HowToDoThings.com Recent K-12 Articles

How To Prepare for the New School Year

Sarah146 — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:48:32 -0500

Parents and kids look for the best deals as they stock up on notebooks, folders, pencils, and the latest fashions. However, students are not the only ones doing back-to-school shopping. Teachers have a back to school list, too. Teachers have to plan ahead and be prepared for the new school year way before the first class even begins.

How To Help a Failing Student

Sarah146 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:40:08 -0500

How To Make Sure Your Child's Special Needs Are Met in School

teacher — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:23:21 -0500

Both as a parent of two special needs children and as a teacher, I am aware of all that can be done to assist your child so his needs are met in school. I know that several schools will not provide certain services and even get away with it because parents are often unaware of what can be done in school. Most schools won't promote their services for a reason or another, especially in the United States. In fact, you often read about the legal issues that parents must deal with in order for their children's special needs to be met in school.

Here are some tips that I have for you! Of course, each state may differ as the Canadian provinces and territories do regarding special needs children, but some if not all these steps can be followed and provide you all that you need for your child to grow and develop well in school.

How To Help a Child Understand the Importance of Studying

annie20 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:30:28 -0500

How To Choose a Pet for Your Class

cwalk — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:36:59 -0500

How To Enrich a Child's Education

Sandy120 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:43:53 -0500

Your child's education is vital to his or her success in life. Everyone agrees about its importance. Parents play a pivotal role in education, perhaps even more than the teachers. If you do the math, you will find that 6.5 hours of school per day over a 36 week school year multiplied by 13 years of school comes to just 15,210 hours. That's just under 634 days or 1.71 years spent in classrooms. It doesn't sound like much in the grand scheme, does it?

How To Create a Home School Classroom

3100 Caldera Blvd — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:53:07 -0500

How To Improve Your Child's Math Skills

annie20 — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:19:50 -0500

How To Stay Awake in Class

annie20 — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:56:32 -0500

How To Help Your Child Get Good Grades

annie20 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:23:28 -0500

A good education for children is a must to ensure a good future for them. Success in school is mainly reflected in the grades children receive on report cards and other such reports. Some schools may keep portfolios on students instead of the usual grading system. Whatever method is used, it is vital that parents understand it and stay involved with their child's educational needs.

How To Help Your Child with Stress Management

Sandy120 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:22:56 -0500

How To Handle a Poor Teacher Observation

Sarah146 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:03:10 -0500

How To Garden Indoors with Children

Marilisa560 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:55:29 -0500

Do you love to garden? Do you want to begin a garden in your home or classroom? Are you unable to garden because you live in a temperate zone with long winters? Well here is some good news for gardeners and teachers who want to bring some life science and gardening into the classroom, especially in the winter months. You can easily and inexpensively begin a good-sized garden right in your classroom. Here's how:

How To Improve Your Child's Literacy

annie20 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:49:13 -0500

How To Deal with Home Schooling Misconceptions

3100 Caldera Blvd — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:18:18 -0500

How To Make a Difference in Your Child's Education

3100 Caldera Blvd — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:54:13 -0500

How To Help a Home School Student Develop Social Skills

3100 Caldera Blvd — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:37:50 -0500

How To Get That Pesky Homework Done

NiennaSeregon — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:19:48 -0500

How To Detect Plagiarism

Uninvited Writer — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:59:52 -0500

How To Improve Your Child's Math Skills Using Dice

annie20 — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:49:30 -0500

How To Choose a Foreign Language

Polina — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:39:59 -0500

How To Help Reluctant Readers at Home

caseynspeedy — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:53:04 -0500

Getting children to read at home is a difficult task in itself. But assisting kids who are struggling is a huge and sometimes tedious argument. Children who are struggling will avoid reading at all costs. There are a few things that can make everyone's lives easier.

How To Apply for a Scholarship

Ae640 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:04:25 -0500

Applying for scholarships is one good way of saving money, so you can put additional money into your savings account instead of just taking away from your bank for your regular expenses.

You might be having second thoughts because first of all, applying for a scholarship is not easy. Secondly, there is the discouraging thought that if you do qualify, you might only get minimal support based on your average income bracket. However, you may still be qualified, and there are very good reasons for you to take this advantage -- to enhance not just your academic performance, but also your saving plans. Good reasons to apply for a scholarship, right?

How To Work with Young Writers

Ae640 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:05:27 -0500

Children don't really care if you are an extensively published writer. (You also don't have to be an expert children's book writer.) What children really care about is satisfying their curiosity about the exciting world of books and writing:

How To Teach Writing to Children

Ae640 — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:39:23 -0500

Most children's book authors have a way of inspiring children not just to read more but also dream big - and become a writer. You can give the same inspiration directly - by teaching writing lessons to children.

How To Be an Effective Substitute Teacher

caseynspeedy — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:37:53 -0500

Substituting is the most difficult job! But there are a few things that can make your job easier. Keeping these quick tips in the forefront of your thinking will also make the teacher you are subbing for want to have you back in his/her classroom.

How To Get Children to Do Their Homework

caseynspeedy — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:13:27 -0500

Many parents struggle with getting their children to complete their homework. But as we are all aware from our own youth, it is important for student understanding. It is also important for teachers as they gauge student understanding from independent practice. So how do we make both of these worlds converge? Well, here are a few simple steps to help parents encourage their children to complete their homework with minimal anguish.

How To Inspire in Your Child a Love of Reading

Karen — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:05:28 -0600

10 Keys to the Treasure Chest
Mommy, read me a story--
One about heroes, one about glory.
Open the gate to a world I don't know.
Help me to learn...cause me to grow.

Josh dropped his wet baseball mitt on the kitchen floor and scrunched off his muddy tennis shoes. He knew Grandma must be in the attic. Climbing the retractable ladder, he spied Grandma sitting on a battered footstool, holding a bronze key in her right hand, just staring at it. Josh pulled himself up and asked, "What's that for?" Grandma grinned, stuck the key into the lock of the enormous leather trunk. Click! The domed top creaked open. Josh whispered, "What's inside? Can I see?" Curiosity swirled in the room like a summer breeze.

How To Easily Read Shakespeare

Marilisa560 — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:03:25 -0600

I think that if a poll was taken of high school students asking, 'Who would you most wish to see tortured?', William Shakespeare would top the list. English teachers love the Bard in all his wonderful, bawdy 16th century dialogue and prose; English students hate him for the same reason. If you need or want to read a comedy, tragedy or sonnet of Shakespeare's and don't know how to begin, here are some tips to get you started.

How To Do Gardening Science Fair Projects

bronwyn — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:53:35 -0600

Gardening science fair projects can be both fun and educational for children – especially for those who may have no experience with growing plants. There are endless possibilities in terms of gardening science fair projects, and most of them can be easily adapted to fit the needs of different ages.

How To Develop Your Skills, Succeed, and Be Noticed

Ae640 — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:18:33 -0600

Success in just about anything you do requires just one thing – perseverance. Yet persevering in a highly competitive world would be impossible without these 5 skills. With these steps, you can improve your people skills and professionalism, and you’re sure to never waste any ‘opportunity to shine' moment. Show your ideas and abilities.

How To Prepare School Lunches

Ae640 — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:02:03 -0600

Ideally, you should be packing your child’s school food – both school lunches and snacks. This is the best way to ensure that they will eat healthily even outside your home. If your child has to buy food in school…

Find out what kind of food is being served at the school cafeteria. Do your own investigation.
And if your child has a daily school allowance, keep it small. Set rules on what he can and can’t buy with the money. Try to find out at the end of each day what he did with the money. The last thing you want is for him to be using up all his allowance on candies, chocolates, chips and other junk food.
Don’t just ask about the school’s daily menu. If possible, also check to see the condition in which the food is prepared.

If you don’t want to take chances and want to prepare your child’s school food yourself, keep in mind the following tips:

How To Plan a Garden for Kids

bronwyn — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:02:24 -0600

Gardening is a wonderful introduction to science and nature. If you are looking for a special way to spend time with a child in your life, think about planning a garden for kids. The garden can be big or small; the point is to have fun, spend time outdoors, and introduce children to gardening!

How To Grow Plants in the Classroom

bronwyn — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:55:16 -0600

Growing plants in the classroom is an excellent way to get students excited about science!

How To Make Homemade Playdough

Ae640 — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:22:15 -0600

One of the best ways to teach a child how to become more creative is through play. Why not try making this simple, cost-free homemade playdough for your kids? With playdough, kids get to develop their motor skills and creative expression. Plus, you get to practice your cooking too!

There are three very cool ways of making homemade playdough:

Cooking it over the stove
Microwaving
Just plain mixing

Here’s how you do it.

Stove-Cooked Play Dough

To make this homemade playdough, you will need the following ingredients:

How To Incorporate Gardening into Kindergarten and First Grade Curriculum

Marilisa560 — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:16:22 -0600

Gardening with children is a perfect hands-on multi-sensory activity. Gardening and plant care can be a stand alone curriculum if you incorporate it into each content area. Here is a guideline to incorporate a gardening unit or project into every aspect of your kindergarten or first grade curriculum.

How To Garden Safely with Children at Home or in School

Marilisa560 — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:56:26 -0600

Gardening is in my list of top five learning activities. It's natural, therapeutic, hands-on, interactive and a great learning tool. Whether you teach plant care, botany lessons or gardening at home with your children or in school as a teacher, there are several areas to consider and steps to follow to ensure safety.

How To Start Your Own Homeschool Group

Marilisa560 — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:34:29 -0600

The education of children within the home setting, or homeschooling, is becoming increasingly more popular. When my husband and I made the decision to home-school our children back in 1993, there were probably only one tenth the number of homeschooling families. In fact when I was hospitalized with the birth of our fourth child, the nurses kept peeking into my room, saying that they had to see what a home-schooling mom looked like.

When we decided to home-school, we also felt we needed a support network. We weren't so much looking for like-minded people as much as we wanted healthy group dynamics for our children to explore social relationships and for myself to receive and later provide some mentoring and companionship. If you wish to begin a homeschooling community, there are some basic considerations and steps to take.

How To Get Grant Money for a School Gardening Project

Marilisa560 — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:52:31 -0600

Science in our school curriculum has often focused too much on paperwork and too little on real applications. Life science and biology in particular are subjects that have so much potential for hands-on activities and experiments. Gardening and plant care is an ideal venue to explore your biology or life science classes or curriculum. If you'd like to begin a gardening project in your classroom, there is grant money available to support your endeavors. Here are some areas to explore for grant funding.

How To Choose Plants Kids Will Love to Grow in Their Classroom Project

Casey47 — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:35:28 -0600

Growing a garden with your students can be a fun and rewarding task for you and for the children. The importance to gardening with children is to keep their attention at all times. I know as a child if my outdoor experimental garden did not grow I was tremendously discouraged and gave up quickly. Children are like that, easily distracted and discouraged. They want to see results, often times faster than we can produce them. No matter how much you explain, this attitude will be the same for gardening.

How To Get Started with a School Garden Project

Casey47 — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:58:53 -0600

A classroom gardening project can be a fun and wonderful learning experience for you and your students. It is also something the entire school can become involved in, if organized properly. Gardening shows children the cycle of life, as well as where a lot of their fruits and vegetables come from. It is something they can become involved in and will hopefully give them a sense of pride in what they have created. It may even open up a life time of love for growing flowers and vegetables.

There are several things to consider when you are organizing a gardening project for a classroom or school. This article will go through all the things to consider, and the necessary steps you will need to take.

How To Keep Your Children's Piano Lessons on a Good Note!

ellen66 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:12:50 -0600

My piano students range in age from five to eleven. They're all unique and very enjoyable to teach. However, if I don't keep things fun while they're learning, I might as well be talking to a wall. As a children's piano teacher, I hope these tips on how I keep my students interested in learning how to play the piano will help parents keep the music playing once their child leaves my teaching room!

How To Report a Problem with a Teacher

teacher — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:05:13 -0600

Through the years, I have learned to deal with teachers either as a colleague or as a parent. Either way, I sometimes had to solve certain issues with a teacher. There is a procedure to follow in order to solve problems as effectively as possible for both parties. If you choose not to follow these steps, be aware that these problems may take enormous proportions, which would negatively affect the situation and the possible outcome. As they say, it is better to do it right from the start than deal with the consequences of doing it all wrong. After all, teachers and parents both have the same goal: to help their student or child develop their potential to the fullest.

How To Organize a Foreign Language Class Debate

aniram — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:50:47 -0600

Class debates can be a great motivational tool for creating meaningful interactions and discussions with language learners. They provoke students to speak impromptu and express themselves freely. As a teacher, you are not only an outside observer or a mere prompter of the class debates, but also an active participant and a thorough designer of the class activities.

How To Make a Healthy School Lunch

sipatenco — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:28:41 -0600

As parents, we are responsible for the well being of our children. We provide them homes to live in, clean clothes to wear, friends to play with and food to eat. Many of us, however, are overwhelmed with the prospect of getting our children to eat healthy food. Children would rather eat pizza and macaroni and cheese than a carrot stick or apple slice. The good news is that it is easy to sneak in healthy choices and most of the time your kids won't even know! Here are some easy ways to get started.

How To Tell if You're Pushing Your Child Too Hard

teacher — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:59:58 -0600

As a teacher, students have been the main focus of my career. Of course, their education was the center of attention. Nonetheless, as a teacher you are so much more than an educator. You have to adapt in order to meet their needs, help free them from abuse, take good care of the children of uncaring, unsupportive parents that refuse to involve themselves in their child's life at school. Another problem that I have learned to recognize is the child that is pushed too hard by his parents. How can you tell if you, as parents, are the source of such drama in your child's life? Look for some of these common clues.

How To Be the Best Teacher

cherry_77 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:25:50 -0600

Teaching may sound like an easy task but it is as daunting as any job. Having taught for a good seven years at universities, high schools and special ed schools, I have tried a bit of everything of how it is to be a teacher.

There are different strokes for different folks. That is true. For the many students and their levels that I have taught, I found special kids to be the most challenging of all. However, each student is different. There are even talented kids who could be more difficult. Coming from different backgrounds, and culture, a child’s personality is formed into something unique and complex. It is a great challenge for the teachers then to uncover the child’s strengths provided by these circumstances.

How To Teach Babies Sign Language

lblau — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:51:20 -0600

My daughter Leah was born deaf, so we taught her American Sign Language (ASL) as her first language. When she was in preschool, none of her classmates knew how to sign, and I noticed they just stayed away from her. It broke my heart! She could do everything that other children could do except hear. Although I tried to teach ASL to those around her, I could not help but notice she remained a deaf girl in a hearing world. Would she forever be excluded just because she couldn’t hear? I couldn’t change the fact that she was deaf, so I decided to try to inspire the rest of the world to learn a little ASL instead. I knew I had to find a way to make it fun, engaging, and widely accessible, so I created series of DVDs and called it “Signing Time!” With fun music, animation, and of course with the help of Leah and friends who sign, every family with a DVD player now has the opportunity to learn a little sign language.

How To Get Your Child to Focus on Schoolwork

Megan635 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:59:11 -0600

Schoolwork is an essential part of learning in a classroom. Teachers have given students assignments since the beginning of time. The practice in class promotes several aspects of formal and informal assessments that teachers are able to grade and utilize in making proper future lessons. Students would rather play, talk, or even run their day away. This is not a bad thing, but they also need to learn how to focus on what is expected of them and complete assignments in a timely manner. The following are some tips that will help a parent promote a greater focus on schoolwork for their child in the classroom.

How To Study For an Exam

wintergreen — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:18:51 -0600

You're faced with an exam and you have pages and pages to study. Let's look at a simple way to make that studying easier so you retain important information and disregard information you don't need to know. This is a technique that you can use throughout your years in school. Studying for an exam does not have to be exhausting or painful when you follow these simple how-to skills.