Do you take the time to teach your kids how to read signs?

My son learned at a young age how to read the speed limit signs.  Needless to say, I now have my own personal speedometer in my backseat.  He is very quick to tell me when I am over the speed limit.

Recently I have started to teach my three year old how to read the restroom sign.  So when we get to the restrooms I have her look at both doors and tell me which one is for women.  I have started with the picture signs.  She now knows that she needs to go into the one with the skirt and her brother needs to go into the one wearing pants.

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Have you tried the learning activities on the Scholastic site?

I am a big fan of Scholastic (no I am not paid to say this).  From school book orders to amazing warehouse sales, they have me hooked.  And now I have found great interactive activities on their website.  I am sure that these activities have been there for a while.  I use the word “now” since I recently stumbled upon them.

I found an activity in which children can write their own book review.  I thought this was great!  Not only can parents teach their children how to write a review, but then children have the honor of seeing their work published online.  Here is the link for the book review activity:   Reading Reviews

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Is your child creative?  Artistically?  With words?

The other day my son came up to me and said, “Why can’t I be creative like my sister?”  My response, “What do you mean?”  He said, “She can make up stories with her stuffed animals and dolls.  She has a new story every time she plays.  I can’t do that.”

He was right.  My daughter can play for hours making up stories and acting them out.  My son is more black and white.  He likes facts and numbers.  Having to create things on his own makes him uneasy.  So I have had to think of ways to help him bring out his creative side.

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Do your children know the nursery rhyme, Three Blind Mice or The Three Little Kittens?

I can remember as a child reading from the Mother Goose book and repeating nursery rhymes with my mother.  Now as a mother I find myself reading to my children but questioning some of the classic rhymes.  For example, why does she cut off the tails of the mice with a carving knife?  Is this really appropriate for children?

In any case I know that nursery rhymes are a good learning tool.  They help increase a child’s vocabulary, develop sight words through repetition and expose children to rhyming.  For more educational benefits of nursery rhymes, check out the following article:  How Nursery Rhymes Encourage Proper Brain Development

Idea of the Day:

Take the time to read or do activities that involve nursery rhymes.

- Check out a Mother Goose book from the library.

- Visit this site of nursery rhymes: Nursery Rhymes Online

- Print out a couple nursery rhymes and have your children illustrate them.

Do you use workbooks with your children?

The use of workbooks and/or worksheets has always and will always be a debate in education.  Some teachers only use worksheets, others feel that complete hands-on learning is the best.  I would put myself right in the middle.  I think variety and moderation is the best approach.  Therefore from time to time at our house we crack out the workbooks and do a few pages.

I have had great success using the Kumon workbooks for learning how to write letters.  I started my son with My First Book of Uppercase Letters at around age 3 1/2 and am about to start them with my daughter.  I like that it starts with drawing lines and then incorporates the letters that use the same lines.

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