Phonics Bingo

Try this twist on the classic game to let kids practice associating letters with sounds. To do: Make a bingo grid of consonants on a piece of cardboard. On the grid, include all consonants, the blends sh, ch, and th, and a free space in the middle. Call out the letters by sound (eg. "tuh" for T), have your child name a word that begins with that sound, and then cover the correct letter with a small piece of cardboard. Be sure to reward successes, and don´t criticise mistakes. Your child may also enjoy practicing his letters by being the caller himself.

Hot Dog Reading Game

To make reading to your child more fun and to determine if your child is listening or following the print, occasionally say the word "hot dog" instead of the correct word. For example, Jack and Jill went up the "hot dog". Your child will pay close attention to try and catch you everytime you make a switch, and reading together will be more fun for both of you.

Letter Match

To help kids recognize upper and lower case letters, you can prepare a letter puzzle for them. Prepare 5" X 7" cardboard cards with a capital and small form of a letter on each card. Cut the letters apart, making sure that you use a different cutting pattern on each card. Mix up all the pieces, then ask your child to match the correct form of capital and small letter. If your child gets it correct, the two pieces will fit together.

Never Too Early

It´s never too early to start reading to your children. Studies show that children who were read to as infants developed reading skills earlier than their peers. They also devlop a higher comprehension level.

Facial Expressions

To help your child increase his/her vocabulary, try this fun game. Ask your child to imitate your facial expressions - happy, sad, angry, surprised, etc. and together discuss synonyms for these words. Put all the words on cards, then have your child pick a card, say its word, and try to make the appropriate facial expression.

Get Organized

Create a work schedule with your child, and encourage him to write assignments on a calendar or agenda book. If your child has an assignment that seems overwhelming - perhaps a speech or science project - help him break it down into manageable chunks and write those in the agenda.

Lead By Example

Make sure your children see you reading for pleasure at times other than just at read-aloud time. Share with them your enthusiasm for whatever you are reading, and they will start to see what fun reading really is.

Increasing Reading Interest

To help include your child in reading and increase your child´s interest in the story, try bringing your child into the story by changing the name of the main character and using your child´s name instead.

Homework Habits

To help develop a positive and successful approach to homework, try these pointers:
1) Create a quiet area with no distractions.
2) Sit down next to your child, offer support but don´t do their work for them.
3) When finished, help your child put the work in a homework folder in his backpack to prevent lost or torn work.
4) Praise your child for a job well done!!

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

We taught our 20 month old the alphabet by singing it and signing it to her all the time -- especially in the car. She now says them all the way through, and can sign a couple of the letters.

Size

To help develop your child´s sense of size, play this "Bigger than... Smaller than..." game. For example, ask your child what is bigger than a car, or what is smaller than a penny. Note: be sure to use variations on the size words you use when describing things. Try words like huge, large, tiny, little, etc.

Acknowledge Successes

Celebrate all gains, not just high marks, whether with high fives for an improved mark in spelling, or an ice cream sundae for finishing a major book report. Sometimes you may have to look for successes, but they are there. Focus on your child´s strengths.

Expect Success

In order to learn, children must believe that they can. The feedback they get from teachers is significant, but parents are the most important adults in children´s lives. Whatever you say or do about your child´s abilities as a learner affects your child´s opinion of himself.

Test Grades

Remember that even the best test is just a snapshot of your child at one particular point in time. It´s not the whole picture. Success in life is dependent on many qualities that can´t be tested, including creativity, determination, ambition and luck.

The Teacher is on Your Side

Don´t just meet your child´s teacher. Get to know her. How can you and she successfully team up to help your child have a great school year? If a problem arises, talk to the teacher right away. And be sure to keep up with what´s going on at school by reading all of the notes and newsletters that get sent home. (You may have to dig through your child´s backpack to find them!)

The Shoelace Box

To help kids master shoelace tying, decorate a shoe box to look like a shoe (kids love to do this). Punch holes in the box (three on each side) and lace with an adult shoelace. The box is larger and easier to practice on than a kid-sized shoe, and less stressful since your kids can practice at times other than when everyone is rushing out the door.

No Comparisons

Never compare a child to yourself. Telling them you did this in school or you did that just makes them feel worse about themselves. Try to praise them for what they do and don´t compare them to you.

Color of the Day

For a fun game to teach colors to young kids, try setting a timer for two minutes and then see how many items of that color you can find. When the time is up, count them together to practice counting skills too.

Geography Game

Buy a poster map of the United States that shows each state in contrasting colors (available at teaching supply stores). Place it in a central part of the house, such as the kitchen. Then choose a state each week, show it to your child on the map and tell them about that part of the country. This will be a great learning tool for the whole family (Mom and Dad too). As your child gets older, replace this map with a world map.

Encourage Reading!

Reading to your child is an undisputed important link to learning and future success in school. Ensure that you set aside time each day to read to your children, and approach it as an enjoyable activity, not a chore. Reread the same book as often as children wish, it is how they start to recognize words.

Finish the Sentence

To encourage your child´s love of reading, and include them in the story, try this activity. Read a story, stopping three or four words before the end of the page and ask your child to finish the sentence with his/her prediction as to what will happen.

Feeling and Writing

To help your child learn how to form the letters of the alphabet, cut the letters out of sandpaper and paste each one onto cardboard. Make an arrow to show where to begin forming the letter and guide your child´s finger while he or she traces the letter and names it.

Spelling Dictionary

To help young kids who are learning to spell, try creating a "dictionary" for your child. Use a spiral notebook, and designate two pages for each letter of the alphabet. Whenever your child asks you to spell something, write it on the appropriate page of the dictionary. The next time he needs that word, he can look it up in his dictionary. Not only does this reinforce spelling skills and keep frequently used words readily available, but it encourages sight-reading as well.

Texture

To refine your child´s sense of texture, put some items of different textures into a bag. Have your child reach in and find that are rough or smooth just by feel. Also try fluffy, squishy, etc.

New Words

When your child is learning to speak it´s a good idea to label items around the house. This teaches the child vocabulary, word assocition and pronunciation. Saying the words with your child and showing them the items can be a great learning expirence.

Encouraging Reading

A good vocabulary is essential for passing most standardized tests, so read to your children early and often. When they read on their own, encourage them by creating a quiet reading spot in the house and making regular library tips.

Extra Help for an Early Writer

To help young children who are learning to write, you can try using a marker with disappearing ink as their guide. You can buy these at sewing supply stores. To do this, you write the letters, and they trace over top of them. By the next day, the marker has disappeared, leaving only their writing. This is a fun way to practice the alphabet, name writing, and story writing.

Big Bed Time

To encourage kids to read and promote the love of reading, set aside some family time weekly to enjoy together on the "big bed". Grab some favorite books, blankets, pillows, etc. and meet together on Mom and Dad´s bed. Read aloud, or everyone can read their own book. It is a great way to spend time together and relax.

Color Fun

To help young kids learn their colors, try using colorful fruit snacks. Pour several packs of snacks into a bowl, and have the children sit in a circle around the bowl. Give each child a cup and as you go around the circle say a color at random as each child takes a turn finding the color and placing it in their cup. For a fun treat at the end, the kids can eat whatever they collect!

Homework Station

To help out at homework time, set up a centralized homework station stocked with paper, glue, crayons, etc. You may need to buy extra supplies, but you will no longer need to make the last minute trips to the mall or school. For older kids, you may wish to add a dictionary, thesaurus, or other items on their school list. Also, if there is more than one student in your home, you may want to make the station moveable by buying a cart on wheels.

Be Your Kids´ Tour Guide

Look for links with the school curriculum when planning family outings and vacations. Visit the art museum when your child is studying French Impressionists, or a local historic homestead when he´s learning about pioneers.

Alphabet Shopping Carts

To help your child learn the alphabet, draw pictures of large shopping carts and label each one with a letter of the alphabet. From old magazines and catalogues, the child cuts out pictures of items that begin with letters indicated and pastes them in the correct cart.

Increase Practice Time

To encourage your child to practice extra-curricular activities such as music, gymnastics, dance, etc., try occasionally videotaping the practice. Your child can watch her own practice and get new insight, plus it will give her a real boost. It also is a convenient way to share with faraway family and friends.

Phone Number Recall

Teach your kids their phone number by singing the numbers to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". The numbers fit the tune perfectly, and your kids will pick it up quite easily after hearing it several times.

Letter Recognition

To help your child recognize upper and lower case letters, print a letter in the center of a large piece of paper or cardboard. Ask your child to find letters in newspapers or magazines that are the same as the center one. Paste them around the center letter. Your child will begin to see that the same letter can look very different, depending on where and how it is printed.

Magnetized Flash Cards

Paste small magnets on the back of word flashcards and place them on the fridge to encourage kids who are learning to read. Kids can make up silly sentences and will want to learn new words to use. Use family and friends names, and funny words. The more interesting you make it, the more interested they will be in learning to read.

Money Math

Older kids will have a great time practicing their math skills with this activity. Give them a large catalog, such as Sears or JC Penney, and have them pretend they are millionaires. Allow them to "buy" everything they´d like, keeping a running total to see who can be the most extravagant.

Making Reading Fun

It´s hard to read to a child who won´t sit still. So make it fun. Dress them up as characters in the book, do voices or create projects to go with the book. i.e. a book about animals...they can draw the animals and make the sounds.

Bedtime Stories

Read bedtime stories as often as possible. Research suggests that the cadence, rhythm and tone of being read to soothe a child and help relieve anxieties.

Space Perception

To help young children develop a sense of space and position, discuss these concepts while you are at the playground. Talk about what you can climb over/under, what you go around, etc. This can turn into a game similar to Simon Says where you give your child instructions to follow. Eg) Simon says walk under the slide.

Library Returns

To lessen library book mix-ups, I always borrow the same number of children´s books at each visit. This way when it is time to return them, with a quick count I know that we have all the books.

ABC´s by Touch

Practice the alphabet in a fun and tactile way. Take shaving cream and spray it on a cookie sheet. Kids love to practice writing with their fingers and it develops fine motor skills. Another fun way is to pour Jell-O powder on a plate. Have your child lick their finger and write the letters of the alphabet on the plate. Kids love and excuse to try this!

Give Them Free Time

Don´t overload your child´s schedule so that she is rushing from piano to skating to swimming to ballet - with no time to spend an hour with friend, or just sit and read or play a game. Your child should have a balance in her life.

Silly Hoppers

Listening and then following directions in sequence is difficult to learn, but is an essential skill. To practice, ask your child to do three silly things in a row while hopping, without being reminded of what they are. For example; Hop to the fruit bowl, say hello to an orange and roll it down the hall. Then let your child make up hoppers for you to follow.

Be A Good Listener

To learn how your child is really doing in school, and her true feelings, be sure to converse with your child and do not interrogate. Instead of asking, "How was your day?", ask questions that require a detailed answer, such as "What was the best part of your day today?". Then be there to listen!

Baby Storytime

To start an early love of reading in your baby and help your infant get the most out of storytime, stick to short books with lots of pictures and point to them often. Draw her attention to bright colors or familiar objects. Babies also love looking at pictures of other babies.

Be A Model

Actively show the value of learning to your child. Do your children see you reading, writing and using numerical skills? If we want them to believe these things are important, we have to walk the walk. Make trips to the library and bookstore a regular part of your routine. Be sure to set aside time for reading and writing during the summer, too. Perhaps your child could even keep a journal of summertime experiences.

Sneaky Reading

To help reinforce reading skills in older children, sit down with them to watch their favorite TV show, but with the mute and closed captioning on. Take turns reading and playing different characters and you will have a fun reading activity to do together.

ABC Board

For an educational project that you can do with your kids, create an ABC board. Use a large poster board, label each letter and have your kids search for items to represent each letter. For example, yarn for Y, feather for F, heart for H, etc. and glue to each letter. It provides a learning experience while making it, and leaves you with something to come back to over and over again.