Increasing Sight Word Recognition in your toddler and preschooler

There are so many things you can do. Here are some things we do around our home:

1. Label everything. Doors, refrigerator, table, etc.
2. Make the recipes that your kids help you with kid friendly with pictures and simple words.
3. Make signs for play time - If the child is pretending to go to the store, make a store sign, etc.
4. Cut out the pictures from the weekly grocery ads, tape or glue them to construction paper, and write the name of it on the paper. They can help you add to your shopping list weekly, learn sight words and be involved in the process of learning to create a shopping list.
5. And, of course, READ. Everyone knows that. Read the same books over and over again, pointing out words as you read.
6. If there are songs you sing regularly, post them on the wall, with simple pictures.

Firefighters...

Today we were very busy putting out fires at Wal-Mart, the movie theater and the gas station.

The book: The Firefighters by Sue Whiting

http://www.amazon.com/Firefighters-Sue-Whiting/dp/076364997X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281643930&sr=1-1

The props: fire truck (present from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas), two hoses (a swimming pool noodle and the green one was about 2 bucks at Michaels - I don't know what it's really called) and two fire fighting hats. We also added in signs, made on construction paper, for the names of the stores. Gas was 3 cents a pound today and movie tickets were 40 cents a pound, according to Andrew.

Today's vocabulary: flames, engineer

The song:

We adapted the wheels on the bus to fit, our version, the wheels on the fire truck.

The wheels on the fire truck go round and round.

The steering wheel on the fire truck goes drive, drive, drive.

The hose on the fire truck goes whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

The ladder on the fire truck goes up and down.

The horn on the fire truck goes beep, beep, beep.

The calls on the fire truck go ring, ring, ring.

The firefighters on the firetruck go, "hold on tight."

Wildlife Habitat...

I found this as I was searching for information on a bird theme. I thought this was a fabulous learning experience for kids or adults of any age and something that could be fun to do as a family.

http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outdoor-Activities/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create-a-Habitat.aspx?CFID=28664890&CFTOKEN=953d3539f4c3f7cd-62EE3439-5056-A868-A008FF9CE121030D