Read and Create

A great story doesn’t have to end with the last page. Your child can take the fun one step further by making a craft based on a book. He/She will deepen his/her understanding of the story while boosting creative thinking. Here are three projects to try.

Topsy-Turvy Words

Encourage your child to play with language. He/She will build his/her vocabulary by learning about these types of wordplays:

Anagrams: are words made by rearranging the letters of other words. For example, lemon can become melon. See if your child can make new words from cat (act), seal (sale), or pool (loop). Encourage him/her to make anagrams out of words in everyday places (his/her spelling lists, books, signs).

Palindromes: are words that are spelled the same forward and backward. Examples: mom, eye, kayak, racecar. Suggest that your child look for palindromes by thinking of short words that begin and end with the same letter. Idea: Show him/her that phrases can also be palindromes, such as never odd or even.

Ready to Read

So your child has learned his/her letters and sounds, but he/she is having trouble putting them together to sound out words in books. How can you help?

What You Can Do

• Letters and sounds might seem easy on their own, But an entire page of unfamiliar words can be tough.
  
• Start with a three-letter word, such as pet.
  
• Write each letter on a separate scrap of paper.
  
• Lay the letters in order, a few inches apart.
  
• Ask him/her to tell you the sound each letter makes. Note: Be sure he/she is saying the sounds correctly-they should be short and sharp, rather than long and drawn out.
• Gradually move the letters closer together and ash him/her to say the sounds faster and faster until they run together.
  
• By the time the letters touch, they should sound just like pet.
  

Newspaper Learning

With thousands of words in every issue, newspapers are a great way to build your child’s reading skills. Grab a newspaper, and try these activities.

Month-By-Month Writing

Keep your child’s handwriting, spelling, and communication skills sharp while school’s out. He/She can practice with these month-by-month ideas.