Chess is not just a game for the elderly to play at the park. Chess can be a highly beneficial tool to your child’s intellectual development. St. Charles Borromeo, one of the Orlando Catholic schools, encourages your child to play chess in our after-school chess club at school!

Problem-Solving Skills

A match encourages problem solving and thinking fast right on the spot. The opponent in the game requires them to continuously change their parameters. Some studies have indicated that people who learned how to play chess scored much higher on standardized tests, which leads to better brain function. This sort of strategic thinking will prepare your child to be a master in planning ahead.

Brain Growth
Gaming challenges the brain and promotes its growth. It exercises both sides of the brain when your child has to identify the chess positions. She will improve the communication in her brain and it starts to work faster, as reactions occur on both sides of the hemisphere.

Helps Prevent Memory Loss
As your child gets older, it’s important that she works out her brain and keeps it healthy and fit — just like other muscles in the body. Brain games should be started at a young age to reduce the risk of memory loss now and later in life.

Improves Attention Span
If your child has ADHD, or just attention span problems, playing chess can help her focus better at school. She will be so focused on winning and making smart moves that she avoids the distractions around her. This type of attention that the game demands can result in better performance at school.

Raises IQ
They say smart people play chess and that chess makes you smarter. Studies show that playing chess can raise your IQ because of the brain workout it provides. When your child’s IQ raises significantly, then watch her test scores rise, too!

St. Charles Borromeo, one of the Orlando Catholic schools, is more than just a place to learn; it’s a community. Our staff is committed to proclaiming the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ. We believe in teaching the whole child and want students to love learning, helping them grow into well-rounded, contributing members of society. Learn more about us by contacting us here.

The science fair at St. Charles Borromeo, an Orlando Catholic school, is on February 19th! This great event is hosted by schools worldwide and allows your child to compete in science and technical activities. To help her prepare, here’s a list of project ideas she can do!

Backyard Biosphere
Is it possible to create a biosphere? In this backyard biosphere experiment, your child will create an ecosystem that can survive with animals living in it to test the plausibility of developing a sustainable environment that is closed off from the rest of the planet. Grab a clear container, soil, grass, a flowering plant, a ceramic bowl, water, a microscope, and slides and follow the procedure!

Center of Balance
Suitable for grades fourth through sixth, this physiology project can help your child find out how to locate a person’s center of balance. Is it easier to balance on a narrow ledge or on a  rope if a person is holding their arms out? To find out, all your child needs is a rope, a meter stick, three meter sticks taped together, three meter sticks taped together with five-pound weights attached to the ends, a stopwatch, and a friend to help. In just a few steps, your child can understand the nature of gravity!

Anaerobic Energy
Humans use two types of energy systems: aerobic and anaerobic. This health science experiment will determine an average person’s ability to use their anaerobic power system and increase their capacity over a period of two weeks. The only materials your child will need is a timer and a few willing participants! 

Caving
With just a few materials, this Earth and space science project allows your child to observe the gradual formation of stalactites and the reverse buildup of stalagmites. Learn about evaporation, gravity, and minerals. You’ll need Epsom salt, black poster board, tape, scissors, four drinking glasses, black yarn, four washers, a ruler, a small pot, a spoon, and a logbook!

Solar System
To understand if the distances in the solar system are proportional to the distances in an atomic system, this physical science project can help. With just clay, a tennis ball meter stick, and a few willing participants, your child will have the opportunity to analyze and conceive the solar system and atomic structures a little better!

St. Charles Borromeo, an Orlando Catholic school, is more than just a place to learn; it’s a community. Our staff is committed to proclaiming the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ. We believe in teaching the whole child and want students to love learning, helping them grow into well-rounded, contributing members of society. Learn more about us by contacting us here.

Summer vacation is here, but you don’t have to leave the learning behind! St. Charles Borromeo, an Orlando Catholic school, has tips to help keep your child learning all summer long.

At-Home Theatre Time
No need to go out to see a theatre show — make your very own play at home! Creating their own play can get their creative juices flowing by developing stories that the finger puppets act out. Children can create puppets by cutting off the finger-ends of old gloves, then by drawing a face on them with felt-tip markers and gluing on yarn for hair. They can create animal faces, such as cats and dogs.

Start Writing
Give your children postcards so they can write to you about their summer adventures. Provide them with a journal to write diary entries, poetry, recipes, or to scrapbook. They can also blog! Edublogs and Kidblog offer free blog spaces that have appropriate security. Blogging can help them build research and writing skills.

Build Vocabulary with a Word Jar
Word jars can help build your child’s vocabulary skills. Fill a jar with pieces of paper that have a word on each one. Let your child draw a word every day, and ask them to define it. Challenge them to use that word in conversations throughout the day. Adapt the activity to their grade level.

Count with Ice Cream
Children may not love math, but they love ice cream! Incorporate a sweet treat into their math games. Gather small pom poms of different colors and write numbers on triangles. Your child will stack “ice cream scoops” into each cone according to its number, counting as they go. Treat them to real ice cream once they masters their counting skills!

Treasure Hunt at a Museum
Your child may not be excited to visit a museum, so take your visit one exhibit at a time. When you visit, do not try seeing everything in one day. Start by visiting the gift shop and allowing your child to pick out some postcards of paintings or objects in the museum. Try to incorporate periods of history they have learned at school. Then, have them walk through the museum and treasure hunt those items in the postcards!

St. Charles Borromeo, an Orlando Catholic school, is more than just a place to learn; it’s a community. Our staff is committed to proclaiming the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ. We believe in teaching the whole child and want students to love learning, helping them grow into well-rounded, contributing members of society. Learn more about us by contacting us here.

There’s only so many hours in a day. It can be hard to schedule enough time for homework, much less fit in group projects, where you have to coordinate your schedule with classmates. St. Charles Borromeo, a College Park private school, loves the collaboration and teamwork that happens in group projects — they’re great practice for the future! Here are a few tips for making them as quick, efficient, and stress-free as possible.

Assign and Record Tasks

Start by having a conversation as a whole team about what needs to be done, and make sure no one leaves before you’ve decided who is responsible for what. You can save a lot of time by first deciding who is going to take on each part of the project! You don’t have to worry about two people doing the same thing — or risk an important step being skipped. Make a record of who has what job, when they need to finish by, and how the team can help them.

Communicate Often

If you need help from another group member or have a question, make sure you communicate this as soon as possible. When you talk early and often, you can prevent small problems from becoming big problems. Decide on the best communication method, such as a group texting app, and set a rule for how often members have to check their messages and respond accordingly.

Don’t Wait to Start Your Work

Treat your group project with the same care that you’d give your own work. Don’t put your work aside until the last minute; you may end up needing help from a team member that they don’t have time to give, or you might not have enough time to finish your part. Treat your team members the same way you wish to be treated!

Support Your Teammates

Everyone loves knowing that their work is appreciated. One way you can help your project succeed is by supporting your team. If someone did an amazing job, congratulate them! If someone helped out without being asked, thank them. And if someone’s struggling to get their part done, reach out and ask how you can help. This level of support is key for getting good work done fast.

St. Charles Borromeo and other College Park private schools aren’t the only places your child will experience group projects. Most of our lives include working with other people to get something done. By using these tips, you can put together a project deserving of that A grade — and you can get it done long before it’s due.

School may be out for the summer, but opportunities to learn never end! It’s easy for students to experience an academic slump after being out of the classroom for so long, but science experiments can help them learn and make it fun. St. Charles Borromeo, an Orlando private school, has a few suggestions for science experiments to try with your kids this summer.

Cold and Colorful Foam

Want a sensory, colorful experiment for your kids? Fill a few small containers with ¼ cup of clear hand soap and ¾ cup warm water, then pour a few drops of the food coloring of your choice in each. Mix in 2 tbsp baking soda followed by 2 tbsp citric acid. (You can buy this at your local Target or Walmart) The citric acid will react with the baking soda to create foam! Don’t be afraid to encourage your kids to play with it — this endothermic chemical reaction will also cause the foam to feel chilly.

Solar S’mores

Want s’mores without the hassle of a fireplace? Try making your own s’more oven with a leftover pizza box. First, measure a square two inches from each side of the box, then cut out three sides to form a flap. Line the inside of the box with tin foil and then tape black construction paper to the bottom. Next, tape down clear plastic sheet protectors as tight as you can to the opening you cut into the box. Finally, attach a skewer to the box’s side to prop up the lid. Your oven is now ready to cook s’mores Florida style! Place your s’mores inside the box, put it outside, and watch them cook.

Magic Rocks

Create your own treasure hunt with magic rocks. Add baking soda to a bowl with food coloring — any amount of baking soda will do, depending on how big you want your rock to be. Slowly and carefully add water to create a moldable mixture; be careful not to over soak! You can always add more baking soda if your mixture is too watery. Mold the mixture into balls, placing small treasures inside. Let them dry for 24 hours. Have your child use a spray bottle with vinegar to spray the balls. The vinegar will react with the baking soda to fizz and reveal the treasure!

We hope you and your kids enjoy these fun science activities, and the rest of summer vacation. If you’re looking for an Orlando private school to enroll your children in next school year, visit us at St. Charles Borromeo. We would love to have you as part of our community!