Crazy February Holidays
Don’t let the long winter get you down! Try some of these great celebrations in your classroom or with your family:
February is Great American Pie Month and National Grapefruit Month. On a more serious note, it’s National Children’s Dental Health Month. How about Books for Family Fun Month, International Boost Self-Esteem Month, and Library Lovers Month?? And just for grins, it’s also National Bird Feeding Month.
Feb. 1………………………Freedom Day
……………………………..Give Kids a Smile Day
……………………………..Robinson Crusoe Day
Feb. 2……………………..Sled Dog Day
Feb. 3……………………..National Girls & Women in Sports Day
…………………………….The Day the Music Died (look it up, youngsters!)
Feb. 4……………………..Quacker Day
…………………………….Thank a Mailman Day
Feb. 5……………………..Wear Red Day
…………………………….National Weatherman’s Day
Feb. 6……………………..MOBIUS Awards Day
…………………………….Lame Duck Day
Feb. 7……………………..Ballet Day
…………………………….Charles Dickens Day
…………………………….Send a Card to a Friend Day
Feb. 8……………………..Kite Flying Day
…………………………….Boy Scout Birthday
Feb. 9……………………..Read in the Bathtub Day
Feb. 10……………………Umbrella Day
Feb. 11……………………National Shut-in Visitation Day
…………………………….Make a Friend Day
…………………………….White T-Shirt Day
Feb. 12……………………Lincoln’s Birthday
…………………………….Safety Pup Day
…………………………….National Plum Pudding Day
Feb. 13……………………Get a Different Name Day
Feb. 14……………………Valentine’s Day
…………………………….Ferris Wheel Day
…………………………….Library Lovers’ Day
…………………………….League of Women Voters Day
…………………………….Race Relations Day
Feb. 15……………………Susan B. Anthony Day
…………………………….National Gum Drop Day
Feb. 16……………………Pancake Day
…………………………….Do a Grouch a Favor Day
Feb. 17……………………World Human Spirit Day
…………………………….Random Acts of Kindness Day
…………………………….Champion Crab Races Day
Feb. 18……………………Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
…………………………….Pluto Day
Feb. 19……………………National Chocolate Mint Day
Feb. 20……………………Clam Chowder Day
…………………………….World Day for Social Justice
…………………………….Love Your Pet Day
…………………………….Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day
Feb. 21……………………Card Reading Day
Feb. 22……………………George Washington’s Birthday
…………………………….Walking the Dog Day
…………………………….Be Humble Day
Feb. 23……………………Curling is Cool Day
…………………………….Tennis Day
…………………………….International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
Feb. 24……………………National Tortilla Chip Day
Feb. 25……………………National Chili Day
Feb. 26……………………Levi Strauss Day
…………………………….For Pete’s Sake Day
…………………………….Tell a Fairy Tale Day
…………………………….Carnival Day
Feb. 27……………………International Polar Bear Day
…………………………….No Brainer Day
Feb. 28……………………National Tooth Fairy Day
…………………………….Floral Design Day
What fun!!
Intro to Executive Function
When last we left our hero, she was about to attend a workshop on executive function (’way back before the holiday season)…..
Actually, I did attend the workshop, and have been rolling the information around in my brain since then, trying to distill it into manageable bits to share with you. The online workshop I attended was “Who’s Running the Show? Executive Dysfunction and How to Help the Disorganized Child” by Laurie Dietzel. All in all, Dr. Dietzel confirmed many things I’ve been thinking for years, gave me considerably more professional vernacular to use, and contributed many ’soundbytes’ that seem like I can use them to help parents make their advocacy cases for their children, and with school personnel who aren’t quite convinced that this is a real problem for some students.
How familiar does this sound to you? Does your student:
- finish homework but forget to turn it in?
- have problems with transitions?
- make a lot of seemingly ‘careless’ errors that aren’t caught by proofreading?
- need many more reminders and prompts than most his/her age?
- have trouble remembering directions, possessions, assignments?
- demonstrate wildly inconsistent performance on academic tasks, doing A+ work one day and failing work the next on the same type of assignments?
This actually sounds like a number of the students that I work with in my tutoring business, and several more that I know in their personal lives. Dr. Dietzel is convinced that they suffer from what she is calling Executive Dysfunction. That translates to an impaired ability to select, sustain and guide their own behavior within rules and expectations for the setting and their age level. It’s an impairment of the processes that guide, direct and manage cognitive, behavioral and emotional functions. Executive Function, when working properly, is what allows us to set goals, plan, organize, sequence, and note feedback on our behavior. It’s what helps us try different problem-solving strategies and also what stops us from acting on impulsive ideas. It has to do with memory, accomplishing complex tasks, and making judgments.
Does any of this sound like your student? If so, he or she may be having trouble with executive function. Executive Dysfunction is often comorbid with ADHD and similar concerns, but not limited to that population. It can also occur with learning disabled students, but again is not limited to them. It’s not officially a medical problem yet, though this presenter indicated that doctors responsible for naming and creating diagnostic criteria are considering including it in the next reference that is due to come out in a few more years.
So the long and the short is that right this very moment, your child’s school or teacher is quite likely to tell you that no such disorder exists, since it’s not in the reference books. They are likely to tell you that your child is lazy or inattentive, hyperactive, ADHD, or learning disabled. In many districts, they are likely to offer little in the way of tangible help. However, stay tuned! I’m planning to revisit this subject again soon and will share some of the strategies that Dr. Dietzel recommended to help these individuals. There is hope, and there are things you can do at home to minimize and compensate for the problem.
Sign up for this site’s RSS feed or follow me on twitter so you can get in on the latest as soon as it’s posted!!
Crazy January Holidays
Welcome to January! January is a busy month. Would you believe that it is National Hobby Month, National Soup Month, Oatmeal Month, and National Braille Literacy Month? It’s also Book Blitz Month, National Bird Feeding Month, National Mentoring Month and Rising Star Month. There are a wealth of celebration possibilities in that list! The week of January 10th is Letter Writing Week. It would be a great time to get those thank you notes from the holidays out of the way!
Here are other days to celebrate:
January 1……………..Z Day (Let everyone whose name starts with Z go first!)
January 2…………….Happy Mew Year for Cats Day
January 3…………….Festival of Sleep Day
………………………….J R R Tolkien’s Day
………………………… National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
January 4…………..Trivia Day
January 5……………Bird Day
January 6……………Three Kings Day
January 7……………Old Rock Day
January 8…………….Bubble Bath Day
January 9…………….Positively Penguins Day
January 10……………Peculiar People Day
……………………………National Cut Your Energy Costs Day
January 11……………National Clean Off Your Desk Day
…………………………..Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day
January 12……………Feast of the Fabulous Wild Men Day
…………………………..National Pharmacists Day
January 13……………Rubber Ducky Day
…………………………..Make Your Dream Come True Day
January 14……………National Dress Up Your Pet Day
…………………………..Organize Your Home Day
January 15……………Hat Day
…………………………..Humanitarian Day
January 16…………..Appreciate a Dragon Day
………………………….Nothing Day
………………………….Religious Freedom Day
January 17………….Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day
………………………….Kid Inventors’ Day
January 18…………..Winnie the Pooh Day
…………………………..Thesaurus Day
January 19……………National Popcorn Day
January 20……………National Buttercrunch Day
……………………………Penguin Awareness Day
January 21…………….National Hugging Day
……………………………Squirrel Appreciation Day
January 22…………….National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day
……………………………Celebration of Life Day
January 23…………….Measure Your Feet Day
…………………………….National Handwriting Day
January 24……………..Eskimo Pie Patent Day
……………………………..National Compliment Day
……………………………..Belly Laugh Day
January 25……………..Opposite Day
……………………………..Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
January 26………………Australia Day
………………………………Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement
January 27………………Thomas Crapper Day
………………………………Chocolate Cake Day
……………………………….Holocaust Memorial Day
January 28………………..National Kazoo Day
……………………………….Rattlesnake Round-Up Day
January 29………………..Free Thinkers Day
………………………………..Fun at Work Day
………………………………..National Puzzle Day
………………………………..National Cornchip Day
January 30………………..Inane Answering Message Day
………………………………..Escape Day
January 31…………………National Popcorn Day
………………………………..Child Labor Day
………………………………..Backward Day
………………………………..Inspire Your Heart with Art Day
Have a great month!!
Fun on a Snow Day
Well, it’s nine degrees outside with blowing and drifting snow and every school district in our area is shut down. I’m well past the days of little children who need occupied, since mine are in college and the youngest is 17 and likely to sleep until noon, but I KNOW that youngsters get bored on these unexpected days. Here are some great (and not too parent-intensive) activities to suggest:
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Put on a Play:
Grab the favorite storybook and challenge the kids to turn it into a play. They’ll need to make props and costumes and if they’re literate enough, write out a script. You can suggest puppets, or dress up this activity by having them stage scenes from their story and photograph them to add voices to later. - Create a New Game:
Sometimes creativity can be a real rush! Give the kids the tools they need to invent a new board game or card game. You can start from scratch or do a mash-up of family favorites. Borrow rules and even game pieces, boards, markers or dice from commercial and familiar games. If it’s fun, don’t forget to write down the rules so you can play again! - Try a Video Scavenger Hunt:
It’s inevitable that the television will get turned on today, but if you can’t beat them, you might as well make it a learning time! Make a list of things to find in the video that you watch, or questions to answer about the content. See who can find the highest number of answers or make up a trivia game to play afterwards.Heading to a Conference
I’m actually pretty excited this week-on Friday, I’m going to a teleconference about Executive Function and how to help children with these types of issues. It’s really applicable to my work with tutoring and with consulting for parents who have students with special needs.
The presenter is Laurie Dietzel, Ph.D. I don’t know much about her, but her website was very well done. She’s a neuropsychiatrist from the east coast, and specializes in working with children having these sorts of difficulties.
We’re off on the right foot already-I was sent a packet of information and handouts related to the class first thing this morning. I’ll let you all know what happens after the end of the week, and hopefully will have some new insights to share with you.Three Quick Christmas Crafts
- Canning Jar Lid Ornaments
You need old cards, canning jar lids and rings, scissors, a pencil, hot glue, yarn and optional lace or rick-rack. Trace the canning jar lid on the card of your choice and cut out the picture. You’ll need two per ornament. Hot glue the pictures to both sides of the flat lid, then glue the lid into the ring. Add lace or rick-rack on the outside of the ring if you wish, and put a loop of yarn at the top as a hanger! - Magazine Tree
Get an old copy of Reader’s Digest or similarly sized magazine. Fold each page (one at a time!) so the top corner meets the binding. Fold the bottom corner so the bottom of the page meets the top edge that has been folded down. Once you get the whole magazine folded, use a few paper clips or staples to hold the covers together and spread the pages out around in a tree shape. Spray paint green if you wish, and glue on some small decorations. - Edible Christmas Tree
Get pointy ice cream cones, green icing, small plates, butter knives, and candy decorations. Spread green icing on the outside of the cone, then use the candy decorations to stick to the icing. Serve upside down (pointy end up) on the plate. Enjoy!
December Holiday Fun
December is a great month to share strange holidays with your kids or students-help distract them from that long, long wait until Christmas at the end of the month! Or, if your family or group does not celebrate Christmas, put some other types of fun into the month to help kids avoid feeling left out of this busy season.
Being a huge fan of literacy, it would be remiss for me not to mention that December is Read a New Book Month. I challenge everyone to jump right in and read something they’ve never read before. Even if you (or your children or students) are avid readers, try reading something totally off the wall that is far outside of your usual fair.
December is also Write a Friend Month. This would be a great time to encourage children to become penpals with distant relatives or to check out some of the reputable national penpal matching programs.
Here are some daily remembrances, as well. As always, they are being linked to educational activity ideas, so watch for new and exciting games and other ideas throughout the month.
December 1…………………National Pie Day
December 2………………..National Fritters Day
December 3………………..National Roof Over Your Head Day
December 4………………..Santa’s List Day
December 5……………….Bathtub Party Day
December 6………………..Mitten Tree Day
………………..St. Nicholas Day
December 7……………….National Cotton Candy Day
………………..Letter-Writing Day
December 8……………….National Brownie Day
December 9……………….National Pastry Day
………………..Christmas Card Day
December 10……………..Human Rights Day
December 11……………..National Noodle-Ring Day
December 12…………….National Ding-A-Ling Day
……………..Poinsettia Day
December 13……………..Ice Cream Day
December 14………………
December 15………………National Lemon Cupcake Day
December 16……………..National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day
December 17……………..National Maple Syrup Day
…………….Underdog Day
December 18……………..Bake Cookies Day
December 19……………..Oatmeal Muffin Day
December 20……………..Games Day
December 21………………Forefathers’ Day
………………Look at the Bright Side Day
……………….National Flashlight Day
December 22……………..National Date Nut-Bread Day
December 23…………….Roots Day
December 24……………..National Egg Nog Day
December 25…………….National Pumpkin Day
December 26…………….Boxing Day
…………….Whiners’ Day
December 27……………National Fruitcake Day
December 28……………..National Chocolate Day
………………Card Players’ Day
December 29……………..
December 30…………….Festival of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
December 31…………….Make Up Your Mind Day
March Holidays!
Get ready for some holiday action this month! There are some great days coming….
March is Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Math and Engineering Month. It’s a mouthful, but it’s a great cause.
It’s also National Nutrition Month, Optimism Month and Women’s History Month.
Week-long celebrations include:
National Words Matter Week (March 1-7)
World Folktales and Fables Week (March 1-7)
Newspaper in Education Week (March 2-6)
Yo-yo and Skills Toys Week (March 13-22)
Act Happy Week (March 16-22)
National Spring Fever Week (March 16-22)
And here are the daily celebration ideas~
March 1…………………………………….Pig Day
…………………………………….Peanut Butter Day
March 2……………………………………Old Stuff Day
……………………………………Fun Facts about Names Day
March 3…………………………………..National Anthem Day
……………………………………Unique Names Day
March 4…………………………………..March Forth and Do Something Day
…………………………………..National Grammar Day
…………………………………..Learn What Your Name Means Day
March 5………………………………….Nametag Day
March 6………………………………….Middle Name Pride Day
…………………………………Sherlock Holmes Day
March 7…………………………………Geneology Day
March 8…………………………………Girls Write Now
………………………………….Ground Water Awareness Day
March 9………………………………….Barbie Day
March 10………………………………..Festival of Life in the Cracks Day
………………………………..Mario Day
………………………………..Salvation Army Day
March 11……………………………….Johnny Appleseed Day
March 12……………………………….Alfred Hitchcock Day
March 13……………………………….Jewel Day
March 14………………………………International Ask a Question Day
………………………………National Potato Chip Day
………………………………Pi Day
March 15………………………………Buzzards’ Day
……………………………….Peeps Day
March 16………………………………Lips Appreciation Day
March 17……………………………..St. Patrick’s Day
………………………………Submarine Day
March 18………………………………Supreme Sacrifice Day
March 19………………………………Poultry Day
……………………………..Absolutely Incredible Kid Day
March 20……………………………..National Agriculture Day
March 21……………………………..Fragrance Day
………………………………Corn Dog Day
………………………………Memory Day
………………………………International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
March 22……………………………..International Goof-Off Day
………………………………International Day of the Seal
………………………………World Water Day
………………………………Spring Fairy Fun Day
March 23……………………………..National Chip and Dip Day
……………………………..National Puppy Day
……………………………..World Meteorological Day
March 24……………………………..National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
March 25……………………………..Pecan Day
……………………………..Waffle Day
March 26…………………………….Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
…………………………….Spinach Festival Day
March 27……………………………Education and Sharing Day
March 28……………………………Something on a Stick Day
March 29……………………………Festival of Smoke and Mirrors Day
March 30……………………………Pencil Day
…………………………….I Am In Control Day
March 31……………………………Bunsen Burner Day
As always, check back often to see links to activity and lesson ideas for specific days.
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Novel Motivation
February 22, 2009 · Filed Under Uncategorized · CommentAs a tutor, a big part of my job is engaging students’ minds and getting them in gear for learning. It flies in the face of standard wisdom, but one way to do this is through novelty. My office is jammed with unusual trinkets and oddities, like dice within dice, two-foot pencils, and light-up pens. My clock runs backwards, and I often use a timer shaped like a whistling tea kettle.
My novel toys serve larger purposes. The students that I see are often uncomfortable, especially at first. The novelties help me to break the ice with new students. The kids become intrigued, and I’ve got a foothold in the door to conversation with them. In tutoring, it’s really important to build a relationship with students in order to see the greatest success.
The oddities are also great rewards. A surprising number of students will work to earn the privilege of using a two-foot long pencil or a pen shaped like a fingerbone. I use the promise of simple pleasures like these to coax many reluctant students into time on task to assist remediation.
Finally, yes, I have to admit that sometimes the trinkets are a bit too distracting. That’s OK, though, because many of my students are struggling with most of their academic experience. They come to see me because it’s fun to be here, even though we work on difficult skills. Part of the fun is being distracted occasionally by a pen with popping dice on top or by dice that are only a quarter of an inch across. They are amused, even for a few moments, by that clock that runs backwards. And when those barriers of stress are broken down, I can often reach the minds that are trapped by feelings of failure and inadequacy.
So, yeah, if a parent comes into my office (which I discourage!), they are often taken aback by the array of weird stuff they see laying around. They sometimes wonder how in the world students actually get work done here. But my track record speaks for itself. Students that I work with succeed. Kids who couldn’t read before learn to read. Children who were once reluctant writers gain skills to frame paragraphs. Youngsters who were afraid to try math skills become comfortable. Novelty helps!
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(c) 2009 Sandra Fleming
Great Game for Spelling
February 2, 2009 · Filed Under Uncategorized · CommentHave fun and practice spelling at the same time!~ Try Bookworm right on your browser or do a free download.
Bookworm plays much like the commercial game of Boggle-a grid of letters to search for words with consecutive letters that spell words. The longer words that you can make, the higher your score will go. It’s great practice with phonics because you can look for spelling patterns like -ought and -ight, as well as sensible blends and digraphs like ’sh’ and ‘cr.’ Give it a try!
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(c) 2009 Sandy Fleming
- Canning Jar Lid Ornaments
