Teachers are always encouraging parents to reinforce skills at home. This may sound like a scary task, one which you don’t have the time for, but it can actually be very simple. Just remember this short phrase, “Turn it into a game.”
There is a favorite clean up game among teachers called “Find the Magic Trash.” They send the kids around the room looking for that magical piece that they are thinking of. Students scurry around asking, “Is this it?” “Is this it?” Usually, the answer is, “No, that’s not it. Keep looking.” As you might have guessed, the “magic” piece is rarely discovered until the room has been cleaned up. It is simply a fun way to get students to clean up in a way that their wonderful little minds enjoy. You wouldn’t believe how much they love it. (And of course it can’t be used too often or the novelty wears off.)
So, what does this mean for you as the parent of a toddler? Make a list of the things you’d like to be practicing with your child. Letters, numbers, colors, sight words, manners, your house number, etc. Then simply find ways to make learning and practicing fun, with it easily fitting into your average day. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Letter Hunt. Whether you’re out and about or at home, you can send your children on a letter hunt. “Let’s see who can find the letter G first!” You can make it a race and make your way around all the objects in your house or have your children watching out the window on the way to the store. I remember a day when my son and I were in a parking lot and he just kept saying, “Blue A! Blue A!” It was the A on the Rite Aid sign. We weren’t even playing Letter Hunt. ☺ And of course, you could easily turn this into a number or color hunt too.
Is It? One of you is the thinker and the other is the guesser. Think of a number, a color, a letter, a house number . . . and let the other person try to guess. “Is it an X? “ “Is it the number 11?” This may sound like too simple of a game to be fun, but the act of figuring out a mystery is fascinating to children. You may just need to gauge the amount of time you can keep their attention, and help them get to the answers a bit faster if you see them losing interest.
Draw It. It doesn’t have to be a fancy game of Pictionary, but you can use the same idea to reinforce skills. You draw the letters and see how many your child can guess in a minute. If your child is ready for sight words, give that a try. If your child is learning a little bit of another language, try drawing an object and have him or her answer it in the new language.
