Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Educational Snacking
CHEEZ-IT crackers have come out with a Scrabble-Junior make of their tasty baked snack. This combines two of our favorite things in this household: CHEEZ-Its, and the alphabet! Wow, we are having fun writing and spelling all sorts of fun stuff with cheesy, edible letters. Our spelling hour just got a whole lot tastier.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Adventures with The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat has always held an affectionate place in my heart. It is the book I learned to read with when I was 4 years old. Having my kids enjoy it as well makes my heart smile. Don't you just love those moments where you can sense the passage of time in a moment?
I did a brief Cat in the Hat class at our homeschool co-op last trimester during a pre-hour, where we read the book every week and practiced our phonograms and rhyming words. We used different rhyming words each week from the book and the kids wrote the word families (AT, CAT, HAT, THAT, SAT, etc.) down on index cards to take home. Here's a helpful link I came across (after the class, go figure, but still a useful resource!) Cat in the Hat mini lesson. And of course there's the new pbs show, "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!"
To quote the cat himself, "It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how!"
I did a brief Cat in the Hat class at our homeschool co-op last trimester during a pre-hour, where we read the book every week and practiced our phonograms and rhyming words. We used different rhyming words each week from the book and the kids wrote the word families (AT, CAT, HAT, THAT, SAT, etc.) down on index cards to take home. Here's a helpful link I came across (after the class, go figure, but still a useful resource!) Cat in the Hat mini lesson. And of course there's the new pbs show, "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!"
To quote the cat himself, "It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how!"
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Writing, writing, writing, right?
Ah, writing. A love after my own heart, and, like reading, I strongly believe it's a love your children will naturally pick up on when they see you engaging in it. We don't need studies conducted to know that children observe what their parents value and spend time on and follow suit.
Whether it's making grocery lists, To-do lists, writing to a friend, writing a story, or just writing for the fun of it, let your kids see you writing (not typing) on a regular basis. If you force it or "make" it a lesson it may not be as fun (unless your child loves to play school) but incorporate writing into your daily life, and they are sure to follow the interest.
My kindergartner already knows how to write all her letters and can spell some words independently and for the rest she asks me how to spell the words she wants to write as she goes. People ask me "how" she is advanced, but it's nothing I've done, she naturally excells in this area because she thoroughly enjoys spending her time writing. Every day she is writing letters to friends, making grocery lists and making up stories. A lot of time with the stories she dictates them to me and I write them, but this too, stimulates her love for creating stories, writing and reading! Often she'll draw the pictures and have me write the story she makes up underneath it. Then when dad gets home from work, he reads the story to her before bed, delighting her in the fact that the story she made up really can be read, letters make words, etc. When a third person who wasn't present for her telling it can know what it says... the magic of the written word is an adventure that, if lovingly encouraged, will hopefully never leave your children.
Here are a few more tips I can offer in the way of encouraging, depending on the age of your kids.
Find them a pen-pal or two, or three... kids love getting and sending mail, and you can teach how to address an envelope and stamp it while you're at it. This also begins opportunity to teach them grammar and how to properly start and end a letter. You can even decorate a special box for them to keep their stationary, stickers and letter/card creating supplies in. A fabulous plus to this is, it also helps them foster and grow in their friendships with others.
Don't be worried about size and capital or lowercase to start. Give them a chance to explore and gain confidence. Penmenship develops more and more with practice.
Give them LOTS of time to free draw, free write and create without you hovering. Unless you're making thank you notes, simply wait until they ask you for help on spelling what it is they are writing.
Use writing time combined with reading and penmenship practice. Index cards are excellent because it's fun for kids and they can create their own vocab flashcards. I usually write the word first on an index card and let her copy it on her own on as many cards as she needs to practice with.
There are literally countless workbooks out there for both handwriting practice and story creation, writing skills, etc.
At the Dollarstore, we found a great dry-erase board with a manuscript book on top which is great because it gives practice for writing upper and lower case letters without using up paper and it can travel well in the car. My daughter loves it and even my toddler likes to practice doodling with it, and doodles, as we all know, is where it all begins!
Give plenty of notebooks of all shapes and sizes, and encourage older kids to start a journal they can write and draw in, give them fun things to decorate it with to make it their own. Take what they already love, like nature or playing spies, and find a way to incorporate writing into it, such as keeping a nature journal or writing out their top secret spy plans and making lists of new equipment they'll need on a mission.
This Christmas we have an electronic phonics game we're giving our daughter that lets her practice writing upper and lower case with a pen on a screen pad, like a portable video game with different game modes on it, which I know she'll love... on sale it was $10.
If it's story-writing you want help in, don't be afraid to get them started if they need help. Try cutting out a few pictures from different coloring books or magazines and asking them questions about what they think the characters may be doing, or how they might meet. Then start jotting down what they tell you and show them how creating their own stories can be silly, adventurous, exciting and fun! During this process you'll also be teaching them the importance of story elements, such as characters, sequence, conflict, climax, and end. Let them create their own heroes or take their favorite heroes on new adventures! The possibilities are endless. Have fun!
Whether it's making grocery lists, To-do lists, writing to a friend, writing a story, or just writing for the fun of it, let your kids see you writing (not typing) on a regular basis. If you force it or "make" it a lesson it may not be as fun (unless your child loves to play school) but incorporate writing into your daily life, and they are sure to follow the interest.
My kindergartner already knows how to write all her letters and can spell some words independently and for the rest she asks me how to spell the words she wants to write as she goes. People ask me "how" she is advanced, but it's nothing I've done, she naturally excells in this area because she thoroughly enjoys spending her time writing. Every day she is writing letters to friends, making grocery lists and making up stories. A lot of time with the stories she dictates them to me and I write them, but this too, stimulates her love for creating stories, writing and reading! Often she'll draw the pictures and have me write the story she makes up underneath it. Then when dad gets home from work, he reads the story to her before bed, delighting her in the fact that the story she made up really can be read, letters make words, etc. When a third person who wasn't present for her telling it can know what it says... the magic of the written word is an adventure that, if lovingly encouraged, will hopefully never leave your children.
Here are a few more tips I can offer in the way of encouraging, depending on the age of your kids.
Find them a pen-pal or two, or three... kids love getting and sending mail, and you can teach how to address an envelope and stamp it while you're at it. This also begins opportunity to teach them grammar and how to properly start and end a letter. You can even decorate a special box for them to keep their stationary, stickers and letter/card creating supplies in. A fabulous plus to this is, it also helps them foster and grow in their friendships with others.
Don't be worried about size and capital or lowercase to start. Give them a chance to explore and gain confidence. Penmenship develops more and more with practice.
Give them LOTS of time to free draw, free write and create without you hovering. Unless you're making thank you notes, simply wait until they ask you for help on spelling what it is they are writing.
Use writing time combined with reading and penmenship practice. Index cards are excellent because it's fun for kids and they can create their own vocab flashcards. I usually write the word first on an index card and let her copy it on her own on as many cards as she needs to practice with.
There are literally countless workbooks out there for both handwriting practice and story creation, writing skills, etc.
At the Dollarstore, we found a great dry-erase board with a manuscript book on top which is great because it gives practice for writing upper and lower case letters without using up paper and it can travel well in the car. My daughter loves it and even my toddler likes to practice doodling with it, and doodles, as we all know, is where it all begins!
Give plenty of notebooks of all shapes and sizes, and encourage older kids to start a journal they can write and draw in, give them fun things to decorate it with to make it their own. Take what they already love, like nature or playing spies, and find a way to incorporate writing into it, such as keeping a nature journal or writing out their top secret spy plans and making lists of new equipment they'll need on a mission.
This Christmas we have an electronic phonics game we're giving our daughter that lets her practice writing upper and lower case with a pen on a screen pad, like a portable video game with different game modes on it, which I know she'll love... on sale it was $10.
If it's story-writing you want help in, don't be afraid to get them started if they need help. Try cutting out a few pictures from different coloring books or magazines and asking them questions about what they think the characters may be doing, or how they might meet. Then start jotting down what they tell you and show them how creating their own stories can be silly, adventurous, exciting and fun! During this process you'll also be teaching them the importance of story elements, such as characters, sequence, conflict, climax, and end. Let them create their own heroes or take their favorite heroes on new adventures! The possibilities are endless. Have fun!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Learning to Read
Melted Homeschool-Mom Heart Moment #840: My kindergartner was recently recognizing and reading some words on her own with no help from pictures. When I congratulated her, she denied she was actually reading and said, almost in confession, "Mom, I wasn't reading, it's just, the letters helped me know what it said."
It really is moments like that which make passing up the temptation of the big yellow school bus completely worthwhile.
There are loads of Phonics programs out there, it's hard picking just one. No child is the same and you may want to try a few different things to see what your child likes the best. I figure mixing programs gives the benefits of learning from different angles while you find what works. We've tried out a few different programs and so far my daughter is enjoying the variety of several avenues. She really enjoys learning to read and write, she knows all her letter sounds, can write very well and is already reading some on her own. It comes naturally to her. Making grocery lists, asking me to how to spell words and writing letters to her friends are daily activities. We've worked some with the Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten program and with the highly-popular "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book by Siegfried Engelmann, but currently she prefers the Scholastic Phonics Reading Program and the Starfall website, which is an AWESOME free phonics site for kids.
It really is moments like that which make passing up the temptation of the big yellow school bus completely worthwhile.
There are loads of Phonics programs out there, it's hard picking just one. No child is the same and you may want to try a few different things to see what your child likes the best. I figure mixing programs gives the benefits of learning from different angles while you find what works. We've tried out a few different programs and so far my daughter is enjoying the variety of several avenues. She really enjoys learning to read and write, she knows all her letter sounds, can write very well and is already reading some on her own. It comes naturally to her. Making grocery lists, asking me to how to spell words and writing letters to her friends are daily activities. We've worked some with the Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten program and with the highly-popular "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book by Siegfried Engelmann, but currently she prefers the Scholastic Phonics Reading Program and the Starfall website, which is an AWESOME free phonics site for kids.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
BOOK-IT!
I remember participating in Book-It! in elementary school. You read so many books, or for so many minutes, whatever your reading goals are for the month, and you earn coupons for free pizza from Pizza-Hut.
I think it is so cool that the Book-It program is free for homeschool families to utilize as well. After registering, you select monthly reading goals for your kids (kindergarten can be read-to/read-aloud) and can redeem coupons for a 1-topping personal pan pizza.
Technically they ask the coupons not be redeemed as a group for pizza parties because of the large quantities, but one of the moms in our homeschool group called our local Pizza Hut and asked if they minded us doing a pizza party with them and they had no problem with it.
In public school, I remember us having reading time in school then getting a coupon to use later at home. It makes so much more sense to me to do the reading time at home, then celebrate the pizza reward together as a group for social time.
Find out more about Book-It!
I think it is so cool that the Book-It program is free for homeschool families to utilize as well. After registering, you select monthly reading goals for your kids (kindergarten can be read-to/read-aloud) and can redeem coupons for a 1-topping personal pan pizza.
Technically they ask the coupons not be redeemed as a group for pizza parties because of the large quantities, but one of the moms in our homeschool group called our local Pizza Hut and asked if they minded us doing a pizza party with them and they had no problem with it.
In public school, I remember us having reading time in school then getting a coupon to use later at home. It makes so much more sense to me to do the reading time at home, then celebrate the pizza reward together as a group for social time.
Find out more about Book-It!
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