MAY
2017
Tennessee School for the Deaf
P
R
E
S
C
H
O
O
L
Outdoor play strengthens your preschooler’s
mind and body
As the weather gets
warmer, your child is
probably spending more
time playing outdoors.
And that’s good news
for his brain and social
development as well as
his muscle development. According to experts, playing outside
with friends is a great
way to encourage the
pretend play that is so
important between the
ages of three and five. It
helps your child learn:

K
I
N
D
E
R
G
A
R
T
E
N
Creativity. When
your child calls out,
“Let’s pretend we
are riding horses!”
he is thinking creatively. Then when
he and his friends
collect sticks to
“ride” and start gal-


loping around the
yard, they are playing creatively.
Problem solving.
What happens
when there are four
children but only
three sticks? Preschoolers often figure out ways to
cope. You may see
them take turns with
the sticks or look for
another prop to use
as a “horse.” Or one
child may pretend
that he has “lost” his
horse and is looking
for it.
Social skills. Children learn how to
approach others
and join in a group
that is already playing. A child may use
a startup cue, such
as, “Giddy up ... I’m
riding a horse, too.”
The children already in the group
learn how to accommodate and include
others that decide
to join them as they
play.
It is always important to
supervise your child as
he plays outside with
friends. But it is equally
important to give him
opportunities to “figure
things out” on his own.
May Dates
9
Varsity Sports Banquet 6:00pm
11 Purple & White Game
14 Mother’s Day
18 HS Awards Day &
Graduation
27 NTID Transition Workshop
Students Home
5, 12, 19, 25
Students Return
7, 15, 21,
Reprinted with permission from the April
2017 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Early Childhood Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2017 The Parent
Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media,
Inc. Source: R. Pica, “Take it Outside!”
Excelligence Learning Corporation,
niswc.com/ec_outdoorplay.
Three strategies improve your kindergartner’s
language skills
Language is the bedrock of the kindergarten
experience. Your child
uses language to get
and share information.
She uses it to express
needs. She uses it to
process what she hears.
She uses it to begin to
read. Practicing oral
skills can help build a
strong foundation for
reading. To strengthen
your child’s language
skills:
1. Spend time talking
2.
to her each day.
Face-to-face conversations will give
your child practice
reading facial expressions that go
with different kinds
of language.
Have her focus on
you when you are
speaking to her. At
school, the teacher
will not accept your
child looking out of
the window. She
wants students’
eyes on her. Sometimes, have your
child repeat back
what you said.
3. Practice following
directions. When your
child can easily follow a
one-step direction, such
as “Please take off your
coat,” move to a
two-step, such as,
“Please take off
your coat and hang
it up.”
Reprinted with permission from the
April 2017 issue of Parents make the
difference!® (Early Childhood Edition)
newsletter. Copyright © 2017 The
Parent Institute®, a division of
PaperClip Media, Inc.
Page 2
Parent Newsletter
Read aloud to build your child’s listening skills and memory
E
L
E
M
E
N
T
A
R
Y
S
C
Even if your child knows how to
read, it’s helpful for you to continue reading aloud to him. Reading
aloud gives your child important
quality time with you—and it exposes him to ideas, concepts and
vocabulary he might not get otherwise. Each time you read together, you add to his storehouse
of knowledge and strengthen his
reading comprehension skills. To
boost your child’s vocabulary
skills as you read, define words
he doesn’t know. Then ask if he
can think of words that have a
similar or opposite meaning.
From time to time, see if your
child can figure out the meaning
of an unknown word by how it’s
used in a sentence. Give exam-
ples of how the word might be
used in other contexts. For example, note how the word sign
can be a noun (Look at the stop
sign) or a verb (Please sign
your name here). As you read,
you can also help your child
strengthen other skills, such as:
*
*
Listening and speaking.
After you’ve read a passage, have your child tell
you what he heard. Ask
specific questions—What
did ... do? Why? Where ... ?
How ... ? What color was ...
?
a book the night before.
First ask your child to recall
where you were in the story.
*
Word recognition. Stop
reading periodically. Ask your
child to read a sentence or two
to you. Help him sound out new
words. Then have him read the
sentences again.
Reprinted with permission from the April 2017 issue of Parents
make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter.
Copyright © 2017 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip
Media, Inc.
Memory. Don’t just start
reading where you left off in
H
O
O
L
Five strategies can increase your child’s motivation to learn
Kids who are motivated to learn
are likely to be more successful
in school than those who are
not. To motivate your child:
1. Be a learner yourself. Let
your child see you read
books. Watch educational
programs. Attend school
functions. Try new things.
Show curiosity.
2. Share what you learn.
Talk about new ideas or
scientific discoveries with
your child. Discuss things
you read or hear.
3. Show an interest in what
he is learning. Ask questions simply to learn and
share—not to check up on
your child.
4. Let him know you believe
he can learn. If you show
faith in your child’s ability to
learn, he will have more
confidence in his ability.
5. Stay positive. If your child
has problems in school, help
him see that problems can be
solved. Meet with the teacher to
figure out ways your child can
improve. Then discuss ways
you can work together to help
him succeed.
Reprinted with permission from the April 2017 issue of Parents
make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter.
Copyright © 2017 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip
Media, Inc.
M
Share strategies to help your child strengthen vocabulary
I
A strong vocabulary helps students be successful in school
and beyond. To help your child
strengthen his vocabulary, encourage him to:
D
D
L
E

Read. Most of what he
reads should be at his reading level. If he likes a book
by a certain author, encourage him to read others by
that author. If he has a special interest, such as sports,


suggest that he read a biography of a famous athlete.
Every so often, encourage
him to challenge himself by
reading something beyond
his reading level.
Look it up. The dictionary
is one of your child’s most
valuable tools. Have him
use it whenever he encounters a word he doesn’t
know.
Practice. It is a great start
when your child learns the
meaning of a new word. But
that new word will soon be
lost to him if he doesn’t use
it repeatedly. Encourage
him to practice using each
new word he hears.
 Speak to adults. When
your child has conversations
with adults, he will likely be exposed to new words. Don’t “do
the talking for him” when he is
around adults.
Reprinted with permission from the April 2017 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (Middle School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2017 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.
Page 3
S
C
H
O
O
L
Don’t fall into the trap of being your middle schooler’s ‘friend’
Your child is growing up before
your eyes. He may look more
like a young adult and less like
a young child. He can also understand concepts that escaped
him a year ago. However, he is
still your child and not your
peer. He needs you to be the
parent and he should respect
you and other adults. To promote a respectful relationship:

H
I
G
H
Insist that your child
speak politely to you and
others. Don’t allow your
child to talk to you when he
is being rude. Walk away
and tell him you will respond
when he speaks respectfully.
H
O
O
L
Require your child to follow your rules. Middle
schoolers shouldn’t have a
huge list of rules, but they
should have a few important
ones that must be followed.
Agree on consequences
and enforce them every
time.
 Do not try to be the cool
parent in the neighborhood. You should be kind
and caring to your child and
his friends, but you are not
“one of the girls/boys.” Children lose respect for parents who act like children.
 Do not make decisions
based on what would please
your child and his friends. They
might like it if you paid for them
all to see an R-rated movie, but
is it a wise parenting choice?
Trust yourself as the adult and
make decisions accordingly.
Reprinted with permission from the April 2017 issue of Parents
Still make the difference!® (Middle School Edition) newsletter.
Copyright © 2017 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip
Media, Inc. Source: C. Giannetti and M. Sagarese, The RollerCoaster Years: Raising Your Child Through the Maddening Yet
Magical Middle School Years, Broadway Books.
Lack of effort may be a sign that your teen is struggling in school
You found out that your teen
hasn’t been turning in his math
homework. “I just didn’t feel like
doing it,” he says. Is he just
lacking motivation, or is it something else?
S
C

A lack of effort can actually be a
cover-up for a more serious
problem. Teens will do a lot to
keep parents and teachers from
figuring out that they are having
trouble with a subject. They’ll
pretend they don’t care. They’ll
act like the class clown. They’ll
“forget” their homework day after day.
If this describes your teen, you
might want to sit down with the
teacher and take a closer look.
His “I just don’t care” attitude
may be hiding the fact that he
needs serious help in that class.
If your teen is struggling, act
now. He can work with a tutor,
stay after class for extra help
and maybe even take a summer
class. Knowing the real problem
is the first step to fixing it.
Reprinted with permission from the April 2017 issue of Parents
Still make the difference!® (High School Edition) newsletter.
Copyright © 2017 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip
Media, Inc.
“The more words you know, the
more clearly and powerfully you
will think...and the more ideas
you will invite into your mind.”
—Wilford Funk
Teach your teen ‘mind mapping’ to help with comprehension
Minds work a lot like websites.
From one main idea, our
thoughts tend to branch off to
other ideas. Those are linked to
still more ideas. A great way to
learn something new is to create a link to something you already know. Creating a mind
map is a helpful technique. Before he starts learning a new
subject, have your teen:
1. Write the main word or
phrase of that subject in the
2.
3.
center of a piece of paper.
Have him circle it.
Write any related words or
phrases he can think of
around the circled word. He
can use overlapping circles
or arrows to connect items.
Encourage your teen to
work quickly. The goal is to
get as many ideas down on
paper as possible.
Edit the map. He might
move some items near related ideas or use color to
help organize concepts.
As your teen begins reading
about the subject, he should
add new information to his map,
working outward. As the map
expands, details should get
more specific. When the map is
finished, your teen will have a
personal map that puts what he
just learned in the context of
what he already knew.
Reprinted with permission from the April 2017 issue of Parents
Still make the difference!® (High School Edition) newsletter.
Copyright © 2017 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip
Media, Inc.