Since I was little I have always struggled in school. I was always jealous of those that loved to read and did well in school. I was not one of those people. I was the one who did homework for hours at night and still got C’s. I am a VERY visual and tactile learner. So is my son.
Now that my son is in school I can see some of what I struggled with in him. He actually does well in school at the moment but he is in kindergarden. He is starting to struggle with the site words he has to know. Although I disagree with the school on what a kindergardener should know by the end of the year I don’t want him to get behind IF I can do something at home about it.
Unless something is fun for a child they are just not going to learn it (at least not all that quickly and not without a lot of tears). So here is a few ideas that I am doing with my child to read his site words better.
- Print out all the site words (if the teacher has not already given them to you) and tape them up all over the room. Play “Eye Spy”. Yeah the room might look weird but your child will love it. So for example say “I spy with my little eye the word DOG”. Let them look to see if they can find it. We have 101 words we need to know to graduate from kindergarden so what I will do is put 10 up at a time. The next week put 10 new ones up etc.
- Play “Go Fish”. For example Ask your child “do you have any cards with the word DOG?” I think this helps them to look closer at the words and sound them out as they look through their cards
- Do “Pictionary” in reverse. Write out “dog” and have them read the word and draw a picture of a Dog.
Really the options are endless. Take what your child likes to play and work in what they are learning in school. Just make sure it is fun for them.
Life is full of frustrations why let learning be one of them? Once they have the ground work everything else is SO much easier. My goal is to have my child not struggle in school like I did.
What games can you think of that would be fun to try! I would LOVE some more ideas! Share them all!
We used to play hangman but while we did homework. I would have to answer questions too and see who ended up with a whole hangman from missing questions. My son loved it and it made him study harder because he wanted to beat me.
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That is a good idea! I might try that one too!
Twitter: Lindsay_Blogs
says:
I love the “I Spy” game idea! My daughter is in Kindergarten and sight words have been a pain in the butt. Not that they’re too difficult, but there are just so MANY of them!
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Twitter: play2learnsarah
says:
Those are great tips! You forgot let him dress up as a “super” reader while he’s doing it. Play is the key! Maybe try Twister…tape his site words on a twister game and have him read as he puts his hand/foot down….exercise and site word practice!
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OH he would LOVE that one! I am going to try that one for sure!!
Twitter: texastypeamom
says:
I love the idea of playing Go Fish with sight words! I’ve been trying to teach my daughter sight words so this is perfect! Such a great way to make learning fun and enjoyable.
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You already have some great ideas! My second oldest has dyslexia and is now homeschooled because the school could not give him the help he needed. Have you checked out Starfall online? They have tons of interactive games to make reading and learning fun. Also, choosing small starter books on topics that he enjoys can help him get more motivated to read too.
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