My son loves idioms. When he was in junior kindergarten, a wonderful school librarian took him under her wing to give him some learning extensions. She taught him about idioms – phrases that can’t be taken literally, like “break a leg” or “you run like a cheetah.” He had great […]
Writing
PICTOCHAT Hide and Seek
My son and his friend invented a new game. And it just happens to have a literacy component. Even better, it uses the Nintendo DS (Gameboy), so for kids who are really into video games, this can be a good alternative. The game: PICTOCHAT Hide-and-Seek Each child takes his DS […]
Thank-you cards
A great literacy activity. Your kids have probably just received a bunch of gifts, and I’m betting that at least some of the senders weren’t in the room when they were opened. So that means thank-you cards. They’re not optional. In our house if you don’t want to write a […]
Great learn-to-type website
Get your child typing! Kids get frustrated because they can think up story ideas faster than they can write them. Unfortunately, they may give up on writing stories, or end up writing one- or two-line stories because their hands get sore or tired. The principal at our school had a […]
Writing in the park
Reading and writing aren’t necessarily indoor activities.Facing a blank page is daunting, even for professional writers. The next time your child has to write a story for school, start by taking them outside. Before you start, remind your child that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. […]
Explain the exclamation mark!
This activity will boost your child’s reading in five seconds. One of the most exciting things about reading is the exclamation mark. The other day, I was reading a book to a couple of kids in a kindergarten class. When I got to a sentence with an exclamation mark, I […]
Getting your kid to write an essay
The key is to make it relevant to your child. I spoke with a mom recently who said that her son has to write an essay and isn’t motivated because he doesn’t like the topic. She wondered how to make the project more interesting so he’d want to do the […]
