Homeschool Theater

By helping your young child expand his vocabulary, you will boost his reading and writing skills. He needs a good vocabulary to decode and comprehend the words and sentences he is reading, and will be better able to communicate his thoughts and ideas for writing and speaking.

1. Talk with your preschooler whenever the opportunity arises.
Engage her in conversation about anything: the food you are cooking, the latest antics of the family dog, what both of you like about her favorite TV program.

2. Name everything.
Tell your child the names of the cooking utensils you are using, the animals in his Noah’s Ark toy set as you play together or the flowers you are looking at in the plant nursery

3. Read aloud to your child as often as you can.
Read the book your child chooses, but when it is your turn to pick the next book make it one she has not seen yet. Keep a stash of several books that have a few advanced words, such as “process,” “acknowledge” or “fledgling.”

4. Tell stories to your children. Bedtime is the traditional time for storytelling. However, you can tell a story while waiting in line at the bank, driving in the car (see this video) or whenever you have some moments of time to fill. Put in a few words that you do not think your child knows yet, such as in number 3. Be free with your descriptive words!

5. Categorize.
When your child talks about the neighbor’s cat, say “a cat is an animal.” Other examples would be “a pear is a fruit” or “a motorcycle is a vehicle.”

6. Add descriptive words. If your little one says, “look at the cat,” say back to him, “I see the black, long-haired cat.” The more often you use descriptive words in your speech, the more likely your child will also.

7. Ask probing questions about new discoveries.When your child finds a treasure such as a pretty rock, ask him questions about it. When she creates a drawing or receives a new toy, ask her to show it to you and describe it. Ask questions such as, “What do you do with it?” or “How would you like to display this?” This encourages your child to think about his answers. This reinforces his language learning.

These simple tips are some of the ways you can help your preschooler gain a larger vocabulary which in turn will benefit her communication, reading and writing skills.

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The author, Michelle B., writes about education, homeschooling, literacy and gardening in the desert. See our reading suggestion in in our Amazon bookstore.

Did you know that letting your preschoolers draw on the wall is a really good way to get them ready for writing? If done on a regular basis, activities worked on a vertical surface provide many advantages for them:

* Children gain strength in the back, shoulders and arms which increases stability for fine motor activities.
* The wrist is correctly positioned for pencil-holding, and grasping strength is enhanced.
* Good posture is developed.
* Finger dexterity is increased and fine motor flexibility and accuracy is developed.
* Eye-hand coordination is improved.
* Not only do these help build physical readiness for writing, but also for tasks such as using eating utensils, picking up small items such as coins, using art materials and even getting dressed!

So what are some activities preschoolers can do on vertical surfaces, if you don’t really want them drawing on the wall? Try these:

* Tape a large piece of paper to an outdoor wall or fence and supply large markers, crayons or paint and have your child make a mural. You can write large block letters to make a sign, such as “Welcome” or “Happy Birthday,” and ask your child to decorate it.
* Use a chalkboard or whiteboard.
* Children’s stand-up easels are excellent.
* Try a flannelboard, or make your own by attaching a large piece of felt to a piece of cardboard or plywood, or tacked on a bulletin board.
* The refrigerator is a great place to play with magnets, including magnetic letters. Try turning magazine or photo cut-outs into play magnets by adhering the paper onto cardstock, laminating or covering them with clear contact paper,and gluing on a magnet.
* On a warm day, give your kids a large paintbrush and a bucket half-full of water. Let them pretend to be house painters and paint the outside of the house or a fence.

* At bath time, let your child decorate the tub walls with shaving cream, bath soap-crayons or foam letters. When the bath is done, your preschooler can wipe his art off the wall with a clean sponge or rag.
* Give your preschooler a sheet of stickers and a piece of paper taped to the wall or clipped to an easel.
* Kids love painting on windows, such as sliding doors. Make sure they have washable window paint, or make your own by mixing powdered or liquid poster paint with clear dishwashing soap in approximately equal amounts. Be sure to spread newspaper on the floor beneath the window and cover the windowsill. Perhaps they can make holiday designs.
* Tack a piece of clear contact paper on the easel or bulletin board, sticky-side out. Let your child make a nature collage of feathers, leaves, seeds, flowers, etc. You can also use magazine cut-outs, torn strips of tissue papers or gift-wrap shapes. When your child is finished cover the art with another piece of contact paper, pressing it smooth.

Whenever you are preparing supplies for your child to create art or work on writing, take a moment to see if any part of this activity can be done vertically. The more often it is done, the stronger the results for your child.

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Michelle B. is a veteran of 20+ years of homeschooling. She likes affordable homeschool materials.

Young children are constantly engaged in learning about the grown-up world. Nearly everything they play is a reflection of their understanding of what happens in life.

Preschoolers love to pretend-play adult roles. One of the favored role-playing tasks is that of the mail carrier. Playing post office automatically opens up a variety of wonderful learning possibilities in the three R’s, as well. It offers practice in writing the letters in the alphabet, matching the name on an envelope with the name on the mail cubbie and beginning to read those names.

Be sure to write your child several short notes and mail them, too. She will no doubt come running to ask you to read them to her. She will try to do her own letter-writing.

Sorting and categorizing is a skill required in both reading and math, and this game will reinforce that skill. Your child will sort according to names on the cubbies, but you can also have your child sort by advertisements and personal letters, by size of the pieces of mail, or color, or symbol. How about gluing pictures of pets found in a pet store ad on the envelopes?

A shoe box is great for turning into a mailbox, as it has a removable lid for your little mailman to scoop out the letters. Whatever box you choose, cut a slot large enough for the mail to enter in the front or on top. It also needs either a lid or a folding flap. You can strengthen weak areas with duct tape, such as around the mail slot. See if your preschooler would like to decorate the box, but don’t force it if coloring is not her thing.

Your little mail carrier needs a place to deliver her letters. Make mail cubbies for each family member and the pets, too. Tape several empty boxes (such as cereal or cake mix) together, and cut off the opening flaps. Label each box with the person’s name in block letters. Don’t forget Fluffy or Rover! If you don’t want to use family members, you can use pictures of animals, colors, shapes, food items, etc glued to each cubbie.

Next helpful item is a mail bag. A shopping bag works very well, and most have handles long enough for a little guy to wear the bag from his shoulder. A grocery bag is okay, too!

Now, you need some mail. Hand over all your junk mail to your preschooler. You can buy a box of inexpensive envelopes and set it on the table along with stickers, colored pencils, pens, and paper. Let your preschooler get busy!

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Michelle B. is a home-schooling Mom who has been at it for more than 20 years. For more information about preschool, this book teaches you more preschool learning games. (Editor’s Note: This is a great activity for your child no matter what education choices you have made for them, homeschool or otherwise.)

Homeschool Books- what can you use? Using trade books can be an excellent way to introduce or reinforce a study subject with your homeschool students. “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” is a popular book that my kids and I have enjoyed using. The tale is about weather and food, how the people have adapted to their town’s unusual circumstances and how they react when things go haywire. What study topics can we find in this enjoyable story?

Meteorology: The tall tale Grandpa shares is about the unusual weather a small town receives. This is a good intro to units on clouds, local or extreme weather or weather in general, climates, the water cycle, meteorologists and weather forecasting.

Food: Food in various forms plays a very important role in this story. This would be a fun start to learning about food sources, cooking, food in various cultures, nutrition and the food pyramid.

Social studies: How have people adapted to their food sources in different parts of the world? The townspeople of Chewandswallow had to adapt to a completely new food source when they had to leave their town, which opens up the topic of emigration/immigration. The book also offers the opportunity to discuss sanitation and recycling. You can even discuss safety and emergency preparedness, as the townsfolk had to deal with some scary weather situations.

Language arts: There are at least thirty compound words in the book. Learn vocabulary words such as incident, prediction and pulp. Grandpa told a tall tale; learn about tall tales and read Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill tales, then let the kids either write (creative writing) or tell their own (storytelling). What are some of the crazy things that happened in Chewandswallow? Have your kids write a descriptive paragraph. Compare and contrast the book to the new movie. Spelling word lists can be made up of the foods mentioned or weather words.

The book, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” offers the homeschooling family plenty of opportunities to begin or continue any one of an assortment of relevant learning topics.