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 […]
Tag: learning aids
Great homework
Our son’s teacher created an awesome homework assignment. And it’s something parents could do, too. I just asked my son and his friend if they’ve finished their homework (it’s just two days into the winter break). They both said yes. Even though there was a lot of reading involved, and […]
A great "travelling" word game
Here’s another great word game. Our family recently travelled to Ottawa. Early one morning, we broke out a game we’d brought called Scrabble Apple. We really enjoyed it. What I like about it is that it’s portable, all of the pieces go back in the apple when you’re done, and […]
Great reading tool – Boggle Jr.
I e-mailed Hasbro and asked them to send me some word games and I’m really glad I did. (I have no affliation with Hasbro, by the way.) I tried Boggle Jr. with the six-year-old I’m working with, and it was really helpful. Boggle Jr. has a set of large dice […]
Teaching long and short vowel sounds
I’m going to be working with an eight-year-old to teach him long and short vowel sounds. I know him fairly well, so I know he’s into Lego, and computers and art. So I’ve come up with some activities that take advantage of those interests. I’m going to start by asking […]
Reading the signs
The other day on the subway, I noticed some ads. PizzaPizza’s ad said, simply:XL craving? and Bell’s said:More 3G coverage.Facebook anywhere.So let’s say you’re a child who’s just learning to read.XL? These examples do two things:1) They illustrate just how difficult reading can be. And tricky!2) They’re a terrific learning […]
Sequencing game (online)
My friend’s daughter needs some practice with “sequencing.” Sequencing is important for reading, because it helps you understand what comes first, what comes next, and what’s last. That goes for words, sentences and stories. A game you can make One thing you can do to practice sequencing is to take […]
New Tag books
Tag has some new books for learning short and long vowel sounds. You know I love the whole LeapFrog system. My son learned so much from it when he was little. So when I received these book kits, I was excited.What I discovered, however, is that you have to:a) Find […]
Goofy titles draw kids in
If you lie, your butt will grow. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but my son sure wants to read this book. We were at the library today. I was trying to get my son to check out some books. He was more interested in the computer game […]
Brain-training exercise
Brains – especially young brains – benefit from exercise. Here’s an exercise that Bernadette Tynen (the brain researcher) does with her students. She says that if you do it with your child once a week, it will help to make his thinking more flexible and creative. She gives the child […]