Learning to read and write is a complex process that requires many different skills. Although it is complex, it can be a joyful and empowering experience for children…
Mastering the letter sounds and how to sound out words are important aspects of learning how to read. Yet, there are certain words that just don’t “play fair.” These “unfair” words are not intuitively phonetic, which makes them very difficult to read and write. For these tricky words it is best for children to simply “memorize” them visually so that they can begin to automatically and successfully read and write them. Many of these words are frequently used in reading and writing, so it is helpful to give children a nice repertoire of words that they have mastered.
One simple way to achieve this is by playing sight word bingo. This game is appropriate for children who have already mastered all of the letter sounds and are starting to read simple words.
Print out two copies of the game board, so that you can cut up the words of one and use them to pick out of a box or a bag.
For younger readers you can pick a word, read it out loud, and then give it to them so that she can visually match the word to their board.
For more advanced readers, pick a word and read it out loud. Do not give them the word, instead encourage them to match it through your auditory dictation.
If I had to pick a theme to describe the phase of learning my girls are in, it would definitely be “imaginative play!” As young children, they naturally approach the world in a playful way and it’s very rewarding to see them learn new things through the act of play. I used to downplay the importance of imaginative play as a learning tool, but have come to realize how powerful it can be for children of all ages. It seems to be a vehicle for them to learn about a variety of subjects in a very natural way.
I don’t always direct the dramatic play in our home, but a few times a week I like to create a few open ended projects that I can leave out for the girls to discover. It’s always fun, and sometimes surprising, to see how they approach something I set out for them to play with. I love giving them projects that have no expected outcome and allow them to play with the tools and materials however they want.
Lately my girls have shown an interest in toy cars/trucks and I wanted to give them a place to explore and express their new found fascination. I spontaneously made one of these play mats one day using things I had on hand a few months ago. It was so well loved that it had to be thrown out and replaced with the one you see here! Do you have a child who would like to build their own city? Here’s what you need:
For the play mat: White foam core, Japanese masking tape (now sold at Target for $5!), scissors, and a black sharpie. For the city building blocks: unfinished wood blocks (found at craft stores), acrylic paint, and a paint brush. You can also use regular building blocks that you already own.
To make the mat: Use two pieces of tape about an inch apart to make a road. Place roads all over your board, connecting them in various ways as they would be in a real city. Leave open spaces around the board for buildings. The tape looks best when it’s cut off the roll, rather than torn. This step would be fun for older kids who want to help with the “city planning!” Once you’re satisfied with the placement of the roads, draw a dashed line down the center of each road and add any other embellishments you’d like.
To make the city building blocks: Paint two coats of acrylic paint on each block using your paintbrush. It worked best for me to finish three sides of a block at a time and allow to dry before flipping over and finishing the other three sides. Allow to dry completely before using. My kids are old enough to not place things like blocks in their mouths, but if you have a younger baby you may want to leave the blocks unfinished or use some blocks in your existing collection of toys!
I like to set out the mat with a bowl containing the blocks and a bowl of cars. It’s fun to see what your kids will build! My daughter loves to sort colors, so she is naturally drawn to the colored blocks. Some small animals and figurines often find themselves in the mix of this game too!
My four year old daughter recently completed her first year of preschool and she loves to write. She’s still working on getting the formation of her letters and loves to practice. Her favorite thing to do is trace letters. She’s constantly asking me to write the alphabet so she can trace over it. While I love seeing her write, I was getting a little tired of writing letters all day long!
This led me to the idea of a chalkboard writing set that she could use over and over. It was a little time consuming to make, but very simple and worth the effort! Each wooden circle has an uppercase letter of the alphabet on one side and the corresponding lowercase letter on the other. The letters are painted with chalkboard paint, so they can be easily erased with a paper towel and used continuously.
Would you like to make a set of your own? Here’s what you need:
26 3″ wooden discs (mine were $0.19 each at the local craft store)
Stencil letters on to wooden discs with pencil, uppercase on one side, lowercase on the other.
Paint! This is the part that takes a while. You will need at least two coats of chalkboard paint to get the coverage you need (I did 3). The instructions on my paint bottle said to wait an hour between coats, but my coats dried fairly quickly on the unfinished wood surface. If you don’t enjoy painting or have an unsteady hand, you could also try working with chalkboard contact paper. I haven’t tried it, but you could stencil your letters on to the paper, cut out, and stick on for a similar effect.
Let the paint cure for 24 hours and then “season” it by rubbing white chalk lightly on the surface of the letters.
I made a small bag to keep our letters in, but a plastic bag would work great too! Make sure to include a piece of chalk, a paper towel, and a letter chart with your set, and you’re ready to trace!
One of our favorite books isAll the Colors We Are: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color by Katie Kissinger. It explains, in very simple terms, how our ancestors, the sun, and melanin determine our skin color. All the Colors We Are takes us into a world where we celebrate the many shades of our skin and help children build a positive self-identity. At the end of the book, there are even a few activity ideas including one on identifying your own shade of skin and mixing paint to create a self-portrait.
1. Start out by talking about self-portraits. Give your child a mirror and ask her to look carefully at her eyes, nose, and lips as well as the shape of her face, paying particular attention to the lines and details that she sees. Another helpful resource to use here is Mobility of Expression, which is a portfolio of self-portraits done by children in theschools of Reggio Emilia.
2. Using a thin Sharpie marker, encourage your child to create a black line drawing of her face. Keep those mirrors handy so she can look back and forth between herself and her drawing!
3. Next, begin the task of mixing paints to match the color of her skin. You can follow the suggestion in the book by combining brown, black, white, and/or red to get a shade of brown that matches your skin. But if you want to try and make brown from scratch, we found this recipe on the Internet and have had great success with it. Be sure to spend time talking about how no one is really black, brown, white, or red. Rather, we are all different shades of brown!
By the way, this is also a great lesson in color theory because this part of the project is a color-mixing extravaganza! We love doing this activity, because children get to create a self-portrait that includes their own special color that they’ve mixed all by themselves. And they’ll soon find out their special color won’t be the same as anyone else’s color.
4. Finish up the activity by naming that special color! At the end of All the Colors We Are, you will find a beautiful list of creative words to describe the color of our skin, and of course we encourage children to come up with their own unique color name. We love that by naming their own color, children are empowered to describe themselves in whatever way they choose!
Learning to read and write is a complex process that requires many different skills. Although it is complex, it can be a joyful and empowering experience for children…
