How to Build Fine Motor Skills to Prepare for PreK and Kindergarten
While screens can provide many early learning opportunities, many teachers are noticing that students are coming in with decreased fine motor skills. This can make writing, coloring, and cutting very difficult in the early grades because their hand muscles are not strong. Here are some ways to help your child improve these skills at home:
Prepare for the School Year with Some Basic Phonemic Awareness
What is Phonemic Awareness? Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds (phonemes) that make up words. Phonemic awareness does not utilize visual letters. It is done completely through listening and speaking. These skills get stronger through repeated exposure and practice. What are the skills to help my child start?
Teach Your Child to Show Kindness
Most of the kindness that children learn is from people, mostly their parents, showing kindness to them. Another way that children can learn kindness is by practicing. Here are 10 ways that your child can practice kindness. This could even be made into a chart with stickers placed next to each one each time your […]
Free Summer Activities Around Chicago
Living in the Chicago area offers many opportunities for learning that don’t cost a dime. Visit these places this summer for a chance to get outside, engage in conversation and continue learning.
Alternatives to Social Media
Social media usage has been growing among young people. While it was originally created to be a tool to connect with one another, it has grown into something that is causing many negative effects. The constant use of and abuse of social media is causing things such as: To break some of these negative trends, […]
Summer Learning Disguised as Fun
Studies show that children who do not read or have access to books during the summer lose up to two months of reading performance. Those losses accumulate during the elementary school years so that by the time a child enters middle school he or she may be 2 1/2 years behind! All children, whether from […]
Congratulations to the Class of 2025!
The 135th commencement ceremony for FHSD#169 will be held Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. in the Willie L. Davis Auditorium. The keynote speaker is Dr. Genevra Walters, Superintendent of Kankakee School District 111 and co-author of “What Works for Special Education and At-Risk Learners: A Framework for General Education Teachers and Administrators.”
The Halfway There Ceremony
Moving from elementary school to middle school is a momentous event for the fourth grade students. They go from being the oldest and most experienced students in the building to discovering so much about themselves as both students and pre-teens. To celebrate this event, the fourth-grade teachers plan a special celebration. The fourth-grade students will […]
Spring Sports Update
Ford Heights is seeing success across winter and spring sports. From basketball to volleyball, to track and field, there is a lot to celebrate. The Seventh Grade Boys Basketball team won the regional and sectional championships this past season. The team made it to state and finished with a 17-2 record. Sheldon Cantu, was awarded […]
Help Your Child Get More Exercise
In today’s world, kids have ample exposure to screens and spend a lot of time sitting. This is having an impact on kids’ health and happiness. Here are some tips to help them ditch the screens and move more.