideas of the debate over slavery, abolitionism and states' rights during the Civil War and Reconstruction era
- Describe the development of agriculture and its effects on human communities
- Identify, describe and extract information from various types of historical sources, both primary and secondary
- Make and use maps to acquire, process and report on the spatial organization of people and places on earth
- Apply a decision-making process to make informed choices
- Discuss the importance of participation in civic life and demonstrate effective civic skills
I can...
At Technology Education
K-2
- None
3-5
- Recognize things that are made by people and things that are found in nature
- Identify toys that relate to people who work in different jobs
- Build simple structures and machines with small components such as Legos, blocks or other materials
6-8
- Recognize the systems that are used in transportation, communications, construction and manufacturing
- Understand trends in the development of technology and how the needs of society drive these trends
- Safely use tools to diagnose, adjust and repair
- Identify criteria and constraints in the design process
- Recognize and understand high-wage, high-skill and high-demand careers
My family can...
At Agriculture Education
K-2
- None
3-5
- None
6-8
- Encourage your son or daughter to explore career opportunities in Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
- Help your child to design a program of study in the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources career field
- Encourage your child to take advantage of the opportunities available through the FFA student organization
My family can...
At Arts
K-2
- Contact your school principal, district superintendent, or board member and let them know your expectation for a comprehensive education that includes the arts
- Visit your child's art, music, dance, or theater class at school and ask how you can support their growth
- Take an arts class through community education
- Look for curriculum resources online
- Read stories to your children
- Look for examples of art in your neighborhood and share these with your child
- Sing songs in the car with your kids!
- Encourage your kid to dream!
3-5
- Check out the following Web sites for interesting places to take your child to see high quality arts events:
- Southern Theater http://www.southerntheater.org/
- Young Dance Minneapolis: http://www.youngdance.org/
- Walker Art Center: http://www.walkerart.org/index.wac
- Ordway Center for the Performing Arts: http://www.ordway.org/
- Minneapolis Institute of Arts: http://www.artsmia.org/index.php?section_id=44
- Stages Theater Company http://www.stagestheatre.org/
- Attend a concert - many of them are FREE for families
- Minnesota Orchestra http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/
- St. Paul Chamber Orchestra http://www.thespco.org
- Buy your child a camera (a disposable camera is a great place to start) and let them take pictures
- Make instruments out of household materials and perform on them with your child
- Go folk dancing with your family; there are even family-focused dances intended for all ages!
- Tapestry Folkdance Center http://www.tapestryfolkdance.org/
- Put a costume box in your child's play room
6-8
- See how 8th graders in Austin, Minnesota learn about global cultures through dance: http://opd.mpls.k12.mn.us/art_ex.html
- Attend a concert of your child's choice, and talk with them about how that concert compares with music of your childhood
- Take your child to see a play and talk with them about it afterwards. What did they learn from it? What questions do they have?
- Buy your child a recording or video of one of your favorite artists and share why you like it
- Ask your child to help you pick out a work of art to be displayed in your home
- Watch folk musicians videos from around the world and talk them with your child. http://www.folkways.si.edu/explore_folkways/video.aspx
My family can...
At Business and Marketing Education
K-2
- Provide information about various kinds of businesses with which you or family members have experience
3-5
- Provide information about various kinds of businesses with which you or family members have experience
- Discuss how your family makes business decisions and have your child make a personal budget
6-8
- Help your child explore options in Business and Marketing Careers by supporting career days and work-based opportunities
- Discuss how your family makes business decisions and have your child make a personal budget, using actual figures
My family can...
At Career Development
K-2
- None
3-5
- Encourage your child to express his or her feelings
- Set a good example by treating others respectfully
- Discuss what people do in different occupations
- Encourage your child to do well in school and to read for pleasure
- Compliment your child when he or she accomplishes something
6-8
- Discuss school matters with your child
- Encourage your child to participate in group activities
- Encourage your child to explore different careers
- Help your child plan what subjects to take in school
- Help your child set up a savings plan to pay for postsecondary education
My family can...
At Family and Consumer Sciences
K-2
- None
3-5
- None
6-8
- Help your child explore options in Family and Consumer Sciences/Service Occupations, such as career days and work-based opportunities
My family can...
At Health Education
End Of Grade 2
- Talk with your child about the importance of preventative health (example: hand-washing, not sharing tooth brushes or drinking glasses)
- Talk with your child about how you make healthy food and drink choices at home
- Ask your child who they can go to for help at home and school
- Watch advertisements on TV with your child and ask them if they have healthy or unhealthy messages
- Have your child set a goal for one week (example: healthy eating or exercise)
- Whenever you see your child making a healthy decision, praise them for their choice
End Of Grade 5
- Ask your child to describe how poor health habits can affect their health. (example: not covering mouth or nose when sneezing or coughing)
- Ask your child what the signs are that tell them they need to see the school nurse
- Ask your child what they can say if a friend wants them to do something unhealthy (example: riding bikes without a helmet, boating without a life jacket)
- Look through magazines with your child and talk about the validity of the information
- Brainstorm different ways of saying "no" with your child when their friends want them to do something unsafe (taking a short cut home that isn't supposed to be taken)
- Strategize ways with your child to get the whole family physically active
End Of Grade 8
- Share your family health history with your child so they are aware of hereditary health issues.
- Ask your child why annual preventative health care is important and the consequences if not followed (example: physicals or dentist visits)
- Ask your child to describe cultural differences with any of their classmates at school and if there are any personal or community health effects (example: clothing that covers the face, eating, religion)
- Ask your child to identify potential medications that could be taken for headaches, stomach aches or the common cold and the correct dosages of each
- Ask your child to list what they can do to control their temper when they get really angry
- Ask your child to predict long-and short-term effects of unhealthy behaviors (example: smoking, drinking alcohol, taking drugs
- Have your child take a stand on a health topic and explain why (example the need for smoke detectors on every floor in your house)
- Take real life opportunities to recognize a health decision made by your child (like drinking or not drinking alcohol) and how they have to take responsibility for it
My family can...
At Health Science Technology
K-2
- None
3-5
- None
6-8
- Help your child explore options in Health Science Technology careers, such as career days and work-based opportunities
My family can...
At Language Arts/Reading
End Of Grade 2
- Read to your child and let your child read to you. Discuss the stories as you read, asking your child to make predictions about what will happen next and how he/she thinks the story will end
- Surround your child with books and writing materials. Let him/her write stories, letters, postcards and messages. Have your child write notes to you and respond to the notes in writing
- Let your child see you reading and writing
- Let your child tell and retell stories. Ask questions and help your child tell events in order
- Look for ways to break long words into parts. Look for patterns, letters that often come together and sound the same. Look for beginnings like "un" and "re" and endings like "tion" and "ment"
- Play with words. Make a game of looking for interesting words
End Of Grade 5
- Surround your child with reading materials of various types: novels and biographies, fiction, nonfiction, newspapers, and magazines. Encourage your child to read for a variety of reasons -- to find out information on a topic, to learn something new and for enjoyment
- Let your child see you reading books and writing
- Encourage your child to keep a journal, write letters, take notes and make graphics
- Encourage your child to look for interesting words. Make a contest out of finding interesting, challenging and unusual words
- View print and non-print advertisements with your child and talk about the message that the ads are sending to the viewer/reader
- Help your child find reliable sources of information about topics of interest to them
End Of Grade 8
- Share newspaper articles with your child and discuss the events. Have your child share information about books, magazines and newspaper articles
- Help your child gain access to reference materials
- Encourage your child to keep a diary, create a vacation journal, shopping lists, thank-you notes and e-mail messages
- Have your child use a computer for writing, using various fonts, margins, spell-checker, editing procedures and graphics
- Establish a time for family communication (for example, at dinner time)
- Encourage your child to provide interesting oral summaries of movies or television programs
- Have your child listen to and explain the lyrics of a selection of music
- Have your child do research on a product your family is going to purchase or a place you plan to visit
- Create an atmosphere conducive to learning by helping your child schedule regular, quiet time for reading, writing, studying and completing homework on time
My family can...
At Mathematics
K-2
- Portray a positive attitude about learning and using mathematics
- Strengthen my sense of numbers, moving from the initial development of basic counting techniques to more sophisticated understandings of the size of numbers, number relationships, patterns, operations, and place value. Count, count, count!
- Encourage me to demonstrate and deepen my understanding of numbers and operations by solving interesting problems set in some context related to my daily experiences at home and by discussing my strategies and how I represent or show my thinking
- Ask questions that lead to clarifications, extensions, and the development of new understandings
- Play board games, solve puzzles, brainteasers, and enjoy other types of activities with me that will enhance my mathematical thinking
- Visit the Family Corner at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. http://nctm.org/resources/families.aspx
- Visit the SciMathMN Website to obtain a bookmark with questions to help your child learn mathematics. http://scimathmn.org/docs/math_bookmark.pdf
- Access a publication from the U.S. Department of Education offering practical strategies for teaching math to young children, including fun activities that use everyday situations and materials to teach math. Helping Your Child Learn Math http://www.math.com/parents/articles/helpmath.html
- Develop your child's abilities to do mathematics, while at the same time encouraging a positive attitude toward mathematics by referring to information in a publication from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. Doing Mathematics with Your Child http://www.math.com/parents/articles/domath.html
- Explore hundreds of Web links at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Illuminations Website. http://illuminations.nctm.org/
- Search the National Science Digital Library for more information: http://nsdl.org/
3-5
- Foster interest in mathematics by helping me to realize that mathematics is not about memorizing procedures
- Encourage me to think about and use mathematics in everyday situations
- Play board games, solve puzzles, brainteasers, and enjoy other types of activities with me that will enhance my mathematical thinking
- Portray a positive attitude about learning and using mathematics
- Visit the Family Corner at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. http://nctm.org/resources/families.aspx
- Visit the SciMathMN Website to obtain a bookmark with questions to help your child learn mathematics. http://scimathmn.org/docs/math_bookmark.pdf
- Visit the Kids' Zone at http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/eyk/index.asp?flash=true to see how you perform on questions answered nationally or around the world
- Access a publication from the U.S. Department of Education offering practical strategies for teaching math to young children, including fun activities that use everyday situations and materials to teach math. Helping Your Child Learn Math http://www.math.com/parents/articles/helpmath.html
- Develop your child's abilities to do mathematics, while at the same time encouraging a positive attitude toward mathematics by referring to information in a publication from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. Doing Mathematics with Your Child http://www.math.com/parents/articles/domath.html
- Explore hundreds of Web links at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Illuminations Website. http://illuminations.nctm.org/
- Search the National Science Digital Library for more information
6-8
- Visit Figure This! These mathematical challenges for families provide interesting math challenges that middle-school students can do at home with their families. http://www.figurethis.org/
- Visit the Family Corner at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. http://nctm.org/resources/families.aspx
- Visit the SciMathMN Website to obtain a bookmark with questions to help your child learn mathematics. http://scimathmn.org/docs/math_bookmark.pdf
- Visit the Kids' Zone at http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/eyk/index.asp?flash=true to see how you perform on questions answered nationally or around the world
- Portray a positive attitude about learning and using mathematics
- Expect your child to succeed and be sure that he or she understands that expectation. When you believe in them, and tell them that you do, they develop the courage and desire to succeed
- Share with your child an upbeat attitude toward mathematics. Even if your own early experiences were not always positive, find ways to have fun with your child while using mathematics
- Point out how mathematics is used in the world around them
- Encourage your child's curiosity about the world around them. Listen to their many questions, and ask your own questions. Discuss with your child how together you might find answers to these questions
- Ensure that your child sees you and other adults using mathematics every day. Children are more willing to try hard to learn a subject when they believe it is important and relevant to their lives
- Encourage your child's enthusiasm for learning. If your child has a special interest in mathematics, explore with his or her teachers and counselors ways that you can nurture that interest
- Ask your child about his or her mathematics classes and look at the work that is brought home. Ask your child to explain classroom activities. Learn mathematics with your child. Let your child see that you are excited when you learn new things
- Talk with your child about mathematics and solve problems out loud together. Reason out your answers, so that your child will understand the value and usefulness of clear mathematical thinking
- Explore hundreds of Web links at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Illuminations Website. http://illuminations.nctm.org/\
- Search the National Science Digital Library for more information: http://nsdl.org/
My family can...
At Physical Education
End Of Grade 2
- Skip, hop, gallop and slide with your child
- Play music with a simple rhythm and move with your child
- Perform simple movement games with your child
- Play freeze tag that freezes your child in a balanced form; tag to unfreeze
- Ask your child to identify different parts of their body
- Talk to your child about how their body feels during and after exercise
- Go for walks, jogs or short runs with your child
End Of Grade 5
- Play catch with your child
- Play games that involve jumping with your child
- Provide jump rope opportunities for your child
- Dance various simple dance patterns with your child
- Play backyard games with your child such as kickball or softball
- Set rules and enforce them during play with your child
- Ask your child to tell you about the components of fitness
- Ask your school to provide you with the health-related fitness standards relevant to your child and work with your child on achieving them at home
- Go for runs, walks or jogs with your child
End Of Grade 8
- Ask your child to explain appropriate heart rate zones before, during and after exercise
- Plan and implement your own fitness plan with your child
- Ask your child to demonstrate five skills in a sport activity (such as soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey and others)
- Watch a sport event with your child and ask them to identify advanced skills and strategies they see during the game
- Take opportunities to discuss appropriate conduct when conflict occurs during physical activities
- Dance with your child, or provide fun videos your child can perform with, that encourage more complex dance movements
- Enroll your child in recreational leagues or play neighborhood games that require more advanced skills in sport activities
My family can...
At Science
K-2
- Update your knowledge with science refreshers from NSDL: http://www.sciencenetlinks.com
- Learn why science matters and get involved at http://www.tryscience.org/parents/parent.html
- Find and use some really good activities and games for your child at http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/
site/science.shtml - Learn what to do to build science knowledge and skills at http://www.letstalkscience.ca
- Read to your child some of the current science news in a kid- friendly format at: http://www.eurekalert.org/scienceforkids/
- Explore some interesting Websites for K-2 students at: http://www.physics.isu.edu/~shropshi/k2sites.html
- Find out what teachers are asking your child to do at http://www.sciencenetlinks.com
- Explore and explain the outdoor environment to your child, and if they make a statement ask them how they know that. It helps to have children define the evidence they are using to support the knowledge
3-5
- You can help foster children's interest in science by planning activities that encourage children to interact with the materials, living things, and natural processes in their environment. Explore the following Websites for additional ideas:
6-8
- Introduce your children to stimulating environments. Oceans, swamps, parks, airports, and even kitchens, bathrooms and backyards offer chances for observing and discussing science
- Become interested in your children's science interests. Identify aspects of science that your children enjoy. Fuel these fires. Talk to your children about their science interests and encourage their efforts
- Seize the teachable moments. Your child sees a beautiful tulip flower in the spring and asks about it. The home environment is familiar to your children and fosters teachable moments that classroom teachers can only dream about; you can use these teachable moments to help your children become fascinated with science
- Provide hands-on experiences. Give children the chance to "do" science. Use the aforementioned suggestions as a starting point for further hands-on exploration of a scientific concept. Not only are hands-on experiences a great way to learn, but they are also a great way to get children excited about science. The resource list at the end of this section contains many ideas for intriguing science activities
- Share your science interests. If you have a science-related job or hobby, such as keeping a fish tank, repairing cars or feeding birds, share the excitement
- Bridge from the media. Movies, television specials, magazines, newspapers, books and computer programs frequently present science-related topics (see resource list). Talk with your children about the science they encounter: What interested them? What did they learn? Older students may enjoy discussing whether the science presented in science fiction stories was real or fictional
- Set aside time for discussion. One of the key components of all the previous guidelines is discussion-a powerful tool for making children think and refocus their ideas. Explore these Websites for additional ideas:
My family can...
At Social Studies
K-2
- Look through a family photo album or view home movies or videos. Talk about the events in which your child was involved
- Volunteer to do something to help in your community. For example, check on an elderly neighbor or donate food to a shelter or food bank. Discuss why helping others makes our community better
- Help your child draw a map of your neighborhood. Include your home, school and other important places in the community
- Take your child with you the next time you vote
- Talk about people you consider to be heroes in American or World History. Ask your child who his or her heroes are
- Read stories to your child that are set in different times and places
- Hold a "product" hunt in your house to find out where different products are manufactured. Locate these places on maps or globes
- Help your child to start saving money. Suggest and discuss a goal for saving money
3-5
- Many inventions and discoveries changed the way people lived, worked and played. Talk with your child about ways in which today's discoveries are changing people's lives. Find examples in news stories
- Talk about how the land and weather affect the way your family lives. You might listen to weather forecasts for the coming week to see if the weather will affect your plans
- Make travel plans, or pretend, for an upcoming trip. Talk about places you would like to visit, how you would get there and how much money the trip would cost
- Talk about the industries and resources of your area and how they affect the community
- Help your child understand that as people living in a democracy, we have both rights and responsibilities
- Encourage your child to read stories that are set in different times and places
- Take your child with you the next time you vote
6-8
- Talk about how the place where people live affects the way they live and the work they do. Explain that this was true for people long ago and it is true for people today
- Talk about the meaning of democracy, liberty, independence and justice
- Follow the news. Point out connections between past and present
- Take your child with you the next time you vote
- Visit a local museum, memorial or statues in the community, state or nation
- Encourage your child to read stories that are set in different times and places
- Talk with your child about finances including household budgets, saving money and credit
My family can...
At Technology Education
K-2
- None
3-5
- Show your child the things that are made by people and those that occur naturally
- Explain to your child how different workers help us by the work they do
- Explain to your child what a machine does when you see it or use it
- Help your child create building projects
6-8
- Encourage your child to explore taking classes in transportation, communications, construction and manufacturing
- Help your child to use technological tools to explore career options
- Encourage your child to develop a program of study that will result in a high-wage, high-skill, and high-demand career
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