Tagged with 'reading'

D.I.Y Book Lovers Party to Celebrate Read a Book Day

Gabrielle Fischer Posted On Sep 6, 2017 | Reading

Your kids may have spent the past two months at the pool, park and playground without a thought to books, but all that can change today! Help them get excited about back to school by celebrating Read a Book Day by helping them plan a fun D.I.Y. Book Lovers Party for their friends.

B.Y.O.B.

Before your guests R.S.V.P. make sure they know this party is strictly B.Y.O.B.—Bring Your Own Book! Kids can bring a favorite book to show and spark book-themed conversations. Help kids get started by asking them simple questions about their book. Who is the main character? Is their book funny or is it sad? What is their favorite part?

Swap It

You can also ask guests to bring another book they no longer want, and use it for a book swap. That way, everyone leaves your get-together with the best party favor ever, a book that was once loved by a friend. You can also give each guest their own dollar store flashlight to take home, perfect for reading their new book under the covers. (Reading seems more fun when kids think they’re getting away with something!)

Forehead Detective

As each guests enters your party, assign them a children’s book character by affixing a nametag to their forehead. You could simply use a sticky note, but we like to create a simple band of construction paper kids wear like a crown around their head, then tape the name tag to that. Guests can’t see the name on their own forehead, so they’ll have to ask questions of the other guests to try to solve the mystery. This game gets lots of giggles just from the novelty of having a silly character name on your forehead. Encourage cooperation by promising a group treat when everyone has successfully guessed their character.

Kid Lit Charades

Charlotte’s Web. Goodnight Moon. Where the Wild Things Are. Little House on the Prairie. Green Eggs and Ham. Within minutes you can think of dozens of great children’s book titles for kids to act out in a game of charades. Don’t be surprised when even the parents want to get in on the fun of this classic game!

Dramatic Readings

If your child, or any of their guests, has a flare for the dramatic, let them entertain the other kids with an over-the-top-reading of a simple children’s book, like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. Instruct the young orator to read the words as if reading a very serious poem, and invite other children to mime the actions in similarly dramatic fashion. Imagine the laughs as kids bring to life lines like, “Some are sad. And some are glad. And some are very, very bad. Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know. Go ask your dad.”

Craft Corner

Set up a simple craft corner where kids can make their own bookworm bookmark. Stock it with colorful construction paper and even spare wrapping paper and paint color sample strips. You can cut circles ahead of time for younger kids, and let older kids practice their scissors skills by cutting their own segments for their heads and bodies. We used toilet paper tubes as templates to draw the circles then stacked several papers and cut them all at once. Tape segments together to make a bookworm as long as you like. Don’t forget to draw a cute face, complete with eyeglasses!

Snack Attack

The bookworm theme can easily be carried out on your snack table, too. Try decorating brownies with gummi worms or create your own bookworms by lining up colored marshmallows or gumdrops and pressing them gently into the frosting. Arrange small bowls of snacks in a caterpillar shape on your table with a large tomato or apple as the head. A simple tray of chocolate chip cookies fits the book theme beautifully when you prop up a copy of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie next to it. Or get inspiration from Green Eggs and Ham by making deviled eggs with avocado in place of mayo. And a veggie tray with carrots looks extra tempting with a copy of Peter Rabbit nearby.

Personalized Party

Your Book Lovers party can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. On the simple end of the scale you could just create a cozy nook with lots of comfy pillows and invite 2 or 3 of your child’s friends to come read together and enjoy some snacks. On the more elaborate end of the scale, you could invite guests to come in costume, dressing as characters like Where’s Waldo, Pippi Longstockings, Laura Ingalls and Peter Pan. Big or small, your party can help kids see the fun and social side of reading and encourage them to look to books for their late summer entertainment!

D.I.Y Book Lovers Party to Celebrate Read a Book Day

B.Y.O.B.

Swap It

Forehead Detective

Kid Lit Charades

Dramatic Readings

Craft Corner

Snack Attack

Personalized Party

10 Skills Every Child Needs to Be Ready for Kindergarten

Gabrielle Fischer Posted On Aug 24, 2017 | Math

It’s no secret that kindergarten today is much more challenging than the kindergarten of your childhood. It’s more academically rigorous, with less play, no more naps and longer days. Is your child ready? How do you know? With my oldest entering kindergarten this month, I share these same questions. So I turned to my mother, a 30 year veteran kindergarten teacher, for her insights on what she expects from kids on the first day of school.

Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten

For many children, kindergarten is no longer the first school experience – with most entering students having one or more years of preschool behind them. However, there will also be kids for who this is their very first time in school, and a kindergarten teacher will be well prepared to teach to wide range of academic and social capabilities.If you are questioning whether or not your child is ready to start kindergarten, use the following checklist for the basic skills they need to succeed in their first formal year of schooling. It’s a perfect guide to use alongside the Learning Resources All Ready for Kindergarten Readiness Kit.

1. Recognize Name

Your child’s name will be ALL over their kindergarten classroom – on cubbies, folders, tables, and more. Help them recognize their written name on sight, name the letters in their name, and write their name to the best of their ability. Need some easy name recognition exercises?

String Learning Resources Lacing Alphabet Beads (part of the Kindergarten Readiness Kit) to spell out their name
Use dot stickers for this simple Sticker Name Recognition Activity from Busy Toddler
Try Name Recognition Soup from Munchkins and Moms, also using Alphabet Beads

2. Name the Letters of the Alphabet

To be ready for kindergarten, your child should at a minimum be able to name half of the capital letters of the alphabet. The Kindergarten Readiness Kit includes lots of alphabet activities, activity cards and manipulatives. Here are a few more of our favorite alphabet activities:

Use the Alphabet Marks the Spot play mat for an Alphabet Scavenger Hunt, working on both naming letters and letter sounds
Play Letter Recognition Games with an ABC Bottle made out of a recycled water bottle and colored alphabet pasta

3. Determine Hand Dominance

Is your child a righty or a lefty? Hand dominance is determined in-utero before your child is born. But clear, proficient use of one hand over the other may not be fully established until your child is 4-6 years old – right around kindergarten.If your child’s hand dominance is already clearly established, your kindergarten teacher will readily recognize it. If it’s still unclear to you, be sure to let your child’s teacher know as well.

4. Know How to Hold and Use Scissors Correctly

If you haven’t put a pair of scissors in your child’s hands yet, it’s time to start. If you are worried about scissor safety, or they get frustrated because they lack the hand strength or coordination to use scissors properly, this is a great series of activities to teach scissor skills and scissor safety.The Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Kit is also a great resource to use in play and build fine motor skills to support using scissors.

5. Name and Recognize Colors

Your kindergartener should be able to recognize and name basic colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, brown and white. Color recognition helps children with one of the earliest basic math skills – sorting. The Kindergarten Readiness Kit includes manipulatives for color recognition. You can also play one of our favorite games – Color Match – using just colored paper and whatever toys you have at home.

6. Count and Recognize Numbers to 10

Most preschoolers learn to count, recognize numbers to 10 and understand one-to-one correspondence (count objects) to get ready for kindergarten. If your child isn’t there yet or needs a refresher, this easy counting activity for preschoolers from Busy Toddler is a great place to start. For a more hands-on challenge, try this counting meets simple engineering activity for kids to build a bridge for elephants!

7. Make Rhymes

Nursery rhymes have been the beginning of literacy development for generations. Recognizing words that rhyme is an important first step to get ready for kindergarten and in learning to read.

If nursery rhymes are not part of your family’s repertoire, you can play a simple rhyme game. Say any word (“Cat”), and ask your child to say a rhyming word back to you (“Hat”). Take turns until you run out of rhymes (“Sat, Mat, Pat, Rat, etc.)!

8. Play and Share with Peers

Kindergarten is as much about laying the ground work for academics, as it is about social development. To get ready for kindergarten, encourage your child to play and sharing with peers and siblings. Remind them to “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Schedule playdates with peers at home, the park or playground, or you can play this simple sharing activity to role-play this important social skill.

9. Take Direction and Accept Disappointment

Your child’s kindergarten class will likely be the largest class they have been a part of to date. Students will be expected to follow directions from teachers, and may not always get their way. A great way to get ready for kindergarten to practice both taking direction and handling disappointment is by playing games as a family.Focus on following the directions, playing fairly, and help coach them through disappointment when they lose. For great game options for kindergarteners, check out Math Marks the Spot,and Riddle Moo This!

10. Basic Hygiene and Self Care

To get ready for kindergarten, your child will need to be able to use the bathroom independently, including wiping themselves and washing their hands. They will also be expected to eat lunch and snacks, largely independently as well, including clearing their places and properly disposing of trash. Be sure to review school lunch options with them, or send food they can and will eat.If they don’t already do these basic self-care skills independently, it’s a good idea to work on it before school starts at home.

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Is your child ready for kindergarten? Many kindergarten programs will have entry screening to aid the school in placing your child during the registration process. The screening will examine many of these basic skills, and often alert you at that time if they have concerns over your child’s readiness for kindergarten.

Remember as you start the school year that your child’s kindergarten teacher is a tremendous resource and your partner in your child’s education. Teachers always welcome open communication, and encourage you to share both your and your child’s concerns, desires, and personal preferences.

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