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 […]
Tips
GKR on Rogers Cable TV
Getting Kids Reading‘s first television interview! I was invited to do a brief segment on Rogers Daytime (Peel Region), yesterday, with hosts Travis Dhanraj and Deja Gordon. It was very exciting – and nerve wracking, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spread the word about Getting Kids Reading. […]
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 […]
Toys for the CHUM Christmas Wish
I had some unopened toys that companies had sent me to review. Some of them weren’t literacy-based, so I hadn’t opened them. And others didn’t need to be opened in order to review them. Anyway, I had quite a stash, so I brought them over to the CHUM Christmas Wish. […]
Make a book for Christmas
This is a great time to make your child a book for Christmas or Hannukah.Children of all ages are motivated to read a book about their favourite subject – themselves. Here’s how*Buy a small scrapbook with stiff pages. (Craft stores have them. You can also use a photo album.) *Select […]
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 […]
Getting boys reading – start in the middle
Start from the middle.This was Leonard Sax’s counter-intuitive (and possibly brilliant) suggestion to English teachers who want boys to enjoy great literature. Boys’ and girls’ brains process information differently. Girls process emotional information throughout their cerebral cortex, where language and analysis are also processed. Boys, however, process emotional information in […]
Hallowe’en literacy
Some ideas for working literacy into your Hallowe’en festivities. * Spell Hallowe’en. Talk about why it has an apostrophe (All Hallow’s Evening). It’s also interesting to note that many people no longer use the apostrophe and that’s OK too. Kids are often surprised to learn that spelling evolves. * Sort […]
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 […]
