Time is at a premium for single parents. Balancing career and single parenting is a daily challenge. If there are young children in the home who are beginning to learn to read, help at home is often essential to their success. With only 15 minutes a day, a parent can use common materials around the home to make learning to read a much easier task.
Listen and Learn
While preparing dinner, name a letter of the alphabet and both you and the child take turns pointing to different items in the kitchen with names that begin with that letter. Make a game of it, seeing who can find the most items.
Words on the Wall
Have a special wall in the home where words on cards can be displayed that the child is learning to read that week at school. From time to time, pick one word from the wall and challenge the child to say a sentence using the word. When the child has mastered the word, put it in a Word Bag labeled "Words I know".
Story Detective
Keep a basket of books handy for shared reading. Before reading the story, have the child look at the pictures and tell you what the story is going to be about, and what might happen. Read together to find out.
Dirty Words
When the child is having difficulty with a new word, take time for a "hands on" activity. Using a tray with a single layer of finger paint, shaving cream, or sand, have the child look at a card with the word, then write the word on the tray. Erase and repeat. Have the child say each letter as it is made, then pronounce the word and use it in a sentence when finished writing.
Shoebox Comics
Make Sunday a special day by reading the comics with your child. Pick out the simpler ones and cut them into single pictures to put in a shoebox. During the week, have the child use the pictures from the box to either recreate the comic strip, or make a new one. Listen to the story told by your child about the pictures. This activity is more fun if both parent and child take turns sequencing the pictures.
Seek & Find
Beginning readers need to learn basic sight words like I, am, are, do, want, etc. Each week add about 5-10 of these words to the word wall. Have the child use a colored highlighter to find these words in common print found in the home~a newspaper, magazine, sales sheet, cereal box, food label, etc.
Just a few minutes each day can make a wonderful difference in your child's reading skills, as well as other subject areas. For quick teaching activities for math, writing and science, visit Parent Power, the National Education Association site. Another place for fun ideas is Reading Rockets.
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