I thought I'd try to offer up some ideas each week on things you might do at home with your child. I promise to offer ideas that are great for those times when you're waiting in line, driving in the car, or sitting at the dinner table. In addition, these activities will use only materials you already have around your house! If you have other activities (or apps...) you are using with your child, please, PLEASE leave comments and share with everyone! We all love good ideas!!
Chaining Word Game - educators often refer to this task as "chaining" but call it whatever catchy phrase hooks your child! You don't need any materials, and you can play for 30 second or twenty minutes! Start with a word your child can easily spell - it might be two letter, three letters or five letters. Say the word out loud to your child and then ask him/her to change a certain letter or sound. Keep going, making changes as you go and have your child mentally figure out the new word and then say it out loud. It might go something like this:
Mom: "Think about the word 'cap'. How many sounds do you hear?"
Student: "Three. /c/ /a/ /p/."
Mom: "Great! What word do you make if you change the last sound to /t/?"
Student: "cat!"
Mom: "Brilliant! Keep 'cat' in your head...now change the first sound to /b/. What do you have?"
Student: "bat!"
Mom: "Good job! Now change the vowel to an 'e'. What word did you make?"
Student: "bet?"
Mom: "Right again!! How about if you add a sound? How about adding an /n/ sound after the vowel? What word do you have now?"
Student: "bent!"
You can change all the sounds by telling him/her the letter to change, the place in the word ("change the first sound to...") or the sound it makes. Vowels are often times the hardest part, but the most beneficial to students who struggle with spelling. For struggling spellers, this game can be done on paper as well, allowing the child to write down the changes as they go and see the new word produced. Eventually, asking the child to do the letter manipulations mentally helps them to really process the sounds!!
This activity really helps students develop "phoneme awareness" which is a fancy way of saying they can hear all the sounds in the word and "orthography" which means they can understand how to represent each sound when writing it.
Silent Math Game - we play this while waiting in line. It's really great for when you need your child to be quiet!! You could adapt it while driving, by just saying the numbers and the functions, too. The key is to make your child do the math in his/her head!! Pick a number to start with. When playing silently, I show the number using my fingers to the class. Then I show either a plus sign or a minus sign with my fingers and another number. Students do the calculation and then keep that answer in their heads. We go through several steps, adding, subtracting, doubling, cutting in half...until after about 6 or 7 steps, I ask the kids to "show me their number". You can adjust the game to fit the ability of your child by making the math easier or harder. For those still working on math facts to ten, only use 0-9. For those that have those numbers mastered, push them up beyond 20!! For more advanced students, ask them to lead the game as this requires them to do the math and remember the facts as well!
Stay tuned next week for more at home activities!!
Chaining Word Game - educators often refer to this task as "chaining" but call it whatever catchy phrase hooks your child! You don't need any materials, and you can play for 30 second or twenty minutes! Start with a word your child can easily spell - it might be two letter, three letters or five letters. Say the word out loud to your child and then ask him/her to change a certain letter or sound. Keep going, making changes as you go and have your child mentally figure out the new word and then say it out loud. It might go something like this:
Mom: "Think about the word 'cap'. How many sounds do you hear?"
Student: "Three. /c/ /a/ /p/."
Mom: "Great! What word do you make if you change the last sound to /t/?"
Student: "cat!"
Mom: "Brilliant! Keep 'cat' in your head...now change the first sound to /b/. What do you have?"
Student: "bat!"
Mom: "Good job! Now change the vowel to an 'e'. What word did you make?"
Student: "bet?"
Mom: "Right again!! How about if you add a sound? How about adding an /n/ sound after the vowel? What word do you have now?"
Student: "bent!"
You can change all the sounds by telling him/her the letter to change, the place in the word ("change the first sound to...") or the sound it makes. Vowels are often times the hardest part, but the most beneficial to students who struggle with spelling. For struggling spellers, this game can be done on paper as well, allowing the child to write down the changes as they go and see the new word produced. Eventually, asking the child to do the letter manipulations mentally helps them to really process the sounds!!
This activity really helps students develop "phoneme awareness" which is a fancy way of saying they can hear all the sounds in the word and "orthography" which means they can understand how to represent each sound when writing it.
Silent Math Game - we play this while waiting in line. It's really great for when you need your child to be quiet!! You could adapt it while driving, by just saying the numbers and the functions, too. The key is to make your child do the math in his/her head!! Pick a number to start with. When playing silently, I show the number using my fingers to the class. Then I show either a plus sign or a minus sign with my fingers and another number. Students do the calculation and then keep that answer in their heads. We go through several steps, adding, subtracting, doubling, cutting in half...until after about 6 or 7 steps, I ask the kids to "show me their number". You can adjust the game to fit the ability of your child by making the math easier or harder. For those still working on math facts to ten, only use 0-9. For those that have those numbers mastered, push them up beyond 20!! For more advanced students, ask them to lead the game as this requires them to do the math and remember the facts as well!
Stay tuned next week for more at home activities!!
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