Ideas for Home

The following are a few ideas for extending or reinforcing learning at home. This will be a short list and I will add more at a later date. I don't want to overwhelm anyone :)

1. Of course, READ READ READ with your child!
        A. Your child is now bringing books home with them to read. After they read them to you, if they aren't smooth, help them in their weak areas and encourage them to reread again and again until they can read it as smooth as a sports car. (The opposite would be a jungle jeep that bounces around at every word!)
          B. Talk to your child about the books they are reading or that you read with them. They can retell the events to you just as the story happened. Make sure they remember character names and keep the events in order. Can they tell you the problem? the solution? How did the characters feel? Did anyone learn a lesson?
         C. Try checking out books on cd from the public library! This is a great way for your child to hear a great reader read to them. The key is making sure they have the book in front of them when they read. Just hearing a good story won't improve their reading. It should be expected that they follow along in the book.

2. Word Winner Challenge with the Vocabulary- When I introduce new vocabulary, I will put it in the newsletter. Make a tally chart at home for how many times your family sees or uses the words in conversation. The word with the most tally marks wins!! For even more fun, everyone in the family can guess from the beginning which word they think will win. If their word wins, they win!!

3. BOOM! Sight Word Game- We've started a fun and quick sight word review game. Just write the sight words on index cards with a small handful of cards with BOOM! written on them mixed into the stack. Flip through the cards, having your child read them as  you go. They pay close attention, because as soon as BOOM! comes up they get to shout it out! BOOOOOOOM!!  It is fun and they love it!  The following are some of the words we are reviewing from kindergarten and introducing this first nine-weeks of school:

I	on
see	jump
my	not
like	too
a	we
to	find
and	one
go	who
is	five
here	four
for	in
have	once
said	three
the	two
play	upon
she	what
are	do
he	me
	you
	away
	does
	he
	live
	pull
	they
	where
	cold
	fall
	flower

Have fun!