Blogs About Reading
Sound It Out
Dr. Joanne Meier
Along with her background as a professor, researcher, writer, and teacher, Joanne Meier is a mom. Join Joanne every week as she shares her experiences raising her own young readers, and guides parents and teachers on the best practices in reading.
Top 5 ways to make the best of snow days
February 12, 2014
Those of us on the east coast are bracing for (yet another!) winter storm that promises to close schools for several days and leave parents at home with wet gloves and bored kids! Here are a few suggestions for sprinkling some reading and writing in-between sled rides.
- Getting ready for any winter storm usually includes a trip to the grocery store. Use these simple ideas to focus on vocabulary and math skills at the grocery store.
- Do you subscribe to a newspaper? If so, dig out the paper from the snow, and try a few of these newspaper ideas for learning letters and words or for ways to focus on writing. It might be fun to write a review of your favorite sledding hill or creating a recipe for the best hot chocolate.
- Time on your hands means a chance to take a fresh look at your home library. Spend an afternoon with your child sorting through books and organizing them in a meaningful way. Donate any books they’re ready to part with and make some room for new ones!
- Ready to get creative? Let your creativity flow by thinking like an inventor. Being curious and making mistakes are all part of the fun.
- Last, don’t forget to spend time reading aloud. This one activity can make a huge difference in your child’s literacy growth. Remind yourself of some of the simple yet powerful things to do while you read aloud.
Your monthly tips for parents has prompted me to provide tips monthly for the parents of my students. This post provided 5 tips, but I particularly liked the “vocabulary and math skills at the grocery store”. Living in Texas we don’t see a lot of snow days and when we do they usually take us by surprise. However, we all spend lots of time in the grocery store. These activities provide both creative and engaging ways for parents to keep the little ones busy as the shopping gets done; and best of all they are learning.