Educational Tips

Maybe it’s your favorite teacher’s apple earrings (or mug or sweater) or the apples you’re slicing for your kid’s lunchbox, but come fall, it seems like apples are seriously everywhere. Make the most of this sweet-smelling season – and celebrate National Apple Day (October 21) – with two of our favorite at-home apple-tivities.Apple Taste Test – An at-home apple taste test is fun for the whole family AND an easy way to practice some key early-learning skills, too. Start with whole apples of several different varieties (or at least one of each color).[caption id="attachment_5044" align="aligncenter" width="551"] Photo Credit: jdaniel4smom.com[/caption]

• Sort the apples by size and color. Talk about their shapes and textures using descriptive words like smaller, bigger, round, smooth, and bumpy.
• Cut one apple in half and show your kids that two parts make a whole. Then cut those halves in half and reassemble your apple to demonstrate how quarters make halves and halves make a whole.
• Help your tiny taster spell each variety of apple out on separate paper plates.
• Slice the remaining apples and place them on the corresponding plates.
• Let each child try a slice of each type of apple and select their favorite type, making a mark on that plate. Talk about the taste of the apples using descriptive vocabulary like sweet, tart, and juicy.
• Tally up the totals on the plates to see which type of apple got the most votes. Consider creating a simple chart with the name of each apple across the bottom, the number of testers along the vertical side, and the number of votes tallied above each apple name each to visually demonstrate the results. Or use the free tastes-test cards created by our friends at jdaniel4smom.com to track your family’s favorites!

Apple Stamper Art – Save any bruised or older apples and make some awesome apple art!

• Cut several apples in half horizontally and let them dry for a few hours.
• Pour some tempera paint onto a paper plate – red, green, and yellow are great colors for apple art, but, of course, feel free to get creative.
• Show your kids how to place the apple half into the paint, then lift and press firmly onto a sheet of construction paper or paper bag.
• Make single apple prints or print them in a circle or star shape or stamp them into a painted tree, like the creative mama at living well.com did. Use a paint brush to add the apple’s stem.
• Turn these hand-made treasures into note cards and send them to the grandparents or other loved ones or write a special thank you to your kiddo’s teacher.

[caption id="attachment_5047" align="alignnone" width="574"] Photo credit livingwellmom.com[/caption]Speaking of teachers, why DO we give apples to teachers? I mean, they’re delicious little self-contained snacks, but why not oranges or bananas? Word is, several centuries ago, Scandinavian parents paid their children’s teachers with baskets of apples. Those teachers must have made a lot of pie!Be sure to visit our Fun Fall Activities Pinterest Board for more edu-taining activity ideas!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!

It’s back to school time and your kids are energized and enthusiastic about learning! You can help keep the excitement going after hours, at home, with fun and engaging learning tools from Highlights and Educational Insights. Even better, enter to win the Hot Dots®/Highlights giveaway and you could win $160 worth of Hot Dots and Highlights products!That’s right! One lucky winner will be selected at random to receive our Grand Prize, including the following super engaging learning products designed to grow with your child from preschool through first grade:

• Hot Dots Jr. Succeeding in School with Highlights Set - Reinforce the fundamentals and prepare kids for success with this interactive Hot Dots® learning set that includes skill specific lessons, a parent guide, and Ollie-the Talking, Teaching Owl™ pen that provides silly sounds, lights, and encouraging feedback little ones love.

• Hot Dots Jr. Highlights On-The-Go! Learn My ABCs with Highlights - Play your way to alphabet mastery with this set of brain-teasing, interactive puzzles for preschoolers! Press the included Hot Dots® Jr. Light-Up Interactive Pencil to each page for an immediate, light-up response!

• Hot Dots Jr. Highlights On-The-Go! Learn My 123s and Shapes with Highlights - Learning shapes and numbers is child's play with this set of brain-teasing, interactive puzzles for preschoolers! Press the included Hot Dots® Jr. Light-Up Interactive Pencil to each page for an immediate, light-up response!

• Highlights Deluxe Back-to-School Success Pack – First Grade, including:
  • First Grade Big Fun Workbook
  • Write-On Wipe-Off Let’s Write Numbers
  • Handwriting Word Practice
  • Highlights Magazine Collector’s Edition (Back to School)
  • 12-month subscription to Highlights Magazine

• Highlights Hidden Pictures School Puzzles - Nobody knows kids' puzzling like Highlights! Hidden Pictures puzzles, entertaining kids for more than 70 years, are more than just seek-and-find activities. They're innovative, expertly crafted, and full of the humor and challenge kids love. Every Highlights Hidden Pictures book provides kids with fun and rewarding activities that build their self-confidence, perseverance, and problem-solving skills through play.

In addition, three entrants will be selected at random to receive our Runner Up Prizes, including:

• Hot Dots Jr. Succeeding in School with Highlights Set
• 12-month subscription to Highlights Magazine

And winning is just a few clicks away! TO ENTER TO WIN one of these awesome prizes, simply fill out our easy-entry form, then get bonus entries for doing each of the following:

1. Follow @highlightsforchildren on Instagram
2. Follow @educationalinsights on Instagram
3. Like Highlights for Children on Facebook
4. Like Educational Insights on Facebook
5. Follow @Highlights on Twitter
6. Follow @ed_insights on Twitter
7. Retweet @ed_insights or @highlights giveaway post on Twitter

The Highlights/Educational Insights Back to School Giveaway begins at 11:40 AM EST on Wednesday, September 4 and closes at 11:59 EST on Tuesday, September 10. Start clicking to rack up those entry points and increase your chances of winning this back to school bonanza for your little buddy!

Those sweet days of summer are behind us and the kids are back in school. Help set them up for success from the get-go with our top tips for supporting progress in language arts and math!1. Read! Read to your kids, with your kids, listen to them read to you, and model reading on your own. The more they read, the better their language skills and vocabulary, critical thinking skills, and ability to concentrate. Heck, reading even supports empathy and boosts curiosity. And, of course, reading is a great way to introduce kids to all kinds of new topics.2. Talk! Share the details of your day with your kids and ask about theirs. The more they hear you discussing the order and flow, interactions, and experiences you’ve had, the better they’ll get at articulating their own. Use humor and ask open-ended questions like, “What was the first thing you did in the classroom today?”, “What made you feel proud today?”, and “What did you and your friends do on the playground?” Repeat what your child told you in your own words – this not only shows you’re listening, but also introduces new vocabulary words! Try not to correct their pronunciation or speech patterns, just respond enthusiastically and be engaged in their efforts.3. Play! There are so many ways to slip early math practice into your everyday experiences. Count the crackers on the snack plate, cut an apple in four to demonstrate a whole/half/quarters, and arrange the fruits in your fruit bowl in size order. Sort the socks by color, then match them up – older kids can count the socks and divide the pile into two. Bake cookies together and let your kids get a sense of measurement and volume. Count front doors and stop signs on your walks. Estimate the number of steps from the car to the house or the number of Cheerios in the bowl. You get the idea.4. Explore! Give kids the tools they need to practice what they’re learning at school on their own using engaging, interactive products like:

• Hot Dots® Jr. Let’s Master Math and Reading sets! Available for grades Pre-K through 3, these sets include 100 grade-specific, interactive lessons perfect for independent learning.
• Hot Dots® Jr. Highlights™ On-The-Go! Learn My ABC’s and Learn My 123s sets or the Succeeding in School with Highlights™ set! Each set features Highlights’ traditional puzzles and games coupled with age-appropriate learning.

No matter the set you choose, each one features fun, full-color question cards or books packed with grade-appropriate challenges. Each set also comes with an adorable, interactive pen that gives an immediate audio and visual response as soon as kids press it to an answer dot, enabling them to learn and explore at their own pace and providing a sense of confidence and accomplishment.5. Applaud Progress, Not Perfection! Your kids are just starting down a lifelong path of learning. Rather than expecting them to know it all, encourage them to always do their best, applaud what they do know, and celebrate any progress they make. Supporting a Growth Mindset will teach your kids that there’s nothing they can’t master – now and for the rest of their lives.With a loving heart, a bit of planning, and the right tools up your sleeve, there’s lots you can do to support your little one’s academic growth and development at home. Together you can do it! ❤️

5 Favorite Tips and Tricks for Teachers

Hopefully your summer was super relaxing and you’re looking forward to a fresh new school year complete with a clean classroom, organized lesson plan, and students who are ready to learn! To help you maintain your optimistic outlook, we’ve pulled together some of our best tips and tricks to keep you calm, cool, and collected as back-to-school time begins.

1. Make a choice. Take a few moments each morning to commit yourself to calm. No matter what happens that day, promise yourself that you will keep your cool. Take a few deep breaths, count to 10, sneak a peek at a relaxing vacation pic – make a conscious decision to do whatever it takes to stay composed.
2. Keep your voice down. Save your vocal cords – and your sanity – with the No Yell Bell®! This handy electronic bell features seven different sound effects including a bugle call, cheering crowd, and, of course, a clanging bell, to get your students’ attention. Simply raise the bell to sound the alarm – without ever saying a word, raising your voice, or getting upset.
3. Be realistic about your time. Teachers pack an unbelievable amount of learning into each and every day. While you are some of the very best multi-taskers around, trying to make the most of every free minute can create a frantic atmosphere and put unnecessary pressure on yourself. Instead, try putting off what doesn’t absolutely have to get done during the day until after school. Then turn on some tunes and take care of biz without all the pressure and stress.
4. Speaking of… turn on some tunes during the day, too! Played at the right times, music is proven to help students focus, build discipline, and develop language and thinking skills. You’re probably already doing your fair share of singing and maybe even using music as a morning welcome or transition notification, but soft, instrumental music played in the background during independent learning or reading time can create a calm atmosphere for everyone.
5. Dim those harsh lights. The fluorescent lights found in most classrooms create a harsh glare and often flicker, causing eyestrain, headaches, and anxiety in students – and teachers. Snap a perfectly-sized Fluorescent Light Filter onto the metal frame of your classroom ceiling lights and create a soft, relaxing environment perfect for keeping your cool and conducive to learning. Plus, everything looks better in softer light.✨

Teachers are practically super-human, so we know you can do this. Ready, set, stay calm!

6 Simple Ideas for Making the Most of the Season

There’s something magical about summer. It’s a time to let loose, hang out, and set your cares aside… A time of bare feet, popsicles on the porch, and long, twilight nights. But life gets busy and these sunny, summer days will slip by before you know it, so we’ve sharing six of our favorite tips to help you and your family make the most of this summer – together!

1. Throw a party! It doesn’t have to be a big to-do (unless you want it to be) – but an official start-of-summer shindig is a great way to kick off the season with your family. Blow up a few balloons, barbecue some burgers or hot dogs, make your own lemonade or own ice cream, and create some summer crafts to mark the start of something special. Ask the kids to think of a few things they’d like to do this summer – their simple answers might surprise you.
2. Slow it down! Before you hop in the car and head to the park, neighborhood pool, or library, ask yourself whether you really need to drive there. Could you walk, ride bikes, or scooters instead? Take your mind off the road and enjoy your surroundings – and your kids. Play eye-spy or try a sidewalk scavenger hunt on route. You’ll be sneaking in a bit of exercise and slowing down the pace of your day, too.
3. Go old school for the day! Unplug and try some blast-from-the-past activities. Hold a hula hoop contest or try twirling a baton. Hot out? Set up a water balloon fight or try target practice with a water squirter. Hungry? Bob for apples or see who can eat the most watermelon – without using their hands! If you’ve got the space, grab an old pillowcase and show your kids how to race, three-legged or throw down the ol’ Slip & Slide. Blow bubbles, try a cartwheel… you get the idea. Bonus tip – don’t worry about taking pix – leave the camera inside and join in the fun.
4. Have a lemonade stand! A lemonade stand is a rite of passage and a great lesson in entrepreneurship. Purchase your supplies – lemonade mix or fresh lemons and sugar as well as cups and ice – and ask for quarters for change for your customers. Then help your kids make a few pitchers of lemonade the night before so they’ll be nice and cool. They can also make their signs the night before – be sure they include the price. (Share your costs with older kids so they can understand what their net profit really is.) Help the kids set up a folding table and chairs and hang their sign, then pull up a chair and enjoy a good book while they get down to business! Bonus tip – posting about their sale on your neighborhood website or Facebook page is a great way to drum up customers.
5. Hit the shore or the pool! This might not seem like a big idea, but the twist here is that YOU get in, too. Pack your towels and a picnic lunch, lather up with sunscreen, throw on your suit, and take the plunge. Do your best cannonball, hold hands as you float, give the boogie board a go. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of sun-drying after a swim and your kids will never forget the fun you had in the water – together.
6. Camp out! If you’ve got the time and energy to go camping, do it! There’s nothing quite like a camping trip with no Wi-Fi to bring a family closer together. If you can’t swing a trip, a backyard campout can be just as much fun (and you can use your OWN bathroom ????). Pitch the tent while it’s still light, then grab your flashlights, pillows, and blankets, and snuggle in for some spooky stories. You can even make s’mores at home – just toast the marshmallows over your gas range or broil them in the oven.

No matter how you celebrate be sure to take the time to slow down and enjoy the season. There’s nothing quite like summer!

You Spin Me Right Round – A Parent’s Guide to the Spring Equinox

March 20 marks this year’s Spring Equinox. Umm… what? If you’re like many busy parents, you might need a quick refresher course on exactly what that means. Luckily, we’re here for you ????Start by remembering that the earth spins, or rotates, on an axis that runs vertically through the north and south poles. A full spin takes 24 hours, during which half of the earth is pointed toward the sun (good MORNING!) and the other half is pointed away (nighty night).At the same time that it’s spinning, the earth is also making its revolution around the sun. A full revolution takes 365 spins, or days. One full year.Here’s where things get really interesting. The earth is not completely upright when it’s revolving around the sun. It’s actually tilting a bit. The top half, or northern hemisphere, is leaning toward the sun for half of the earth’s trip around the sun, while the bottom half, or southern hemisphere, leans away, then vice versa as the earth rounds the other side of the sun.This tilt is what makes our seasons. While the northern hemisphere is pointed toward the sun, we have summer. At the same time, the southern hemisphere is pointed away from the sun, and it’s winter down there. If the earth was straight up and down while it revolved around the sun, one part of the earth would ALWAYS have summer and the other would ALWAYS have winter. Twelve months of snowsuits? No thank you.Still with us? Good. Now, as the earth revolves around the sun, there are two times when the sun is exactly overhead of the equator. This means that the entire earth is getting about the same amount of sunlight. And that there is exactly as much daylight as nightlight, so 12 hour days and 12 hour nights, at least at the equator.The spring equinox happens when the north pole begins to lean toward the sun again and marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. In late September the south pole will begin to tilt toward the sun, marking the fall equinox, and the beginning of autumn.For even more equinox info and a fun, kid-friendly video, check out Crash Course Kids on YouTube!

Sneak in Some Skill Development with 7 Everyday Activities That Are Actually Fun!

Developing fine motor skills is super important. Fine motor skills let us do advanced things like type, knit, and sort the mail, but they’re also a total necessity if you want to do practical things like hold a spoon or button your pants. Many kids need a bit of extra work to develop these skills and we’ve found a few ways to sneak in some fine motor practice that’s fun. Give ‘em a go and let us know which activity your kiddo likes best.

Touchy Touchy

Clapping hands and touching fingers are a great way to get started with fine motor development. First, see if your child can clap their hands together. Then see if they can clap their hands to yours. Next, challenge your little one to tap the fingers on one of their hands to the fingers on the other. If they can do this, show them how to do it one finger at a time, like an evil super hero. Once they’ve got that down, make it a follow-me game. You clap, they clap. You tap, they tap. You do the super hero, they do the super hero. Then switch and let them lead!

Button Buster

Buttons can be tricky to pick up from a table, which makes them a great tool for developing fine motor skills! Set out at least five of each of several colors of buttons and give each player a plastic bowl. Ready, set, sort… challenge each child to find a specific color of button, pick them all up, and put them in their bowl. The first one to finish wins! Bonus – this is a great way to practice colors, too.

Squeeze Those Skills

The act of squeezing is another fun way to develop fine motor skills. Start with a small bowl full of water, placed next to an empty bowl of the same size. Dunk a large sponge into the wet bowl and have your child pick it up and wring it out into the empty bowl. Continue until the first bowl is empty. Put a creative twist on the squishy, squashy, and squeezable play with Playfoam®, the no-stick, no-mess, never-dries-out crafting material that’s just perfect for preschoolers.

Finger Paint Fun

YES! Finger painting is super fun and a perfect way to give those fine motor skills an artistic workout. Squeeze out several colors of paint onto a tin foil lined plate and let your kiddo go to town! Dip a finger, make a mark on a sheet of paper and repeat! Drawing and coloring with pencils and crayons also helps develop fine motor skills – the stubbier the supplies, the better.

Tong Transfer

Get pompom playful with this simple squeezy exercise designed to develop those fine motor skills! Set out a plate and a cupcake tin, hand your little one the kitchen tongs, and show them how to use the tongs to pick up the pompoms and place them, one at a time, in the cupcake tin. Older kids can use tweezers to pick up smaller objects. Some games, like EI’s The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game even incorporate mini-tongs into game play.

Stack It Up

Block play, including sorting and stacking, really works those motor skills! Challenge your kiddo to stack two blocks on top of each other, gradually adding more when the base seems stable. Lightweight cubes like the Bright Basics™ Nest & Stack Cubes are a great first set, large enough to grasp easily and graduated in size for easier stacking.

Nuts and Bolts

Got a bitty builder on your hands? Screwing a nut onto a bolt is a fabulous way to work those fine motor finger skills. The Design & Drill® My First Workbench encourages constructive kids to use a real, working, mini-drill and kid-friendly hammer to screw colorful bolts and pound sturdy plastic nails directly onto the board. Plus, all the parts store in the attached drawer. Nice.These fine motor activities are brought to you by Bright Basics™ a brand-new line of early learning toys featuring skill-based activities ranging from super-sweet sensory play to splishy, splashy alphabet adventures. Bright Basics celebrates the abilities and possibilities in every bright child.

You know reading is important, but you may not know just how far the benefits of reading extend. Beginning in infancy and extending through the teen years, reading to your child, encouraging your child to read on their own, and listening to your child read aloud to you has an incredible impact on their future success, both academically and emotionally. Plus, it’s fun!

Why Read TO Your Child?

When you read out loud, you’re modeling the smooth flow of language, which is key to fluency. Odds are you’re “doing the voices”, which helps your child transition from one character to another and follow along with the story. You’re probably also adding emotion and expression to your readings, which provides context for new words, helps children interpret the tone of the story, and keeps them interested and engaged for longer. All of these pieces add up to a kiddo who enters school with the ability to understand instruction and follow directions, has a better ability to focus and concentration, demonstrates enhanced speech and language skills, and has a larger vocabulary, which has a proven effect on academic success. Developmental benefits aside, reading together is also a great way to strengthen your relationship with cozy, focused time for just you two!It may be tempting to stop reading aloud once your kiddo learns to read, but don’t! Reading aloud to your older child continues to build vocabulary and enhance listening and comprehension skills. Reading to your younger child also lets them enjoy stories that may be too difficult for them to read themselves. Reading with tweens and teens affords parents an opportunity to work through mature scenarios together and provides a contrast to the sometimes dull texts they read at school, reminding them that reading should be fun!

Why Encourage Your Child to Read on Their Own?

Reading is a more complex task than watching TV or playing games on the iPad. In fact, reading actually builds new neural connections (this may be why you never see kids staring at the pages of their books with glossy eyes and a dazed look on their faces). Books can also expose kids to new ideas, cultures, and peoples, broadening their worlds and encouraging empathy. Plus, practice makes perfect, so the more they read, the better they get, and research indicates that better readers get better grades. Perhaps most importantly, though, reading can help kids learn to express themselves without getting flustered or frustrated, building confidence and a strong self-image.

Why Ask Your Child to Read to You?

Reading out loud is different than reading to yourself. Where you can gloss over unknown or tricky words or phrases in your head, reading aloud requires fluency and smoothness and the more you do it, the better you get. Expressive reading – doing the voices and adding appropriate intonation – requires kids to really understand what’s happening in a story and with the characters so that they know which emotions to communicate. This means they must fully comprehending the material – an important skill for studying and learning.No matter their age, make sure you are building reading time into your child’s day each and every day. And don’t forget to model reading as a fulfilling hobby yourself. ‘Scuse us while we grab a book and a cup of tea!

Prep your kids for school with our FREE, weekly summer worksheets! With plenty of learning to last all summer, we’ll work on shapes, colors, letters, numbers, and so much more. Start the school year right, with a little help from EI! And, if your kiddo loves these pages, check out our complete line of Hot Dots Jr. card sets for an interactive way to encourage little learners.

Worksheet 9: Numbers & Counting — Download hereWorksheet 8: Practice L Blends & Practice Short and Long Vowels — Download hereWorksheet 7: Practice S Blends & Make a Word Slide — Download hereWorksheet 6: Practice R Blends & Review Digraphs — Download hereWorksheet 5: Read Short Vowel Phrases & Practice Word Families — Download hereWorksheet 4: Practice Digraphs & Long Vowel Phrases — Download hereWorksheet 3: Beginning Consonants — Download hereWorksheet 2: Long Vowels + Long Vowel Words — Download hereWorksheet 1: Short Vowel + Soft C and Soft G — Download here