There are lots of fun literacy activities for active kids.
I was talking to a mom yesterday who said she has two sons – one of whom isn’t a good reader. He likes video games and is quite physically active.
Here are some fun suggestions:
* Write a simple sentence on a long piece of paper. Cut it up into words and place them around the room. Time your son as he runs around, finding words, and making a sentence from them. (Remind him to use clues like the period at the end of the sentence, and the capital letter at the beginning.)
* Sink Scrabble tiles into a large bowl of rice. As he finds the tiles, he makes words.
* Show him how his Nintendo DS can be used for messages.
* In the summer, toss letters into the pool. He can dive for letters and make words by the side of the pool.
* Give him 8 Scrabble tiles (for instance, E L R E T I A S). Get him to make as many words as he can in two minutes, using those letters. See if he can make more the second time around.
* Make everything a fun contest! Time him, or get him to compete against someone else or simply beat his own score.
For more active-kid literacy ideas, check out this post on kinesthetic learning.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Time for a little Spring cleaning
It must be Spring.This week I found myself on the floor, in front of my son's bookshelves, clearing out and arranging.
The shelves were getting too squished, and they weren't really... well, appealing. My theory is that books should be laid out like beautiful fruits, ripe for the picking.
His bookshelves were more like spinach and liver than blackberries and watermelon.
So I spent a bit of time parsing his book collection. I took out everything that was too young for him, or that I knew he'd never read. Then, because I'm a bit of a librarian at heart, I put all his collections together - all the Scooby-Doos, the Time Warp Trios, the Geronimo Stiltons.
The non-fiction books - dinosaurs and ancient Egypt, the joke books, the "How to be Immature" book - went on a separate shelf. And there's also a shelf of "haven't read, but isn't this interesting" books. That's for when he's bored. He'll stumble across that shelf and I'll find him sitting in a chair, surrounded by books, reading.
A little Spring cleaning now... for a year-round harvest.
Sorry about the mixed metaphor in that last line; I don't like it any more than you do. But sometimes it's hard to come up with a good closer. Anyway, you know what I mean.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Great website - reading and math
I love Soft Schools.A wonderful kindergarten teacher told me about it years ago, and I’ve used it ever since.
At Soft Schools you can create fun puzzles, tailor-made for your child, and then print them out or let your child do them online.
For instance, there are:
Word Scrambles
Use your child’s name, relatives, and favourite things in the puzzle. Hit “Generate” and it creates the puzzle for you to print out.
Phonics activities
Online flash cards and phonics games such as the phonics scramble using short and long vowels.
Games
Right on the home page you can access connect-the-dots games, fishing games featuring subtraction, math worksheets, colouring pages with the alphabet, money worksheets and a great balloon pronoun online game. It also has activities dealing with science, geometry, fractions, chemistry, integers, rhymes, and lots more.
I often use the site to create math worksheets for my son, who loves to solve math problems. You tell it how big the numbers can be (for instance, no solution larger than 100) and it creates a worksheet so your kids can show you how smart they are.
No, that's not an out-of-focus copy of their logo - that's their logo. It's soft. Get it?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Dial-a-story
I'm recording some books on CD for our school.
It (and another mom in the schoolyard) reminded me that the Metro Toronto Public Library has a wonderful service. It's Dial-a-Story, and all you have to do is phone a number -- and let your child listen.
Every day there is a new story for little kids and older kids.
Stories are available in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Polish and "other languages." Currently, you can also hear a story geared to black history month.
Even if you're not in Toronto, give it a try.
(416) 395-5400
This is the cool microphone my husband bought me to record the books on CD. I want to burst into song (and sometimes, I do).
Thanks, Kerry, for clarifying that new stories are posted every day (previously, this post said they changed every week). BTW, the "other mom"? Kerry!
It (and another mom in the schoolyard) reminded me that the Metro Toronto Public Library has a wonderful service. It's Dial-a-Story, and all you have to do is phone a number -- and let your child listen.
Every day there is a new story for little kids and older kids.
Stories are available in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Polish and "other languages." Currently, you can also hear a story geared to black history month.
Even if you're not in Toronto, give it a try.
(416) 395-5400
This is the cool microphone my husband bought me to record the books on CD. I want to burst into song (and sometimes, I do).
Thanks, Kerry, for clarifying that new stories are posted every day (previously, this post said they changed every week). BTW, the "other mom"? Kerry!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The three main factors
Your attitude shapes your kids' attitudes.
Researchers recorded years’ worth of everyday interactions across a wide range of families. They discovered three main factors that predict whether a child will be a successful reader.
1) Parents’ attitudes about reading
Even in communities without bookstores or libraries, if the parents showed children in many different ways that reading is essential, the kids were more successful. The parents also read to their children daily.
2) Having books around
The kids who had an ever-present supply of books were more likely to succeed at reading. This finding is also supported in the book, “Freakonomics.”
3) Affirmation
Parents and caregivers who regularly supported their kids through positive statements like, “I’m glad to see you reading,” or “What a great book!” helped ensure that their children would be successful readers.
Children succeed when you expect them to succeed. Foster a reading culture in your home, and keep your attitude about reading upbeat, and they’ll want to read because it’ll be fun.
Source: This research study was cited in the booklet, “Raising Kids Who Read,” by Carolyn Munson-Benson, funded by the National Literacy Secretariat, Social Development Canada and YMCA Canada. I wish I had more specifics about this particular research study. I can tell you that these findings are reflected in much of the literature I’ve read about creating successful readers.
Researchers recorded years’ worth of everyday interactions across a wide range of families. They discovered three main factors that predict whether a child will be a successful reader.1) Parents’ attitudes about reading
Even in communities without bookstores or libraries, if the parents showed children in many different ways that reading is essential, the kids were more successful. The parents also read to their children daily.
2) Having books around
The kids who had an ever-present supply of books were more likely to succeed at reading. This finding is also supported in the book, “Freakonomics.”
3) Affirmation
Parents and caregivers who regularly supported their kids through positive statements like, “I’m glad to see you reading,” or “What a great book!” helped ensure that their children would be successful readers.
Children succeed when you expect them to succeed. Foster a reading culture in your home, and keep your attitude about reading upbeat, and they’ll want to read because it’ll be fun.
Source: This research study was cited in the booklet, “Raising Kids Who Read,” by Carolyn Munson-Benson, funded by the National Literacy Secretariat, Social Development Canada and YMCA Canada. I wish I had more specifics about this particular research study. I can tell you that these findings are reflected in much of the literature I’ve read about creating successful readers.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
A cool way to get kids reading
Your child's Nintendo DS is a reading tool.
Betchya didn't know that. And maybe your child doesn't either. And just maybe you're about to be the coolest parent ever. Well, this week.
Your child loves the DS, right? Well, there's a "PICTOCHAT" function that lets two DSs talk back and forth. It's like instant messaging, and you don't need any software. After the main menu (the DS on the right), click on PICTOCHAT (see the DS on the left).
Then you enter a "chat room" - don't worry, it's private and it's not on the Internet. Then you use the stylus and the virtual keyboard to type and send messages back and forth between the two units. You can also draw pictures and send them to each other.
On your child's next playdate, imagine how excited they'll be when you show them how to send cool messages back and forth, like spies! Put one kid in one room and another down the hall, and they'll have a great time. You'll hear the giggling.
You can also stash a DS in your child's room, and send him a message when he walks in. He'll hear a little tinkling bell and wonder what the heck's going on. Send him goofy messages, or better yet, send him on a hunt to find cookies.
It's one-on-one time, on his terms. And yours.
You don't have two DSs? OK, so you can't send him messages - but you can suggest that other kids bring their DSs over. If your child's not a great reader you might not think this will work, but the "drawing" function levels the playing field. So one kid can type and the other one can draw. They're kids - they make it fun.
Betchya didn't know that. And maybe your child doesn't either. And just maybe you're about to be the coolest parent ever. Well, this week.
Your child loves the DS, right? Well, there's a "PICTOCHAT" function that lets two DSs talk back and forth. It's like instant messaging, and you don't need any software. After the main menu (the DS on the right), click on PICTOCHAT (see the DS on the left).
Then you enter a "chat room" - don't worry, it's private and it's not on the Internet. Then you use the stylus and the virtual keyboard to type and send messages back and forth between the two units. You can also draw pictures and send them to each other.
On your child's next playdate, imagine how excited they'll be when you show them how to send cool messages back and forth, like spies! Put one kid in one room and another down the hall, and they'll have a great time. You'll hear the giggling.
You can also stash a DS in your child's room, and send him a message when he walks in. He'll hear a little tinkling bell and wonder what the heck's going on. Send him goofy messages, or better yet, send him on a hunt to find cookies.
It's one-on-one time, on his terms. And yours.
You don't have two DSs? OK, so you can't send him messages - but you can suggest that other kids bring their DSs over. If your child's not a great reader you might not think this will work, but the "drawing" function levels the playing field. So one kid can type and the other one can draw. They're kids - they make it fun.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
How to get mail
Getting mail is fun.
Remember when you were little, and some mail came addressed to you? It was fantastic! And of course, when kids get mail... they read it.
Here are some ways to help your child get some mail:
*You get mail when you send mail. Help your child send a letter or even a drawing to one of her friends, relatives or neighbours. (Neighbours don't even require stamps.)
*Send him a letter yourself. Let him get it from the mailbox when it comes.
*Subscribe to a kids' magazine. He'll get mail every month.
*Encourage your child to write to an author or even a politician. OK, a celebrity then.
*Help your child join a club, like the Toronto Blue Jays Kids' Club. They send regular newsletters. And tickets.
*Put in a call to gramma or grampa. They're usually good for a letter.
*Write to Santa. He always writes back.
Actually, do you know if Santa writes back in the off-season? Me neither. I think we'll give it a try. After all, he must be getting a bit bored around now...
Remember when you were little, and some mail came addressed to you? It was fantastic! And of course, when kids get mail... they read it.
Here are some ways to help your child get some mail:
*You get mail when you send mail. Help your child send a letter or even a drawing to one of her friends, relatives or neighbours. (Neighbours don't even require stamps.)
*Send him a letter yourself. Let him get it from the mailbox when it comes.
*Subscribe to a kids' magazine. He'll get mail every month.
*Encourage your child to write to an author or even a politician. OK, a celebrity then.
*Help your child join a club, like the Toronto Blue Jays Kids' Club. They send regular newsletters. And tickets.
*Put in a call to gramma or grampa. They're usually good for a letter.
*Write to Santa. He always writes back.
Actually, do you know if Santa writes back in the off-season? Me neither. I think we'll give it a try. After all, he must be getting a bit bored around now...
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