I made this comic myself – and it was fun. Imagine how much your child will enjoy creating their own story lines.And afterwards, they can print them out and put them in a binder, or e-mail them to their friends. Making comics not only ensures that your child will be […]
Tag: one-hour ideas
Kids’ writing contest (note: Americans only)
Here’s a little gift for our friends to the south. Unfortunately, only Americans can enter this contest. (I’ve got an e-mail in to one of the contest judges to ask why-oh-why they’ve limited it. But I digress.) It’s such a great-looking contest, that I want to point it out to […]
Internet word game
Once again, I’m going to help you be a cool parent. You want your kid to read. Your kid wants to play computer games. Allow me to introduce: Blocks With Letters On and More Blocks with Letters On. The website promises, “64 levels of mind-numbing word action.” Mind-numbing – well, […]
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Robin Hood didn’t turn out so well. Too many thees and thous. It was all, “Robin thou doest” this, and “thou hast not” that. Too much for a seven-year-old, no matter how many bloodthirsty deeds there are. We got two chapters in and had to stop. In desperation, I went […]
Trampoline – for your brain
Want to create a smart reader? Get your child on a trampoline. According to brain researcher Bernadette Tynan, trampolines are so good for the brain, “even NASA astronauts use it to boost their brain power.” Trampolines improve your meta-cognative ability – your ability to “think about thinking.” That’s because on […]
One-Page Wonders
A fun, one-page book your child will want to read. Here is an awesome, one-page book you make. There are three simple steps: 1) Download the .pdf of instructions. 2) Download and print the .pdf of the book (colour). 3) Fold the book according to the instructions. OK, a fourth […]
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. […]
A brilliant TV series
Make your child brilliant. One of the inspirations for this blog was a TVO series called Make your child brilliant, which I saw last year. It’s airing again on TVO starting on Sunday, May 24, at 8 p.m. It’s a documentary featuring a woman in the UK, Bernadette Tynan, who […]
Cool games on the Internet
Here are some funky literacy games even your child will agree are pretty cool. I stumbled across this site, and I love it. It’s easy to navigate, fast loading, has great graphics and the games are fun. And it’s by the BBC, so you know your kids will also learn […]
"Project Bookmark" in Toronto
And to think, I was going to stop following Mayor Miller’s tweets. I’m glad I didn’t, because today he was tweeting about an amazing enterprise called Project Bookmark Canada. The project takes advantage of the incredible array of books set in Canadian locations. As the Project Bookmark website says, “when […]
