Bullying is an issue that schools around the country are paying attention to. It’s one that is leaving many seats in the classrooms empty each day. In fact, it’s estimated that, around the country, roughly 160,000 students stay home each day because they fear bullying. Fortunately, there are plenty of things that schools can do in order to help successfully prevent and address the issue on their campus.
Parents of boys are more aware than anyone when their bright, eager sons hit an invisible wall somewhere near fourth grade, after which they go from engaged to unengaged, discouraged, and disaffected. But as parents, we don’t always know what to do about that, and we hope the school will solve it. No! Let’s take back the power and pleasure of raising our boys, and figure out what we can do outside of school to help halt that potential slide down a slippery slope.
Words are the most valuable things your children can acquire because vocabulary is the cornerstone of reading, and reading is the foundation of all learning.
The more words kids know, the better readers they are and the more they learn. But all readers are limited to the reading level that equals their vocabulary level. If children know fourth grade words, they are limited to fourth grade books. If they know ninth grade words, they are limited to ninth grade books. Some students never make it past fourth or ninth grade words so they never make it past those reading levels. It is important that students’ word levels grow so their reading levels grow.
