Newsletter

Read Past Newsletters Every Tuesday, Natalie answers questions from subscribers, breaks down important education news, and shares tips to help your children thrive in school. Subscribe here: https://newsletter.primaryfocus.tv/

Newsletter

Love them, leave them alone: encouraging independence in children

"Miss Independent, Miss Self Sufficient" Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson Yesterday I learned that parents spend double the amount of time with their children today compared to parents in the 1960s. This statistic surprised me because it's so common for both parents to work now. But,

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Is it bad that my child writes numbers backwards?

"And if it looks like this, then you're doing it right" Mambo #5 by Lou Bega Today's newsletter is inspired by two subscribers that wrote in asking about number reversals. Thanks for submitting! 😊 "My child reverses numbers when they are writing. Sometimes it

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🙋‍♀️ The secret to getting what your kids need

"I've been trying hard to reach you, 'cause I don't know what to do" Talk by Coldplay Wishing everyone a very Happy Father's Day and Juneteenth! A few years ago, I had a student whose parents were concerned she may have

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Improve your Child's Vocabulary

"I wish you well with your weapon of jargon, you've got a double-sided lexicon. I've got to try to keep your attention, gotta write using less emoticons." Coyotes by Jason Mraz You may have heard that reading with children and speaking with children can

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A book club for kids?

"Summer breeze makes me feel fine, blowin' through the jasmine in my mind" Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts I hope you had a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend! Now that summer is here, academics will take a natural step back as the kids enjoy some

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Kids vs Standardized Tests

"Help me if you can, I'm feeling down" Help! by The Beatles We are inching closer to the end of the school year- but there's one big obstacle between students and summer break: and that's testing 😳 If your child is in public

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Ask THIS before summer break

"Summertime and the livin' is easy" Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald ...and famously covered by Sublime 💕 Happy belated Mother's Day 💕 Summer break is on its way! This is a time of year where teacher communication can dial wayyyyy back. Just like parents, teachers are focused on

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🍎 3 free ways to appreciate teachers

It's Teacher Appreciation Week! I've got three free ideas to celebrate.

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❤️ Learning with Love & Logic

Last week I told you why my students used to hate me. It all changed when I read Teaching with Love & Logic.

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My students used to hate me

Last week I explained intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It may seem like one is better than the other, but from my experience in the classroom, the reality is somewhere in the middle.

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How do you motivate kids?

There's a lot of philosophies out there about how to motivate children. So whether you're team #gentleparenting, teaching with love and logic, or just winging it day to day all these approaches come back to one debate: Should we use intrinsic or extrinsic motivation?

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💐 Spring Fever

Spring is here and soon most children in America will be waltzing back into school from spring break. Suddenly the days are longer, the weather is warmer, and just like that spring fever is here!

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So, how'd I do?

Quarter 1 just ended, so I've been reflecting on how content has performed.

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🪧 LAUSD went on strike: what does that mean for us?

LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) is the second largest school district in the United States. They also have one of the most powerful teacher unions in the country. So, when they strike the rest of the country listens...

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🎉 4 FUN AI tools to try

Here's a few interesting AI tools I found- some for you and some for kids

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Does ChatGPT belong in schools?

OpenAI's ChatGPT will chat with you about anything you can think of...and maybe even get some work done for you too.

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Stop paying for apps- the best free sites for kids!

Let's talk tech. The market is FLOODED with learning games for children. That's why I did the work for you.

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Are schools a worthy investment?

Over the past few weeks I followed the funding in public schools. Here's a few conclusions I drew while researching.

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Pros and Cons of Private School Vouchers

School Voucher programs have been quietly dominating the United States. I'm going to break down the pros and cons for you so you can form your own opinion.

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NC's Education Lottery: not a win for kids

Profits from the lottery program (scratch off tickets, power ball etc) are supposed to be bonus funding for the school's education budget. But that's not happening in North Carolina...

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What is going on with North Carolina's student funding?

How fair is school funding in your state?

How to talk to your child’s teacher without feeling like a helicopter mom

This article was originally published in the Peanut App. It was written to an audience of mothers, but the advice to true no matter how you identify. There’s a relationship that is important to work on: it’s kind of professional and kind of personal, making the lines blurry

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📣 teach your kids time management NOW

Teaching children time management is a process....and when they can't even read a clock it can get really difficult. That's why I'm dedicating this newsletter to 3 simple ways to use calendars to build time management.

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💵 How do teachers get paid?

I've been so immersed in the world of education, I didn't realize there was a common question on people's minds.

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Shhh...don't talk so much

Learning to think critically and communicate takes time and lots of practice. When working with kids, we have to give them time and space to think and talk out loud.