Tuesday, November 20, 2007
9 Ways to Integrate Reading into Everyday Life...
We've heard the talk about school readiness and how important reading and language skills are. But other than reading to children (which is vital), what can you do to integrate reading skills into everyday activities?
Here are nine ways to build a fun, language-rich atmosphere at home with these great tips and activities you can do in minutes.
We've heard the talk about school readiness and how important reading and language skills are. But other than reading to children (which is vital), what can you do to integrate reading skills into everyday activities?
Here are nine ways to build a fun, language-rich atmosphere at home with these great tips and activities you can do in minutes.
- Word Collages
Cut up magazines and catalogs with your child and have him make a collage that uses the words on the page. Encourage him to use words in creative ways — make a cloud out of words like "fluffy" or put word "thoughts" into a person's head. - Greeting Card Creator
Encourage your child to make her own birthday, holiday, thank-you, and "just because" cards to give to friends and family. Challenge her to come up with her own "brand" and funny messages. - Make a Word Ladder
When you're in the car, play this game: start with a small word (like "to") and challenge your child to make new ones by adding one letter at a time. So add an "n" to "to" and it becomes "ton." "Ton" plus an "e" equals "tone"; add an "s" and it becomes stone! - Letter Search
Take a page from a magazine or newspaper and ask your child to circle every occurrence of a letter. To make it more challenging, tell him to circle only lowercase or uppercase. - A Very Local Weather Report
Instead of watching the weather yourself, have your child watch the weather and present her report to you. She'll develop weather-related vocabulary and build skills in reading symbols and numbers. - Secret Word
Every day, teach your child a new word and then if he reads or hears that word all day, he gets a "prize." If you're not around when he hears it, encourage him to "prove" he heard it by retelling you the sentence — which reinforces the word's meaning in context. If daily secret words seem too much, make it a weekly event. - Lots of Lists
Encourage your child to write down lists, from "to do" lists to things she's done. She can even create a journal entirely made of lists — favorite songs, foods, words, people, and places. - What's Cooking?
Having your child help read recipes and measure ingredients while you're preparing a meal is a great way to build measurement and food vocabulary. It also helps him learn how to read and follow directions. - Make Up a New Song
Build your child's sense of rhythm and encourage creativity through language by coming up with new lyrics for a familiar song, such as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or "Jingle Bells."
These are just a few ideas. I'm sure that you can think of more ideas that are just as fun.
// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 7:27 PM 
