Rainy Day Activities
Reading at Home:
Reading at home will make a HUGE difference in your child's school success. Make reading part of your everyday routine. Choose books that match your child's interests. Reading for just 10-15 minutes a day will benefit your child.
Building a Reader:
*Have your child turn the pages
*Encourage your child to fill in rhymes as you read
*Have your child be the "reader" and read the pictures to you
*Notice and talk about the letters and sounds they make
*Help your child fall in LOVE with books
Writing at Home:
Help your child LOVE drawing and writing. Build your child's confidence and encourage him/her along the road to becoming a confident writer.
Things to Remember:
*Writing should be fun and stress free!
*Allow your child to draw and write at his/her level. Every child starts at scribbling.
*Use a variety of tools to write with to make writing fun! Such as, crayons, colored pencils and markers
Building a Writer:
*Encourage your child to write letters, draw shapes/ pictures, and various types of lines
*Help your child sound out words
*Make word cards with pictures for your child to copy (if you need any please don't hesitate to reach out to me)
*Notice beginning and ending sounds
*Clap how many syllables a word has
*Let your child see you writing in your daily life, such as, making to do lists
Math at Home:
Children develop positive feelings about math when they have fun math experiences at home with their family!
Things to Remember:
*Exploring math should be fun
*Allow your child to count, read numbers, explore shapes, create patterns, and measure at his/her own individual level
*Every child learns differently! That's what makes your child unique
*Give hints, not answers. For example, is there 3 or 4 bears. Let's count together. Ask again, is there 3 or 4 bears.
*Celebrate and praise all math discoveries!
Fun activities to try at home:
*Count as you walk, jump, skip, march or go up the steps. Do one movement for each number
*Read counting books. Notice the number and count the objects as you read.
*Make numbers and shapes with play doh!
*Sort laundry by color or clothing categories. Count the items in each pile. What has the most/ least?
*Go on a shape hunt (inside or outside)
Games that incorporate math:
Candy Land, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Trouble, Counting Cookies, Uno (my favorite), Chutes and Ladders (can be challenging for beginners), Hungry Hungry Hippos, Cootie, The Sneaky Squirrel, The Ladybug Game, Barrel of Monkeys, Jenga, and puzzles!!!
Learning about Letters at Home:
Give your child many opportunities to explore letters!
Things to Remember:
*Learning about letters should be fun!
*Hands on experiences make the most impact
*There are 26 letters (52 if you count uppercase and lowercase separately)
*Begin with the letters in your child's name (all uppercase) Go slowly, it will take time.
Fine Motor Skills at Home:
Help your child develop strength and motor control he/she needs to write and draw.
Increase control and hand strength:
*Do a variety of puzzles
*Tear paper and make a collage
*Peel and stick stickers
*Color and write with broken crayons, short colored pencils and thin markers
*Build with small legos
*String beads, noodles, cereal using pipe cleaners or yarn
*Use hole punches
*Play games using tongs to sort
Cutting at Home:
Show your child the correct way to hold the scissors, with the thumb up. Start by giving your child half inch strips of paper to cut. Gradually make the paper wider as your child's scissor skills strengthen. You can draw thick black lines on paper for your child to cut along. Make simple shapes for your child to cut too!