Learning in the Car

In early childhood, every moment counts! Providing opportunities for children to be exposed to oral language, especially in the forms of high quality songs, stories, and fingerplays will help them in their future reading and writing success. Since young children spend so much time in the car, consider investing in CDs that emphasize these language strategies.

-play rhyming, quality children's music (e.g., Raffi) that use rhyme, play on words, and rhythm in songs

-expose children to nursery rhymes by playing them in the car (knowledge of nursery rhymes has been proven to be an indicator of reading success later on in life)

-encourage children to learn the names of letters and their corresponding sounds by playing CDs that emphasize these

-simple recorded stories can be borrowed from the library and played. By not seeing a corresponding picture, children are free to use their imaginations to illustrate the text

-play sound games with children. Stretch out words by emphasizing their individual sounds and encourage children to guess what the word it (e.g., c-a-t is cat)

-play I spy but use sounds (e.g., I spy something that begins with an 'a' sound)

-engage your children in conversation in the car. Encourage them to describe their day by prompting them with higher-level questioning such as who, what, why, where, when, and how questions. Avoid yes/no responses that limit children's explanation

The Benefits of Board Games

Want to engage your child in meaningful explorations in math and socialization while spending quality time with him or her? Play a board game together! An interesting read from the Washington Post discusses the benefits of playing simple board games (e.g., Candy Land, Snakes and Ladders) with children including:

-children learn self-regulation as they wait their turn

-children learn good sportsmanship - how to be a gracious winner and a graceful loser

-one-to-one correspondence in math is reinforced as children count out the number of moves their player makes

-children practice using simple probability tools like dice and spinners

-children learn to instantly recognize the numeral that corresponds with the number of dots on the face of a dice

-playing face-to-face games with children provides an authentic opportunity for families to engage in conversations about the game and other important events as the conversation gradually steers from the game to other things

-other important ideas like shape and colour recognition often are reinforced through simple childhood games