by Evelyn J. Mocbeichel
Here we are, school is back in session and besides homework the students have, parents must also be part of these assignments. Every parent wants their child to enjoy school, succeed and at the same time receive a wonderful education, but this doesn’t come easily. As most adults know, the key to being able to receive a strong and lasting education is through mastering two skills, reading and writing. They are the key to every subject children will have throughout their many years of grade, high school and beyond. Children enjoy new and challenging adventures and parents can excite them to learn by coming up with creative ways to entertain and stimulate the child’s thinking skills. Starting younger children with fun learning activities can set them on a path to success in seeking ways to expand their knowledge years down the road.
When our children were younger, I would buy inexpensive workbooks that had outlines for tracing letters or numbers to start them with writing skills. As their number counting improved, dot-to-dot books were perfect for reinforcing counting and at the same time the lines drawn created a picture for them to color. When they attended preschool, the teachers had the children trace letters or numbers on a tray filled with shaving cream. This can be duplicated at home and adding a few drops of food coloring can make the cream more vibrant. To prevent finger staining, have the child wear plastic food handler gloves if you are coloring the shaving cream. A cookie sheet or serving tray is perfect for this activity. If you are at the beach, the child can practice letter or their name writing in the sand. As the child gets to recognize the letters, parents can begin to introduce what sounds are used to pronounce each letter. Letters like m, f, s, and p are ones that easy words can be said to emphasize the letter sound. By stretching out the m sound, for instance, saying the words, mother, marble, monkey, the child will see the parent’s lip formation. The same for other easy letters, finding words the child can relate to and understand. Ask the child to say a word of their own that begins with the same letter you are teaching.
More than just knowing how to spell and using proper grammar, writing entails descriptive details and interesting content. Starting a child at an early age to be creative is the key to being able to handle school writing assignments in the years to come, no matter what the subject will be. Since the weather is still nice outside, use this time for outdoor exploration and having the child relate what is seen. This could be a simple day of playing outside and describing what was seen in the backyard. Ask the child while outside playing in the yard what was seen. Most likely the reply will be I saw some flowers, a butterfly and toys in the yard. To prompt the child into giving more detail, ask the child what kind of flowers and what color they were. What did the butterfly do and what color was it? What toys were on the lawn? Give an example and describe, I saw a black and yellow butterfly that landed on a pink flower and then it flew away. Perhaps the child left out a frisbee from the day before and a beach ball. Using more adjectives, the parent can describe the object to the child and add, I saw a round, blue Frisbee and a red beach ball lying on the green blanket. Most children are verbal and when excited about something will tell parents in detail about the experience. It is later when this verbal must be transcribed to paper that some children fail to express themselves in the same manner.
No matter what your child has a chance to experience, it can be turned into a descriptive writing lesson. Simple trips to a local zoo, town carnival or even a visit to a new mall can become the subject of descriptive dialogue or writing for an older child. When we took our first trip to Disney World in Florida, driving with three young children in the car, I took advantage of this experience for an educational opportunity. Before the trip I bought three composition booklets and gave one to each child. At the end of each day, including the three-day car trip, I had them each write a paragraph of something they saw, did or how they felt. We spent a week in Florida, so each night they had to do the same. The easiest thing for them to write about of course was the three-day visit to Disney Park. Our middle daughter was only seven at the time and wanted to get an “autograph” from Dopey, one of the Disney characters we spotted in the park. She proudly held out her notepad for him to sign and “Dopey” just shrugged and shook his head, arms extended. Other people began to crowd for a photo with Dopey, so we had to move on. That night she wrote in her booklet, “I wanted Dopey to write his name in my book, but he would not do it.” It was then I had the time to explain to her, “He can’t write as his hands won’t bend to hold a pen.” (Disney characters don’t speak to the children, so he couldn’t explain the fingers are hard rubber, which young children don’t notice.) While the whole point of the notebook was to enhance our children’s writing skills, it also captured memories of their first exciting trip to Florida. Children love to learn new things and a creative parent can make letter recognition and writing fun that will also turn out to be a lifelong skill that only improves with time.