Motivating Elementary Students with an Online Learning Format

BY LISA S.T. DOSS

Teachers never expected to face their students through a monitor, and students couldn’t imagine school without the classroom experience. Change alters morale, especially in young children who thrive in an environment of rules, a dependable schedule and peer interaction. While parents may feel overwhelmed by remote learning, there are several ways to help your child grow and learn.

Maintaining Routine

Remember the hustle and bustle before school? The sound of alarm clocks and the pounding of running feet down staircases? High-volumed chatter and the whirlwind of actions, hoping to slow time? You can improve the morning experience by asking the kids to set their alarm clocks and come down to breakfast promptly at a set time. Make decisions on what to serve that will boost excitement to the morning routine. How about preparing a crockpot oatmeal breakfast or making something simple, such as frozen waffles? Try concluding each week by offering a new family activity, such as making pizza, watching a movie with a bowl of popcorn or playing a board game! Anything is possible to promote a good day!

Eliminate Distraction

Working and learning from home presents logistic challenges for families. Business calls and team meetings do not create the ideal environment for a young learner, ready to abandon the desk for a more pleasurable activity – playing. Children, too, need an appropriate location to engage in live lessons, perhaps with a microphone headset. Lessons may range from 10 to 45 minutes; therefore, make a pact with your child to remain seated during lessons. Implementing classroom rules at home may ease potential wonderings.

Emailing Questions

Remote learning offers the necessity for students to pose questions to teachers after school hours. Encourage children to take responsibility for creating an email and using appropriate words, avoiding slang, to express problems or needs. In the process, they learn how to construct a letter format while forming complete sentences, including a conclusion, signature and punctuation. By helping elementary-aged children take responsibility for their education, it opens the door for improved communication in future years!

Grades and Missing Assignments

In a technological format, students now have plenty of resources at their fingertips. The “Power School” website enables students to view grades as well as identify missing assignments. Forgot Mrs. Marshall’s math lesson? Then, access the videoed lesson to gain understanding. Parents can establish times to view grades either daily or weekly, and praise for improvements or openly discuss a plan to tackle time management. If playing occupies the time for completing classwork assignments, perhaps, the solution is to wait until evening. Kids may feel happier with the new arrangement.

Experiment with Assignments

Without group learning experiences, children must rely on themselves to complete assignments. The high expectation can lead to emotional frustration from screams to tears. Parents can assist by offering an alternative approach!

Reluctant readers may enjoy listening to a narrator, whether read-aloud or through an audiobook. Check out various apps for the cell phone, Kindle or iPad, which may allow a bookmark and the ability to rewind by 10 seconds to one minute.

Schedule a Zoom session with your child’s best friend to talk about an assigned book or assignment. The interaction will instantly cheer up both children and encourage motivation!

Most children achieve success with the help of visual aids; therefore, consider purchasing a magnetic whiteboard. With a variety of colored erasable markers, children can brainstorm writing ideas, learn to recall key vocabulary terms or practice mathematics problems. Incorporate learning strategies as your child prepares for a test. For spelling words, ask him or her to circle little words within the main word or separate through syllables. Other methods include creating meaning groups, songs, jingles, retrieval cues (such as mnemonics) or talking out loud.

Transition to Paper and Pencil

Keyboarding for an extended period requires healthy breaks to flex the fingers. Try implementing alternative activities during cold days, such as teaching the life skill of threading a needle and learning the art of embroidery, learning cursive or practicing yoga positions! Engaging the mind in a new focus may lead to enjoyment and contentment!

Monitoring Progress

Many parents feel left out of the educational process. Viewing assignments online is not an easy task, compared to a folder of completed work and tests. Rather than feel discouraged, take a moment to reach out to your child’s teacher to convey your concerns regarding motivation or the reason behind incomplete assignments. Distance learning cannot provide the whole picture, but parents can explain difficulties and receive wellneeded guidance!

CRIME

Prevention Tips:

WALKING

BY LISA S.T. DOSS

Scanning a walkway or parking lot, an attacker searches for a soft or an easy target. Perhaps it’s the individual struggling to carry a heavy item or distracted by their cell phone. Do you ever wonder how you appear to others? Do you stand straight, peering around occasionally to assess your environment? While it’s not always easy to avoid walking alone, especially at night, you can become part of a vital statistic, involving 50% of women, who want to feel more secure when walking alone day or night!

Walking to a Vehicle

We all have some form of alarm bells, a feeling of concern and the need for caution. In all cases, it’s wise to trust your instincts. If a security guard or business employee is not available to escort you to your vehicle, use your surroundings. Join a group leaving the building to increase your safety, or walk with purpose, on a well-lit pathway, directly to your destination. Make sure keys are in readiness to unlock the door! After entering your vehicle, do not sit and wait, but lock the doors, and leave immediately.

TIP: Never leave your keys in the ignition, especially at a gas station. TIP: Of all the essential items to keep in your vehicle, consider a pair of comfortable walking shoes.

The Purse

Women carry extensive, valuable possessions in their shoulder bags, from car keys to cash and credit cards, IDs, and expensive sunglasses, to pieces of jewelry. The bag itself may be an expensive brandname worth several hundred dollars. To prevent your belongings from falling in the wrong hands, carry your bag close to your body. The safest purse requires two-steps to enter, perhaps a buckled flap over the zipper, and a shortened strap. Take the time to clean out your purse periodically to ensure only the essential items, including relevant credit cards, are carried. Make sure your wallet lies at the bottom, rather than at the top! TIP: Do you know what items are in your purse? Keep an up-to-date list of every credit card you carry. Make sure to list the company’s name, number, and account number.

Walking with a Cell Phone

With hands-free devices, either corded or wireless, individuals can block out the world’s noise and focus on a conversation, audiobook, or favorite song. Thus, victims do not sense they are about to have their phones plucked from their hands or pockets. Instead of walking and scrolling at the same time, implement the following safety habits. • Conceal your phone underneath a coat or jacket, and try not to keep it in your back pocket, where it can easily be stolen. • Make phone conversations short, or allow the message to go to voicemail. • Turn down the volume to your handsfree device, and be alert to the sounds around you! • Keep your head up and scan the area frequently. • Mark your cell phone with invisible ink,

turn on the “location” and “password protected” settings.

A Sense of Being Followed

As a rule, never take acts of safety for granted! Most attackers do not want to be seen; therefore, take the time to turn around and look your follower in the eye; then, cross the street and find a location; perhaps, an open business, where a number of people can assist. Attract attention by whistling or screaming! Arriving to a vehicle, do not drive directly home! Report your experience to the police department!

Say No to Uncomfortable Situations

Instinct plays a vital role in safety! Never feel embarrassed in using the word, “No!” Saying it out loud indicates a personal preference and helps individuals avoid distrustful circumstances. If you feel leery, try the following solutions: • Think first of what the consequences may be if you said “Yes.” Pondering what could go wrong is one means to promote safety! • Create a code word with family members and roommates. It may lead to a vital rescue!

• Find an escape route that allows you to leave without confrontation. Determine if friends can assist and you can leave in a group.

Start sharing your vision of safety through social media to guarantee that your family and friends, teens, and young children learn to be proactive and vigilant when walking in public!

STEMulating Activities for Kids

BY MEGAN TAYLOR

Within recent years, technology and science have been on the fast-track. New innovations, medicines, and advances have appeared and influenced our way of life. There has also been a push for engaging children in these fields. One avenue to expose children to these areas is through STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, activities. Through STEM, children not only learn more about science and technology, but they develop life skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. In return, children want to learn more and explore these fields, pursue careers in them, and help maintain our country’s future growth and stability, as we continue to become more technological.

There is no correct age to introduce your child to STEM and you don’t have to start with a big exercise. In fact, your child may already be doing something STEM- related, such as building structures with LEGOS or playing with slime. A common thread with the activities is that they are all hands-on, interactive, and can hold a child’s attention. Looking for a good place to begin? Try these STEM activities at home.

Activities for Kids under Five

Young children can still reap the benefits of STEM through everyday actions. Be sure to ask questions and try different ways to conduct these experiments. The more you can explore, the more learning that will take place. For example, by • Creating ramps and buildings with household items and toys; • Water play and seeing what items will float or sink; • Experimenting with shadows and their effects; • Blowing bubbles; • Discovering their own five senses through the Apple Activity. In this experiment, you will need: 5 different varieties of apples, paper plates for each, a knife for cutting, paper for reflections, and a marker. Place each apple on a paper plate and label the plate with its type. Let your child observe each apple’s differences with their five senses. What does it look like (color and shape)? What does it smell like? What does it feel like? Have them make notes on their senses on the paper. Then, cut the apples into slices and give your kid another opportunity to analyze the apple slices with his or her five senses, this time adding in the sense of taste. What does the apple taste like? Does it crunch? These simple questions can lead into big observations and developmental skills.

Turn Milk into Plastic Experiment

(Suggested Age – Elementary and Middle School)

As a child grows older, more complicated and integral STEM investigations can take place, such as the Turn Milk into Plastic Experiment.

MATERIALS: 1 Cup milk 4 Teaspoons white vinegar Bowl Stove or microwave Strainer Paper towels A Spoon Molds for shaping

DIRECTIONS: 1. In a pot, heat the milk on the stove or in a microwave until it starts steaming.

Remove from heat. 2. Pour the white vinegar into the milk and mix together, stirring gently for about one minute. The milk will begin to curdle.

need to pat the curdles dry with a paper towel. 4. Place the curds in a bowl or jar and soak with more vinegar. Let sit for about an hour. Repeat the drying process from step 3 again. This step is completely optional and your end results will not be affected if you chose to skip over this step. However, the extra soaking time helps prevent crumbles and gives a smoother texture for shaping. 5. Using your molds or by hand, shape your mixture. You can flatten it or make 3D structures. 6. Place aside to dry for about two days. If you are using a mold, you can remove the object after 24 hours. 7. Decorate your creation however you choose with paints, beads, etc.

(Activities for Middle and High School Students)

For middle and high school students, some examples of projects to explore are: • Dissecting a strawberry’s DNA; • Creating a stop-motion animation; • Building a catapult; • Designing miniature robots; • Constructing a volcano. Instructions and suggestions for how to complete these activities can be found through a quick online search.

STEM is all around us. It is something that can be easily added to each day and can have an immense impact on children. Many ideas are out there as to how you can include STEM in your family’s routine. Don’t be afraid to research, investigate, and experiment with your child. Not only will skills and lessons be learned, but memories will also be made.