Using picture books in the classroom is an incredibly effective way to target many goals for special education students. The best way to target those goals alongside picture books is book companions. What is a Book Companion? A book companion is a set of effective extension activities that accompanies a book. Book companions keep students engaged while working on comprehension skills, vocabulary, following directions, and so much more. These are so many ways that book companions can transform your teaching, but I’m going to focus on the following 3 reasons. Book Companions Keep Students Engaged Picture books allow students and teachers the ability to spend more time on each page, discussing the story, the images, and what happens next. Picture books...
Photo Credit: Canva By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy. Follow us on Instagram for more fun ideas for kids! As a parent, grandparent, or caregiver, reading to your child from their earliest days may just be one of the best things you can do for your child. This article lays out the key benefits of reading to children, backed by science. Why is reading to a child so important? In a 2019 journal publication by the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, When Children Are Not Read to at Home: The Million Word Gap, parents who read 1 picture book with their child every day provide their child with...
Paramedics and ambulances spill out of the Emergency ramp at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank GunnThe emergency department (ED) can be a stressful and confusing place for individuals who are sick or injured. During the pandemic, with many hospitals not permitting friends or family to accompany ED patients, being alone may exacerbate the uncertainty, fear and anxiety patients may experience about things like waiting times, undergoing tests or medical prognoses. Research shows that almost half of all patients leave the hospital with a poor understanding of their ED visit. As doctors who see the consequences of poor communication, let us break down what is going on in the ED and give you the knowledge and tools to...
The optimal reading age for children begins at six. However, this relates mainly to the way kids begin to understand complex language and writing skills. Before then, your kids' brain development focuses on other abilities such as cognitive function, motor skills, and other early stages of development. However, most experts agree that it's never too early to teach your kids to read because there are many additional benefits beyond stringing sentences together. Helps Early Language RecognitionAn obvious benefit of early reading is understanding language. From the moment they are aware of the world around them, children begin to take in language cues from everyone around them. The most common first word is "no" because you try to teach toddlers what not...
When I reveal that I wrote a book about demonology, I’m invariably asked if I believe that demons are actually real. “Of course, I don’t think that demons are actually real,” is the expected response and the one that I give. “I’m a modern, secular, educated, liberal, agnostic man. I don’t believe in demons and devils, goblins and ghouls, imps, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, or poltergeists either.” Yet whenever giving the doxology of all of that which we’re not to have faith in, I’m mentally keeping my fingers crossed, because so much of that question depends on the definitions of the words “believe,” “demons,” “actually,” and “real.” Since the Enlightenment, Western intelligentsia have been the inheritors to a rather anemic model...
