Teacher talk Tuesday

So many parents ask me what they can be doing with their kids at home to support what we are doing at school. Well, to be honest, one of the best things you can do besides reading is writing! People seriously underestimate the power of writing with kids. I know it may sound like an ancient activity to parents who only use computers, but your child is writing everyday at school. So, here are some ideas for writing with your child at home:

- write their name (most kids should be able to write a close version of their name by age 4)

-make a list (grocery list, weekend activities, what they'd like to do with the babysitter that night)
- letters/cards to grandparents (we all know these don't have to be lengthy, grandparents will love them)



- Write a letter to Santa!

When writing at home, encourage your child to use their sounds to identify letters or words. When they are unable to identify the correct letter, help them by saying the sound of the letter, then the letter (b..b..b that's a b). This will help your child's reading development tremendously. When your child is finished, have them read it back to you!

*A word of caution: The easiest way to taint the writing experience for your youngster is to expect perfection. Their letters will be backwards, their words will not be spelled correctly... and this is OK! Make it fun and leave the editing to their teachers... that's what they're paid to do!