Author: Noel

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How Games Can Build Phonemic Awareness

When your child is in Kindergarten or first grade and is struggling with phonemic awareness, it can be a very frustrating thing for parents, grandparents and caregivers. Most adults don’t remember learning how to read and put sounds together. So, it’s normal to feel lost, confused, and worried if it doesn’t connect right away for your child. 

The good news is that there is an educational enhancement program that could help to build phonemic awareness and boost Inventive IQ in your child.

If you want to encourage letter and pattern awareness in your child, a great way to do that is through MindFinity’s offline games, which take just a few minutes a day to play. For more information on MindFinity, please click here. 

What Is Phonemic Awareness?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to take individual sounds, focus on them, and speak them out loud. You may have noticed that you can read a word in your head, but you may have trouble pronouncing some – kids are the same way. Phonemes are combined to form syllables and words. It is how we can “sound out” words that we haven’t seen before. 

There are 44 phonemes within the English language, including letter combinations that create specific sounds – like “sh” for example. It is hard for many kids to gain phonemic awareness, but it is imperative they do. It is one of the most important skills for reading and writing, which impact all other subject areas.

Students who struggle with phonological awareness often have lower grades and require more help than their classmates. The good news is that there are games that can actually help to build that awareness, even if it doesn’t come naturally.

Play Games That Require Reading

Does your child love to play games? If so, try to introduce age-appropriate games that require them to read more. For example, old-fashioned board games like Scrabble Jr., Monopoly Jr., and Candyland require reading skills. You may have to help them the first few times, but they will start to remember certain words and phrases.

Some video games can also help to increase phonemic awareness as well. When words flash across the screen, particularly if they are also said out loud, children can better visualize the individual parts of the word and the overall sound they make.

Patterns Are Imperative

The key to phonological awareness is pattern recognition. Any game that helps your child learn about patterns and how they fit together will be beneficial to phonemic awareness. Of course, some games are better than others. Any game that requires building words, stories, or something tangible will be more helpful than games that just require counting.

Talking Is Helpful

Thanks to technology, people are talking less out loud than they used to, which means that children are actually hearing fewer words spoken out loud. Just taking the time to sit with your kids and talk to them can help to build up phonemic awareness. When you play games, try to keep up with the conversation, just so they hear more words.

Look For Card Games and Word Games

Gone are the days when the only word game options out there are Scrabble and maybe Scattergories. Now, there are plenty of games for children of all ages that focus on building words, wordplay, and more. Even if the game doesn’t focus on reading, anything that uses words will help to increase phonemic awareness, build vocabulary, and improve speech.

Interested In Learning More About MindFinity?

Join Mindfinity today, and see how playing daily games can transform your child’s mind into that of a multi-talented polymath thinker. Your membership includes: unlimited access to the videos from Opher’s Toronto Parent Workshop where he teaches you the methodology, and new educational activities to play each week in their Games of Genius Program.

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Making Learning Fun For Your Kids: Our Top Suggestions

We are all always on a quest to make learning fun for our kids. It is something that most parents struggle with, particularly in a world where the school system doesn’t cater to them at all. So it becomes our concern to ensure that our kids are enjoying school and doing the best they can.

The truth is that children who love to learn do better in school, and are more likely to succeed in extracurricular activities, and eventually go on to do better in life. But what do you do if your child shows no interest or natural inclination toward learning? What if they don’t seem to enjoy it? Here are some tips:

Figure Out Their Learning Style

One important thing you can do for your child is determine their learning style. There are many, but most people are among a few categories, including verbal, kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. Some children learn better on their own, whereas others learn better with a group. If you can determine how your child learns best, talk to their teacher about it.

You can then supplement what they learn with specific lessons of your own. 

Show That Education Interests You As Well

Children are great at mimicking our behaviors. If you want your child to do some extra work, show that you are doing it too. While you have your child looking at some supplemental materials, read a book or do the same on your computer. 

If you are already taking online classes or training, consider getting something for your child that does the same thing. One way you can do this is by investing in MindFinity. MindFinity helps to increase Inventive IQ and spark a love for learning through play. 

Movement Is The Key For Many Kids

So much of the modern school day focuses on sitting in one place and learning. When you can add any kind of movement into a lesson, it feels like a treat. Adding a dance, standing, or walking to any lesson will increase what your child absorbs. 

Standing desks, chairs with pedals, and even fidget toys can help many kids retain information and pay attention.

Pay Attention To How Food Impacts Their Mood

The school day sits at a weird time, and no one really talks about it. Before your child goes to school, make sure you fuel them with good nutrition. Try not to give them sugary cereal or something with too many carbs, as this can result in crashes and spikes. If possible, send healthy snacks to keep their energy up throughout the day.

Another thing to consider is water intake. If a child seems tired or uninterested, 

Don’t Punish Failure

One thing you really don’t want to do is punish your child if they don’t understand something or don’t perform well. Now, this doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be consequences if they misbehave in school, don’t pay attention, or simply don’t do their best. Sometimes their best is failure, particularly in some subjects. The key is that they perform to the best of their ability. 

If failure is the best they can do, start from there and work together to improve.

MindFinity Helps Make Learning Fun For Kids

If your child isn’t doing well in school, doesn’t like school, or just seems bored, you can help them. You need to make learning fun for your kids, and that doesn’t have to be something lengthy or complicated. It can be as easy as logging onto MindFinity.

MindFinity can help you by introducing different activities each weekday that will have your child learning, and get your own creative gears moving. For a few minutes every day, you won’t have to plan out the lessons. Instead, they are delivered to your inbox and you can build from there.

For more information about MindFinity, please click here.

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Teaching Websites For Science, Math & More: Are They Worth It?

Teaching websites for science and math are popping up all over the place and many people keep asking the same thing: are they worth it? These websites look pretty cool from the outside in and seem interesting enough, but often struggle to live up to their promise of teaching kids meaningfully.

The problem? These websites are too similar to the rote memorization and boring lectures that our children already get in school. Why supplement with more of something that probably isn’t working?

As a parent, if you want to push your child to succeed in science and math, in particular, you need to focus on how they think and the foundation of learning that they get. This includes doing something called project-based learning.

If you need ideas for fun, project-based learning activities, consider investing in MindFinity. We will have your child learning through different activities and projects. With MindFinity, you won’t have to plan out quite so many activities, as we do that work for you! You’ll get a new, offline activity every weekday. Even better, you’ll be able to expand on them and raise smarter kids! 

If this sounds interesting to you, click here to learn more. 

Why Websites Don’t Always Help Kids

The simple truth is that many kids learn by doing instead of sitting there and listening to facts. Sure, some kids are able to grasp basic concepts and learn how to do things theoretically, but they can’t truly hold onto the information that they learn until they do something with their hands or mouths. This is why teachers use songs, dancing, and projects to teach at a younger age. It is also why children seem to learn better at younger ages: the content and approach are designed for it.

As children get older and what they learn becomes more “serious,” the school system switches to lectures. This can happen as early as second or third grade! The problem is that there isn’t a magic switch that stops kids from learning better when they move. 

Too many websites use the same tactics that teachers use, boring the kids and making them feel like they are just back at school. This is particularly true now that many students have experienced online schooling.

Instead, Movement Feels Like A Reward

Your child wants to get up and move, no matter how old they are. Preschoolers, kids, preteens, and teenagers alike all prefer going to classes and learning in styles that don’t require them to simply sit still. Even kids who are auditory learners and like to sit back and hear lectures benefit from some movement. When you supplement science and math lectures with movement, it helps everything stick more – that’s why so many schools have mandatory lab periods for their science classes.

Websites Don’t Often Teach The Basics

Another significant issue that websites for learning science and math have is that they are tiered in strange ways. They will often assume that your child has learned something that maybe they haven’t. Instead of learning from a specific lesson, your child may sit there in confusion instead.

This is particularly true in math classes but can be detrimental in science too. Children benefit from seeing the basics and picturing steps in order to form patterns in their brains. Patterns help them to see the bigger picture and understand something like photosynthesis or erosion faster.

Math Websites Go Against Some Curriculums

One final word of caution is that many math websites can be harmful to your child. They will go against what the school system is teaching, which may not seem bad right away, but can be hurtful later. If they don’t learn how to do certain things in a certain way, they may fall behind when they learn more advanced concepts.

For more information about this, please see our blog here.

MindFinity Helps Kids Learn Through Games & Projects

Our award-winning program helps your children expand their brains and learn polymath thinking skills while dancing, singing, doing martial arts, and moving around! You get a new game for each day of the week, which takes a few minutes a day. And you can expand on the games and have your child put their imagination to use and expand on projects that they are already doing. You’ll get some fun ideas as well!

Interested in learning more? To learn more about MindFinity and sign up for a free trial, click here.

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Super Smart Kids: How To Encourage Learning In Your Child

If you want to raise super smart kids, how can you encourage learning without causing gifted kid burnout or other related problems? It is something that we think about all the time because there is a need to just let kids be kids. However, setting them up now for a successful future is also important to many parents.

It’s such a fine line to walk and parents are often afraid to make mistakes. However, the fact that you even care about giving your child this advantage is a sign that you are on the right track. Here are some ways you can encourage learning without pushing your child too hard.

Focus On Additional Learning That Doesn’t Take Hours

Too often, parents who want to push their children in school will sign them up for additional classes, tutoring, or lessons that take at least an hour to complete. Kids have a lot going on in their heads and lives, and sometimes an hour is just too much. Instead, focus on shorter lessons and games that can help your child to learn more throughout the day. 

MindFinity can help to add just a little bit “extra” to their day without overwhelming them. Our games take 5 minutes or less. If your kids want to keep going, which they often do, you can, by learning how to expand the games in dozens of ways. For more information about MindFinity, please click here.

Figure Out What Interests Your Child

Kids who are super smart often have a few areas that they excel in or find more interesting than other areas. Figure out what that is in your child and encourage them to learn as much as they can about it. For example, if your child loves science, encourage reading age-appropriate biographies of famous scientists. But don’t necessarily try to push reading on them. Instead, encourage them to read.

Use Incentives!

Sure, we all want our kids to succeed and push themselves just for the fun of it, but that doesn’t happen. Gifted children are often overlooked when it comes to praise and rewards simply because it is expected of them. Don’t do this! If your child gets a good grade on a project, makes straight A’s, or gets picked to represent the school in a spelling bee, reward them. 

It doesn’t always have to be something physical – you can support your child with praise, time spent together, extra rest, or maybe a little freedom. 

Know That They Will Struggle – And They’ll Need Help

Gifted kids tend to have areas of school where they struggle. Sometimes it is in art or music, sometimes it will be in sports, and other times it could be a specific academic subject. For example, kids who are smart in every academic area may struggle when it comes to long division. Even though they are struggling, teachers will often overlook their need for extra help because they don’t expect it.

Help your child succeed by not only paying attention and assisting when they struggle but teach them to ask for help when they need it. Gifted kids are sometimes afraid to reveal that they don’t understand something, and eventually that will compound and cause issues. 

MindFinity Helps To Encourage Learning In Super Smart Kids

Even if your child is super smart, there is something to be said for allowing them to be a child and not pushing them too far. Even so, you want to nurture their natural curiosity and talent. It’s a very fine line to walk, and we know you may be afraid of gifted child burnout and other horror stories that you’ve heard.

MindFinity helps to encourage polymath thinking and can help to fill in some of the gaps that private schools may have. Your membership includes: unlimited access to the videos from Opher’s Toronto Parent Workshop where he teaches you the award-winning methodology, new games to play with your child released over time in the Games of Genius program, live online events, (membership to the private MindFinity Member Community on Facebook where you can share ideas, get help from certified trainers, and get inspiration from other super parents like you, announcements for upcoming live MindFinity events, and fun challenges.

We also offer the 5 Days of Play to get new members started with the program with the help of certified trainers.

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So Your Kid Is An Auditory Learner – Now What?

As we have already discussed, there are a few different learning styles and everyone has one learning style that is their strength. For some, it is visual learning and others excel in auditory learning, meaning they operate best when they hear information or examples. While the school system does try to teach all types of learning, auditory learners often do fairly well because of lectures and traditional teaching.

Kids who are auditory learners may even choose to close their eyes and listen to lectures instead of taking notes, though that often doesn’t go over well with their teachers. If your child is struggling in school, it could be that they aren’t getting information in a way that helps them learn. For example, simply copying down notes isn’t going to help kids who are auditory learners.

MindFinity helps you to teach your children and increase their Inventive IQs through various activities that strengthen all of their learning styles. Our games will have your children learning while dancing, singing, cooking, and more. They only take a few minutes every day, but they will quickly become your favorite time with your kids. To learn more, click here.

For now, let’s talk more about your auditory learner and how you can best help them to succeed.

What Is Auditory Learning?

As mentioned, auditory learning means that someone learns best when they listen to directions, facts, or discussions. They prefer to sit in a lecture over reading a textbook. Some auditory learners prefer to listen to teachers, whereas others prefer general conversations in class. These are the students who need to hear directions instead of reading them on a piece of paper.

Of course, these learners can get information in other ways, this is just the best way to reach them.

How Do I Know If My Child Is An Auditory Learner?

Auditory learners can be slightly more difficult to identify than other types because we tend to explain something and visually show it, so we don’t pick up on those children who learn better from hearing things. However, early signs include:

  • Well developed communication skills
  • High-level vocabulary
  • Good imagination and storytelling skills
  • Strong listening skills
  • Not afraid to speak in public
  • Easily distracted by background noises or conversations
  • Talks to oneself out loud when solving problems
  • Reads directions out loud

There are other signs as well, including general interest in music, podcasts, radio, and other forms of “listening” entertainment.

How Can I Use This Information To Help My Child Succeed?

If this sounds in any way like your child, you are pretty lucky in that there are some easy ways to help your child succeed. The first is that you need to use your voice when helping them with schoolwork or even just teaching them something about life. 

Children who are auditory learners will benefit from repetition, so repeating information that you need them to know and remember is important. If your school offers it, maybe consider recording lessons so that they can hear them again.

Another way to help your child succeed is to simply have conversations with them about what they are learning. Engage in that conversation, when they hear you say things, they will remember it. Just make sure that what you are saying is accurate.

This may be easier for certain subjects, such as history or science, but consider supplementing with YouTube videos, documentaries, podcasts, and other mediums that they can listen to instead of reading textbooks. You may even consider getting audiobooks for their English classes.

MindFinity Helps Kids Learn Through Gameplay

Our award-winning program helps your children expand their brains and learn polymath thinking skills while dancing, playing music, doing martial arts, and moving around! You get a new game each day of the week, which takes about five minutes a day. And you can expand on the games and have your child put their imagination to use. For auditory learners, many of the basic skills are taught through music and patterns, which they then learn to transfer into visual and kinesthetic disciplines, helping them to develop the skills that they need to thrive.
Interested in learning more? To learn more about MindFinity and sign up for a free trial, click here.