Learning Activities To Use At Home
LETTER SCRAMBLE
-Using letter flashcards, place all cards (captital and lowercase) face down on the table.
-Mix them up.
-Have your child draw one card at a time and tell you the letter name and sound.
-If they know it, they keep the card. If they don't, tell them what it is then mix it back in to be drawn again.
LETTER SOUNDS
-Using letter flashcards, hold the cards in your hand so your child cannot see them.
-Say, "I'm going to make a sound. I want you to listen closely and tell me what letter makes this sound."
-If they know it, they keep the card. If they don't, tell them what it is then mix it back in to be drawn again.
PHYSICAL CLUES FOR LEARNING VOWELS
-A: Make a face like you tasted something gross while making the short a sound (as in the word cat)
-E: Put your hand behind your ear and ask, "Eh?", like you didn't hear something that was said.
-I: Pinch your nose and make "stinky" face while making the short i sound (as in the word pin).
-O: Open mouth wide and say "Ahhhh" like your would at the doctor's office.
-U: Tap chin and look confused while saying, "Uhhh". Or "U" has a belly ache..."uhhhh"
BINGO
-BINGO is a great tool that is fun and can be very educational. On a blank
3x3 or 4x4 grid, make BINGO boards for all sorts of skills including: letters,
sounds, sight words, colors, shapes, addition or subtraction problems, days
of the week, months of the year, word family words, etc. Once the BINGO
boards and caller's cards are made, you can play the game, offering small
prizes for winning if you choose to or just do it for fun because they seem to love it.
LISTENING SKILLS
-After watching a TV program or a movie, ask your child to tell you what
happened. These discussions will develop your child's ability to listen carefully and speak fluently.
NUMBERS ALL AROUND
-When riding in a car or walking through store, ask your child to look for
numbers on signs. Focus on numbers less than or equal to 30. Ask your child
to say the numbers and perhaps write it in a tablet. You might ask how the number is used.
COUNTING
-Look for various situations at home, outdoors, or in a store to help your
child practice counting.. Ask him or her to count the number of
toys on a shelf or ask how many spoons are on the table.
SKIP COUNTING
Here are some tips to help you help your child with skip counting (number
patterns).
For counting by 5's: help them notice the pattern that the numbers we say when
we count by 5's is like an AB pattern (ends with 5, ends with 0, ends with 5,
ends with 0, etc.)
For counting by 2's: Sometimes we have to do ridiculous things for the good of
the kids, right? Although you may feel ridiculous (just as I do), I have a
cheer to help the kids remember that all of the numbers we say when we count
by 2's end with 2,4,6,8, or 0. It goes: 2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate?
Zero, zero, yeah zero!!
Here is a song you can use as well. I do not recommend using the entire song
at first. Instead break it up into 3 sections: counting by 2's, counting by
5's, counting by 10's.
Skip Counting
(sung to the tune of "99 bottles")
Two numbers we skip at a time,
Two numbers we skip,
Yes, we can count a large amount
When two numbers we skip at a time.
2, 4, 6, 8,
10, 12, and more!
14, 16, 18, 20,
Two numbers we skip at a time!
-------------------------------------------------
Five numbers we skip at a time,
Five numbers we skip,
Yes, we can count a large amount
When five numbers we skip at a time.
5, 10, 15, 20,
25, 30, and more!
35, 40, 45, 50,
Five numbers we skip at a time!
------------------------------------------------
Ten numbers we skip at a time,
Ten numbers we skip,
Yes, we can count a large amount
When ten numbers we skip at a time.
10, 20, 30, 40,
50, 60, and more!
70, 80, 90, 100,
Ten numbers we skip at a time!
MONEY
-Set up a mini store at home with any items you find around the house (ex.
pencils, small toys, wrapped snack foods, etc.). Put a price tag on each
item between $.01 and $.10. Use the cents symbol when you write the price
tags because we have not learned the dollar sign yet. Next to the store,
place a container of pennies, nickels, and dimes. Your child can buy one item
to start. As he/she gets better at counting out money, he/she can start
buying 2-3 items at a time. That way, he/she will get adding practice as well
as practice with money.
ADDING
-Give your child 2 dice. Have him/her roll one and write down the number
shown. Then he/she will roll the other and write down that number shown.
Then he/she can put the addition sign in between the numbers, the equal sign
after the second number, and add the numbers together.
SHAPES SEARCH
-Help your child identify four basic geometric shapes-square, circle,
rectangle, triangle. Ask your child to find something in the kitchen that
looks like a circle or a rectangle. You might also ask your child to identify shapes
in a storybook or magazine.
-Do the same activity as above but using 3-D shapes: cone, cube, cylinder, sphere.
FINE MOTOR SKILLS
-Have your child form letters and shapes out of playdough (clay is even more
effective). Your child can also make objects out of the playdough that begin
with our letter of the week. It will help strengthen hands and reinforce letter sounds.
-Have your child make pictures and designs out of the circles punched out of
paper with a holepuncher. Your child can strengthen hands with a creative twist.
-Purchase weaving activities in the educational section at a discount store
(i.e. Walmart, Target, etc.) or at a craft store, or simply make a weaving
mat out of construction paper and strips of construction paper. Weaving is said to help improve reading.