Summer Home Learning Recipes
for Parents and Children
Grades K-3
"Parents and families are the first and most important teachers. If
families teach a love of learning, it can make all the difference in the world
to our children."
Richard W. Riley
U.S.
Secretary of Education
Educational research has made it clear that parents who are actively involved
in their children's learning at home help their children become more successful
learners in and out of school. During the early adolescent years, adult guidance
is especially important.
Here are some reading, writing, math, and science Home Learning Recipe
activities. These have been developed by the Home and School Institute. Parents
of young children in prekindergarten through third grade find them to be easy
and enjoyable ways to work with the school--using materials they have at home to
build their children's skills.
Reading Activities
Sorting and Stacking--Teach
classification skills with dinnerware. Ask your child to match and stack dishes
of similar sizes and shapes. Also have your child sort flatware--forks with
forks, spoons with spoons. This is like recognizing the shapes of letters and
numbers.
Telephonitis --Give your child practice in reading numbers
left to right by dialing a telephone. Make a list of telephone numbers your
child can read--for relatives, friends, the weather bureau--and have your child
make a call or two.
Let 'Em Eat Shapes--Cut bread into different
shapes--rectangles, triangles, squares, circles. Make at least two of each
shape. Ask your youngster to choose a pair of similar shapes, then to put jam on
the first piece, and to place the second piece on top to make a sandwich. This
is a snack plus a game to match shapes.
Dress Me--Increase your child's vocabulary. Teach the name
of each item of clothing your child wears--shirt, blouse, sweater, sock,
shoe--when your child is dressing or undressing. Also teach the body
parts--head, arm, knee, foot. Then print the words on paper and ask your child
to attach these papers to the clothes in the closet or drawers. Make a pattern
of your child lying on a large sheet of paper. Tack it up. Ask your child to
attach the words for the body parts to the right locations.
Hidden Letters--Build reading observation skills with this
activity. Ask your child to look for letters of the alphabet on boxes and cans
of food and household supplies. For example, find five A's or three C's, or any
number of letters or combinations on cereal boxes, soup cans, bars of soap.
Start with easy-to-find letters and build up to harder-to-find ones. Then have
your children write the letters on paper or point out the letters on the boxes
and cans.
Writing Activities
Disappearing Letters--Promote
creativity and build muscle control with a pail of water and a brush. On a warm
day, take your children outside to the driveway or sidewalk and encourage them
to write anything they wish. Talk about what they've written.
Comic Strip Writing--Use comic strips to help with writing.
Cut apart the segments of a comic strip and ask your child to arrange them in
order. Then ask your child to fill in the words of the characters (orally or in
writing).
And That's the End of the Story--Improve listening skills
and imagination. Read a story aloud to your child and stop before the end. Ask
the child how the story will turn out. Then finish the story and discuss the
ending with the child. Did it turn out the way you thought?
Math Activities
Laundry Math--Sharpen skills by doing a
necessary household job. Ask your youngster to sort laundry--before or after
washing. How many socks? How many sheets? And you may find a lost sock as well.
Napkin Fractions--Make fractions fun. Fold paper towels or
napkins into large and small fractions. Start with halves and move to eighths
and sixteenths. Use magic markers to label the fractions.
Weigh Me--Teach estimating skills. Ask your children to
guess the weight of several household objects--a wastebasket, a coat, a full
glass of water. Then show children how to use a scale to weigh the objects.
Next, have them estimate their own weight, as well as that of other family
members, and use the scale to check their guesses. Some brave parents get on the
scale, too.
Science Activities
Ice Is Nice--Improve observation and
questioning skills by freezing and melting ice. Add water to an ice cube tray
and set it in the freezer. Ask your child how long it will take to freeze. For
variety, use different levels of water in different sections of the tray. Set
ice cubes on a table. Ask your child how long they will take to melt. Why do
they melt? Place the ice cubes in different areas of the room. Do they melt
faster in some places than in others? Why?
Float and Sink--Encourage hypothesizing (guessing). Use
several objects--soap, a dry sock, a bottle of shampoo, a wet sponge, an empty
bottle. Ask your child which objects will float when dropped into water in a
sink or bathtub. Then drop the objects in the water, one by one, to see what
happens.
What Does It Take to Grow?--Teach cause-and-effect
relationships. Use two similar, healthy plants. Ask your child to water one
plant and ignore the other for a week or two, keeping both plants in the same
place.
At the end of that time, ask your child to water the drooping plant. Then
talk about what happened and why. Plants usually perk up with water just as
children perk up with good words and smiles from parents.
Children are eager learners: they are interested in everything around them.
These easy-to-do activities encourage children's active learning and those
wonderful words of growing confidence, "I can do it."
Think of these as starter activities to get your ideas going. There are
opportunities everywhere for teaching and learning.
Take a little time to do a lot of good!
These home learning "recipes" have been tested and developed by Dr.
Dorothy Rich, author of MEGASKILLS ®,
for the National Education
Association. Reprinted with permission of the National Education Association and
The Home and School Institute, 1994.
Reproduction of this brochure is permitted.
See Source for More Info at: http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/Recipes/reck-3.html
