Blog-Post Archives

Scary (And Not So Scary) Reads For Halloween!

October 31, 2012 Brad Hoffman

Looking for a good scare or just trick-or-treating this Halloween? The Chicago Public Library shares their list of scary and not so scary reads for Halloween!

Books to Read Aloud Together

And Then Comes Halloween, By Tom Brenner, illustrated by Holly Meade, Candlewick, 2009

Boo to You, By Lois Ehlert, Beach Lane, 2009

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin, By Tad Hills, Schwartz & Wade, 2009

The Hungry Ghosts, By Julius Lester, illustrated by Geraldo Valerio, Dial, 2009

Minerva Louise on Halloween, By Janet Morgan Stoeke, Dutton, 2009

My First Halloween, By Tomie dePaola, Grosset & Dunlap, 2008

Over in the Hollow, By Rebecca Dickinson, illustrated by Stephen Britt, Chronicle, 2009

Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Night, By Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Megan Halsey, Walker, 2009

There Was an Old Monster!, By Rebecca, Adrian and Ed Emberley, Orchard, 2009

Books to Read on Your Own

All the Lovely Bad Ones: A Ghost Story, By Mary Downing Hahn, Clarion, 2008

Araminta Spookie series, By Angie Sage, Katherine Tegen

Celebrate Halloween with Pumpkins, Costumes and Candy, By Deborah Heiligman, National Geographic, 2007

The Crossroads, By Chris Grabenstein, Random House, 2008

Dirk Bones and the Mystery of the Haunted House, By Doug Cushman, HarperCollins, 2009

A Good Night for Ghosts, By Mary Pope Osborne, Random House, 2009

Half-Minute Horrors, Edited By Susan Rich, HarperCollins, 2009

More Bones: Scary Stories from Around the World, By Arielle North Olson and Howard Schwartz, illustrated by E. M. Gist, Viking, 2008

The Seer of Shadows, By Avi, HarperCollins, 2008

Tales of Terror from the Black Ship, By Chris Priestly, illustrated by David Roberts, Bloomsbury, 2008

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Get Social and Active with a Read-Aloud, Part 1

October 30, 2012 Brad Hoffman

Reading with and to your child is not only enjoyable but has a positive impact on his/her learning. While most parents would probably agree with this statement, many might not have any idea how to enhance this experience for their child and themselves. We would say, make it social and get active.

At all ages reading is both an active and social process that occurs with every type of text. Reading is a social process because we read to gain meaning that we then share in a variety of ways, with a variety of people, at a variety of times. What’s important about this statement is that the process of talking about what you have read is essential to develop and build comprehension. This is not to say that comprehension doesn’t occur if discussion doesn’t occur, you just don’t know. Talking about what has been heard during a read-aloud provides children an opportunity to share and verbally rehearse the content. Providing “talk-time” gives you insight into what your child understands or perhaps misunderstands. This is actually where the real learning occurs. These types of discussion need to happen before, during and after reading. Often children are reluctant to engage in talking about the text, especially during reading, but it is essential. Just-in-time communication is exceptionally powerful because it allows for immediate feedback, clarification and expansion of ideas. As with anything, the more you do it, the better you get. Next time you pick up a book to read to your child, be sure to provide “talk-time” and make it a social event.

An active reader is an engaged reader. While we often think about providing opportunities for our children to be physically active, it is just as important for them to be mentally active while reading. A passive reader might just be decoding words and not making meaning from the text. An engaged reader is reading with “a wide-awake mind” and is gaining meaning from the words. Active readers read with a purpose in mind, use strategies to get the most out of their reading and share what has been read with others. As parents, you can promote active reading right from the start and the strategies that you instill will last a life-time. Just like making reading a social process, being an engaged reader occurs before, during and after reading. Read-alouds align with young children’s desire to make meaning from their reading and their world. As parents, it’s easy to make read-alouds a strategic and active process. To begin, set a purpose for reading that particular text (to hear a story or to gain information); during reading provide stopping points to check for understanding or clarification of meaning of a word or phrase; and after reading engage your child in a discussion of what was discovered during the read-aloud.

Active and social reading occurs with both informational and fictional text. All good readers, no matter what their age, are active and social readers. Whatever you choose to read to your child or whatever your child wants to listen to is a perfect choice. There is no one “right” text to read. There are, however, many different and excellent strategies that parents can use at home during read-alouds to help their child make meaning from reading and become lifelong active and social readers, who share their insights about what they have read.

By Laurie Gross and Amy Shapiro
My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Building a Strong Vocabulary

October 11, 2012 Brad Hoffman

As parents, we need to put down all our electronic devices and look at our children and talk to and with them. With frequency and intent, these conversations are the foundations for strong intellectual development and academic progress. These conversations need to begin in infancy and continue throughout a child’s life. Quality time means that parents must be present and engaged when interacting with their children. Multi-tasking when spending time with children does not help them to develop a strong vocabulary or build their intellectual and social capacity.

Where Do We Start?

Today a lot of the information that we receive comes to us in sound bites. We recommend speaking in complete sentences even to our youngest children. Children who hear language in complete sentences learn to speak in complete sentences. This will have a positive impact on a child’s ability to learn to read and write. If you are speaking to your children in complete sentences, it is likely that you are using a greater abundance of complex words and thoughts. As we mentioned in our earlier blog post, a strong, rich and varied vocabulary provides a vehicle for children to continue to strengthen their intellectual capacity and academic progress. Simply stated: speak to your children using complete sentences and a rich and varied vocabulary.

And Then…

Capitalize on your daily routines – explain why and what you are doing. A trip to the grocery store can be an opportunity to describe, categorize, and compare all sorts of things. This might sound like: What color is this apple? Are there any other apples of the same color? Different color? How many fruits can you find that are bigger/smaller than the apples? No conversation that involves descriptive language is unimportant. Thinking aloud during your daily routines and engaging your child in this thought process is a natural way to develop and extend vocabulary. This works for all age groups and environments.

Thinking Aloud – You’re Not Really Talking to Yourself

It might feel a bit odd to verbalize your thought processes while doing something with your child. However, this provides a great opportunity for your child to gain an insight into your thoughts and actions while modeling a rich and perhaps unfamiliar vocabulary simultaneously. This is significant because as your child hears the words your actions demonstrate the meaning of the language being used. Thoughts, actions and words work collaboratively to help foster meaning and therefore a deeper comprehension. For instance, making pasta allows us to introduce words like colander, stock pot, boiling, slotted, scalding, drain, transfer, temperature, texture, firm, soft, season, spice – all words that help develop and deepen contextual understanding while allowing for generalization to other situations. While using words such as these, be sure to demonstrate or explain their meaning. It’s important to check in to see that your child understands the meaning of this rich vocabulary. Be sure to encourage your child to ask for clarification and provide opportunities for them to show what they understand and to use the words in complete sentences.

Reading Together, It’s More Than Just Fun

Everyone knows reading aloud to your child is important. Read alouds have a profound impact on vocabulary, conceptual, academic and intellectual development. Parents often wonder how to get the most out of reading aloud to their children. Be thoughtful about your selection of what you read aloud. Consider your child’s interests, but try to extend their range of knowledge by picking books they might not read on their own. Doing this generally introduces varied vocabulary and topics that encourage interesting and thoughtful discussions.

With that being said, make sure to pause during reading to check for understanding, clear up any misconceptions and allow your child to make and confirm predictions about what might happen next. This is also an opportune time for you and your child to identify words that they might not know or completely understand. You can use context clues, pictures, examples, non-examples, antonyms and/or synonyms to help your child develop understanding of the text. Shared reading is another strategy that helps readers make meaning from text. Read several sentences, pause, discuss what you’ve read and then have your child do the same thing. Shared ownership of the reading and discussion will help your child internalize vocabulary as well as understand the author’s message.

Helping our children to build and develop a strong vocabulary takes time and effort, but the payoff is huge over the long haul. The accumulation of words and meanings is an ongoing process. It doesn’t start and stop at specific points; it grows and changes as do our children. Learning to be smart never stops. Be present, directly engage with your children. They will benefit from your words.

By Laurie Gross and Amy Shapiro
My Learning Springboard, Inc.

How Big Is Your Child’s Vocabulary?

October 3, 2012 Brad Hoffman

Research over the years has shown that oral language development is significant. Historically, children with strong oral language and well developed speaking vocabularies were thought to be the brightest and the most intellectually gifted. Today intelligence is no longer thought of as a fixed state. Current research reveals that children with a well-developed vocabulary still have a head start in being successful in school and life, but it is never too late to begin to develop that strong vocabulary. You can learn to be smart; early and consistent vocabulary development is a great place to start.

In homes that are at a lower socio-economic level, fewer words tend to be spoken. This influences a child’s ability to access and understand more complex concepts, which impacts his or her learning. There is a strong correlation between these early verbal experiences and later achievement. Current research shows us that over a one year period, in homes of professional parents, children are exposed to an “average of more than fifteen hundred spoken words per hour than children in welfare homes.” When you crunch those numbers over a one year period, children in professionals’ homes are exposed to more than eight million more words than children in welfare homes. When we look at this over the long term, by the age of 4, the gap reaches thirty-two million words…that’s a lot of words. The message is clear – talk to your children.

In our personal experiences working in a high socio-economic school, in an affluent neighborhood, we have observed that over the past decade there has been an observable decrease in the amount of words our youngest students have in their repertoire when they enter school. While they come to school with many experiences, the students need more explanation about words that in the past students had mastered prior to beginning school. These types of words tended to appear frequently in a variety of oral and written language that mature language users used in daily conversation. One reasonable conclusion that could be drawn from our observation is that our youngest students are not being consistently exposed to a rich oral and written vocabulary in their earliest years. The clear message is that it is essential to talk to and read to your children.

The breadth and depth of a child’s vocabulary impacts just about everything in his/her life and it is never too early or too late to begin developing it. While our youngest learners gain many skills and are exposed to information by watching television or using a computer or tablet, nothing takes the place of direct, personal involvement. Rich oral interactions with young children help them develop spoken language skills, which written language skills build upon. A strong foundational vocabulary helps children build upon their current and previous knowledge and extend their learning, thus extending their intellectual capacity. Early steps on the pathway to vocabulary development can never start too soon. Conversation and chatter really do matter.

By Laurie Gross and Amy Shapiro My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Still Working on Those College Applications?

September 14, 2012 Brad Hoffman

As many of our students work on their college applications, they always ask, “How can I set myself apart from the other applicants?” and “How do I know how much weight each university puts on each element of the application?”

While this process can feel overwhelming for many students (and parents), it’s also a tremendous opportunity to help students develop important writing skills and strategic thinking. My Learning Springboard writing tutors and independent college counselors can help with college applications WHILE teaching these important skills. Please contact us today.

For some helpful tips about the college application, Yale University has created a section on their website called, Advice on Putting Together Your Application. Information may vary between colleges and universities, but this is a valuable resource. Below is an excerpt from the site:

Students commonly want to know what part of the college application “carries the most weight.” The truth is, there are many parts to your application, and together they help us discover and appreciate your particular mix of qualities. Academic criteria are important to Yale’s selective admissions process, but we look at far more than test scores and grades.

Every applicant brings something unique to the admissions committee table. Perhaps one application stands out because of sparkling recommendations, while another presents outstanding extracurricular talent; maybe your personality shines through a powerful written voice, or maybe your keen mathematical mind packs more punch. Our goal is to assemble a diverse, well-rounded freshman class, and that means admitting exceptional individuals of all types. You may find this answer unsatisfying, but we assure you that it is true: the part of the application that carries the most weight is different from applicant to applicant.

This section of our website aims to help you submit the very best application possible. We asked admissions officers to weigh in with their own thoughts on each topic and we have compiled their responses below. We know that the application process can be confusing, daunting, even overwhelming, and we hope this page proves helpful as you compile your applications, not only to Yale but to every school on your list.

Essays
Extracurriculars
Interviews
Recommendations
Supplementary Materials
Transcripts and Testing