Things to do over the Break

Now that Christmas is over and things are probably starting to slow down a little, I thought I would give a a few suggestions of some things you can do over the break with your kids. The following are some activities that you can work on at home to keep their minds going over the long break.

1. Practice Counting to 100- You can count together, have the kids count independently or have them count objects around the house.

2. Practice Addition- Use those flashcards that were in your child's stocking. They need to be able to add up to 10. They can use their fingers for numbers up to 10, but sums up to 5 they need to practice doing in their head. The goal is for students to quickly add numbers up to 5. Maybe you can race and see who can get the answer first!

3. Review Letters/Sounds/Chunks/Beginning Sounds- It's good to keep this fresh in their minds. Play an "I Spy" Letter Game. "I Spy something with my little eyes that begins with the letter _____." Students need to practice by listing off things around the room that start with the same beginning sound until they get it right. Then have them try to trick you!

4. Read!- Read to your child at night and have them try to read to you. Use the Reading Strategies and let them try to sound out the words. (It's okay if you don't know the Reading Strategies... they do!) Ask them questions about who the characters in the story are, the setting (where the story takes place), and to retell the story

5. Kidwrite- Let them write about their favorite part of Christmas or their favorite Christmas present. Encourage them to draw a picture and really think of a good story to tell. Challenge them to write at least two sentences to describe their story. Make sure they use a capital letter at the beginning of their sentence and punctuation at the end. Let them share it with you and then hang it on the fridge.

6. Writing Numbers 1-20- You can get creative with this! They can write in shaving cream, finger paint, watercolor, markers or simply paper and pencil. Make sure they write their numbers in the correct order and if they write a number backwards, make them go back and fix it.

The most important thing is to try to make learning fun! I hope you are enjoying all the time you are getting to spend with your family. I am looking forward to the rest of the year!