Exceptional Field Trips

One of the best ways to help your child to love learning is to expose your child to as many learning opportunities as possible. What's the best way to do that? Well, take your child on some field trips! The more places your child visits, the more connections that will be made between those experiences and new learning.

Check out the local museums. Many cities have children museums in place with lots of hands-on-learning. There are often free or discounted days, but be aware that these are often crowded with other families trying to save some money as well. Art, history, and science museums are also good places for children to explore (with a close eye from a loving parent).

The library is also another great place for a bimonthly field trip. Children love the wide range of books to read and take home with them. There are often craft activities, story time, and other adventures for the little ones to get them hooked on reading at a young age. Many libraries also offer a wide-range of activities for older children too. It is worth looking into what activities are available at your local library.

Parks are another free field trip that can help your child to build knowledge. Children learn best through play. A walk to the local park provides exercise and allows for a time to talk with your child about some of their interests or items that they are seeing along the walk. If you happen to live near the ocean or a lake, these are also good field trip spots for your child. Most children love being out in nature and exploring.

Be spontaneous and take your child out for a fun, learning adventure today!

Interest Surveys For Exceptional Kids

There are many different types of interest surveys available online and they are easy to create if you want a unique one.  When I was teaching, I created an interest survey (mostly about reading and writing) to give to the incoming fifth graders at the end of the school year.  With their results, I was able to plan over the summer and find interesting reading material to match the interests and needs of my incoming class.

Parents too can give their child an interest survey to find out what areas your child may enjoy learning about.  Simple surveys with yes or no questions can be given to preschool age or early elementary age children to complete.  Those who cannot read yet can have an adult read the survey to them.

Make it fun though! Turn the survey into a game! For example, tell the child that they are going to play a game. They want to answer honestly with a yes or no for each question that you are going to ask.  There is no right or wrong answer.  You could have the child help you add up how many yes and how many no responses there were at the end. You could also put the survey in the form of a bingo board and the child could put a stamp, sticker, or drawing in each little box as he or she answers the questions.

With knowing your child’s interests, you are better able to plan fun activities for your child to participate in. Good luck helping your exceptional child!

Parents Are A Child's First Teachers

Once you become a parent you are in charge of guiding that new bundle of job in the right direction.  The choices you make and the actions you model for your child will determine how exceptional your child will become.  What morals, manners, interests and knowledge do you want your child to possess?  You are your child’s first teacher.

Morals are an important part of living in society.  Many parents choose to teach morals through religion.  They will take their child to church, mosque, synagogue, or another house of worship in order to teach their child their religion and often times the morals that come along with that religion.  There may be an accompanying religious school that children will attend to better understand their religion as they are growing up.

All parents can teach morals through modeling morality in their daily life.  They can use TV shows, clips from the news, passages of books, or events from their own lives or their children’s lives to open a discussion about right and wrong.  Get into play acting and have your child act out how to respond in certain social events that may occur.  For example, what they would do if asked to use drugs.  With all the temptations that there are in this world, isn't it best that your children learn from you what path they should choose to follow?

Along with morals come manners.  There are the basic mannerly words of “please”, “thank you”, “you’re welcome”, and “excuse me” that children should learn to master at an early age.  There are also other mannerly social norms that should be handed down to children such as holding a door open for the person behind you, giving up your seat for an elderly person or small children, putting away the cell phone for dinner and while driving.  What manners and social norms do you want your child to possess?

Interests and knowledge are harder qualities to pass down to your child since everyone is an individual.  However, parents that read actively in front of their children and read to their children when they are small often have children who grow up to love reading too.  The child sees the adult reading and mimics the behavior.  Reading is one interest that can be passed down.  Talking to your child about different topics and hobbies that interest you could help your child to develop a similar interest.  Spend time with your kid doing things that you both enjoy!

Remember, you are the most important person in your child’s life.  You are their first teacher, model, and guide.  Please guide your child to possess morals, manners, and start exploring different interests.  Let’s make the world full of exceptional children who can do great things!

Exceptional Children Record Goals

One of the best ways a parent or guardian can help their child become exceptional is to record their child's strengths and interests and teach their child how to set their own goals.  As a young child, the recording and goal setting will be the parent's responsibility.  As the child learns how to write and express him or her self, then the child can begin learning how to set goals.

Find a journal to record the child's interests, strengths, and any other identifying characteristics that you would think are helpful.  It is much like keeping a baby book where all the baby's new achievements are recorded for future reference.  You could have the child help decorate the book and provide input on their interests and strengths depending on their age and understanding.

Once you have a list, focus in on one of the strengths or interests.  For example, your six-year-old son may have an interest in dinosaurs.  Now you would want to set some goals to help your child learn more about dinosaurs.  Maybe you could look up where the dinosaur books are located at your local library.  Maybe a goal would be to read one dinosaur related book, or part of a book if it is a long one, to your son each evening.  Reading together boosts a love of reading!

Where is the closest museum that has dinosaur displays?  Or are you planning a family trip in the near future?  Are there any dinosaur museums at your destination?  Getting out and seeing how large dinosaur bones are would probably encourage your child to continue with their dinosaur fascination.  Even better if the museum has a dig for your own fossils area for children! 

What about a build your own dinosaur kit?  The recommended age may be slightly older than your six-year-old son, but the child could be successful with the kit with your help and because of your child's huge interest in dinosaurs.  If the kit is too much, clay dinosaurs or drawings of dinosaurs may make art time fun for your child.

As the child becomes more knowledgeable on dinosaurs, why not encourage him to write his own dinosaur book or keep a dinosaur journal to record what he is learning?  Writing is important in helping to keep facts lodged into our brains.  Every child can benefit from learning and going through the writing process.  Wouldn't learning be more fun if children could write about what currently interests them?

These are only a handful of ideas that you could use.  As you know your child best, you would record goals that make sense with your child's interests and abilities.  Make learning fun for your child!

Why should there be an exceptional core?

Exceptional implies that there is an exception from the ordinary.  Isn't each person on this planet a bit exceptional in different ways?  Isn't it our uniqueness that makes the world an amazing place to live?  We draw on each others' strengths and help each other with our weaknesses.

Learning should be the same way.  Students should be encouraged to become exceptional in the areas that are their strengths and that they find a large interest.  Students should have an opportunity to learn from one another so that their strengths shine and their weaknesses are overcome.  By working together, students learn how to better function in the adult world.  Every employer wants a team player!

How would you feel if their was an Exceptional Core instead of a Common Core?  What if the Common Core was just a guideline to what students could be expected to learn, but yet students and their parents are asked for input as to what they would like to see their child learn that year?  Don't students know a lot of their interests?  Yes, there are still areas that are new to students and that they should be exposed to as they progress through school, but most students should be able to give a list of their most passionate interests.  Their parents should also be able to list off things that they would like their child to learn and the strengths and weaknesses of their child.

Would you like to see more planning and communication between parents, students, and schools?  How would you feel about an Exceptional Core way of learning?

Do you really want your child to be "common"?

The majority of the states across the United States have joined the Common Core.  Supposedly this Common Core will help to standardized learning and bring better achievement results to American schools.  But do you really want your child to be common?

Common implies that your child is the same as every other person's child.  Didn't God create each individual to be unique with different talents and strengths?  Isn't it our goal to help our children to reach their best potential, find what interests them, and set them on the path to a career that they will excel in and help the world to be a better place?

How will your child receive individual help to succeed when the expectation at your child's school is for him or her to be common?  If your child is falling behind other students, then some support may be offered to help your child reach back to the common, or average, ranking.  But what about those with intelligent children?  Will the Common Core help them to reach their full potential?  Or will they be held back to what is the common knowledge of their grade level?

Isn't it known knowledge that people learn through different means and at different rates.  Why are we still expecting children to learn at the same rate?  Why can't we allow those children who excel at certain areas to continue to grow and blossom in those areas and allow children who struggle to have a little more time and different ways to learn?

What do you think of the Common Core?  Should all children in the United States become common?