Math is immersed in our daily lives. When we weigh fruit at a supermarket, receive change at a store, or measure flour for a favorite brownie recipe, we are using math concepts. When children reach grade school they begin to “formally” learn mathematics. Yet even at a very young age, children can develop an understanding of basic math principles in fun and engaging ways.

Try the ideas below with your preschool age child:

1. Sequencing. Sequencing is an understanding that events and objects occur in a specific order – an important precursor to both math and reading. To practice sequencing at home, have your child gather a group of toys and put them in a pile. Then, using sequencing words, ask your child to order them. For instance, you might say, “In one line, place the green truck first and the yellow car second. Place the purple block third. Finally, place the green ball last in the line.” You can also create your own sequencing cards describing events in a story. For example, tell your child a story about a girl who wakes up, brushes her teeth, eats breakfast, and goes to school. Then make 4 picture cards describing these events, mix them up, and have your child put them in order.

2. Grouping and Sorting. Make a trip to the supermarket academically productive by teaching your child grouping and sorting. For example, grab an assortment of red, green, and yellow apples and several plastic produce bags. Ask your child to put all of the green apples in one bag, red apples in another, and so on. You can also select a group of tomatoes or plums and have him put the smaller ones in one bag and the larger ones in another. At home, have him sort crayons in containers based on color, blocks in boxes based on shape, or balls in baskets based on size.

3. Time. The concept of time can be a tricky one to grasp at a young age, but these age-appropriate exercises can help your child develop a basic understanding. Try setting a timer to help your child understand how long certain tasks take to complete. For example, time her as she brushes her teeth, eats breakfast, or gets dressed. Talk about which task took longer, how much longer one task took than the other, and so on. Also discuss with her what time she does certain activities. For instance, she might wake up at 7:00am, go to school at 8:30am, and eat dinner at 6:00pm. Discussing time in this manner with help your child begin to understand the concept.

4. Shapes. ‎Have your child play with different shapes to learn both their names and how they feel. Try cutting out basic shapes using felt (triangle, rectangle, square, diamond, etc.) and put them all in a box. Have her take one shape out of the box and tell you its name. Also ask her to describe how many sides it has and how it feels. This kinesthetic approach will help the names and visual representations stick in your child’s long term memory.

5. Estimation and Prediction. Teach your child estimation using every day items at home. For example, have him create a stack of magazines and a stack of books, and, before doing so, ask him to predict which one he thinks will be taller.‎ You can also draw a large square on a sheet of paper and have him estimate how many Cheerios he can fit in that square, then actually fill the square with Cheerios.  Have him compare the actual number by counting them (another important math skill!) to the estimated number.

Math is an important skill that is weaved into almost all aspects of our lives. Even at a very young age, children can learn fundamental math concepts through play and engaging activities. It’s never too early to start learning the basics!

The post 5 Ways to Build Your Preschooler’s Math Skills appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Wondering if your child might have dyslexia? Look for these signs.

You notice your child struggling to sound out words when reading. He has difficulty with writing and his reading fluency is very slow. His self-esteem is starting to plummet as he compares himself to peers who are excelling in these academic areas. You might wonder if your child has dyslexia. Read below for some grade-specific signs:

Preschool

Most preschool-age children are not yet reading or writing. Many have not yet learned to write letters or or recognize sound/letter relationships. Yet early signs of dyslexia can be identified at this young age. Your child might struggle with phonemic awareness, or the ability to hear, recognize, and manipulate sounds in words. For example, rhyming might be a challenge. She may have trouble identifying initial sounds in words (ex: What sound does the word pizza start with?), medial sounds (ex: What is the middle sound you hear in the word hot?), or ending sounds (ex: What is the final sound you hear in the word red?). Try asking your child to say the word “dog” without the /d/ sound or “chop” without the /p/ sound. Struggling with this ability to manipulate sounds in words could be a sign of dyslexia. Furthermore, children with dyslexia might have trouble following directions or coming up with the correct word to describe an object or action.

Elementary School

As students progress through elementary school, reading and writing demands increase rapidly. At this age, you might notice that your child struggles to decode, or sound out, words–especially those he has never seen before. He may rely on his sight memory and picture clues to figure out words when reading, rather than trying to actually decode them. His reading fluency may be slow, and he might start to avoid reading out of embarrassment or lack of self-confidence. You also may notice that your child looks at the beginning sound of a word and guesses at the rest of it, and struggles to spell even basic single syllable words. Writing sentences and stories can be a challenge, and he might write the minimum amount necessary in order to be done with an assignment as quickly as possible.

Middle/High School

By the time students reach middle school, those with dyslexia have typically already been identified. However, some students develop coping strategies that allow them to “mask” their dyslexia for quite a while. While this masking can often carry them through early grades, many students hit a wall when the reading and writing demands ramp up in middle and high school. ‎You might find that your child’s speed of reading and completing work is very slow. He also may struggle with the simultaneous demands of writing: grammar, mechanics, organization, and spelling, and likely finds very little pleasure in reading. His overall self-esteem is low.

While dyslexia can be a lifelong challenge, for many parents and students, being diagnosed with dyslexia often comes as a relief. They feel better knowing that there is a reason for the constant struggle and that action can be taken to help relieve these challenges. The earlier students receive remediation to address their dyslexia-related struggles, the easier reading and writing will be as they move through school. Specialized methodologies, including the Orton Gillingham technique for decoding and spelling, and similar research-based, multi-sensory techniques for language processing and writing, can help dyslexic students tremendously as they progress through school and face the growing academic demands.

The post Could My Child Have Dyslexia? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

As final exams approach, help the kids manage stress with these tricks from a local education expert: The night before an exam, many students feel “sick”–their head is aching, their stomach hurts, their back is sore. Others feel angry, or possibly even depressed. Some are irritable and others lose focus. While these symptoms might seem like ones that need medical attention, they may just be implications of test anxiety–especially if a big exam is looming. Try some of the strategies below to reduce your child’s anxiety and help her feel relaxed, prepared, and positive come test day.

‎1) Deep breathing exercises: When we feel anxious, our breathing often moves from deep abdominal breathing to shallow chest breathing. Help your child relax and breathe deeply to reduce anxiety before an exam with the following exercise:

Have your child lay down or sit in a comfortable spot with his eyes closed. Tell him to focus on his breathing, and rest his hands on his stomach to feel his breath move up and down. Have your child count backwards from 10 (or another number of your choosing) in the following manner: he inhales deeply while saying the number “ten.” He then exhales while saying out loud “relax.” Then he inhales again deeply and says “nine,” and exhales while saying “relax.” He continues to follow this pattern until he reaches zero. As he performs this exercise, his breathing should move from shallow chest breathing to deeper abdominal breathing, helping him to relax and reduce his anxiety before an exam.

2) Journaling:  Encourage your child write in a journal about her test worries. On the morning of the exam, have her sit in a quiet room free of distractions and write about her worries and concerns for 10 minutes. She can even decorate her journal with colors or stickers to make it feel comforting and familiar. A University of Chicago Study found that this type of journaling can help students reduce their anxiety and improve their overall performance on exams.

3) Memory strategies: Remind your child to use memory strategies when preparing for exams, including acronyms, checklists, and other mnemonics. For example, he can also use an acronym such as PEMDAS (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) to remember the sequence in solving math equations: Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction. Likewise, when learning the planets, your child can create a silly sentence such as “My very eager mom jumped straight up near Paris!” to represent Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. As soon as he is given his test, he should write down the acronyms‎ and/or other mnemonics that he memorized.

4) Rewards: Give your child a reward to look forward to once the exam is over, whether it’s a movie, dinner out at her favorite restaurant, an ice cream date, or a similar treat. Providing your child with something exciting to look forward to can help her stay calm and positive.

5) During the exam, encourage your child to use test-taking strategies. For instance, she should answer the easiest questions first and determine an allotted amount of time to spend on each question. For multiple choice questions, she should read the question in its entirety before looking at the answer choices, try to answer the question in her mind before looking at the choices, and cross out answers she knows are incorrect. For essay exams, she should map out a schedule, carefully look at the directive words when reading the question, and create an outline before beginning to write.

Taking tests–whether standardized or in-class–can be daunting for many students. By teaching your child strategies and encouraging him to use these strategies on a regular basis, he will learn to relax, stay confident, and improve his overall performance on exams.

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