Teacher Tip Tuesday: It's in the Signs!

These first few weeks of Kindergarten our academic focus has been on letters, letter sounds, and shapes.   We are learning what makes each letter and shape different from all the others.  Giving your child opportunities to practice and hone these skills does need to be overly complicated, costly, or high-tech.  The world around us is full of letters, shapes, and words just waiting to be discovered!  Try some or all of the following while driving to and from school, waiting in line at the grocery store, or taking a walk through your neighborhood.  

1.  Go on a shape/alphabet hunt:  Take turns looking for letters and shapes.  You can turn it into an ongoing activity by using a notebook to keep track of all the shapes and letters you find, or turn it into a competition by seeing who can find the most of a particular letter or shape in a given amount of time.

2.  Play I Spy:  Include shapes, beginning and ending sounds, and rhymes in your clues.  (I spy something red that begins with a /c/ and rhymes with star.)

3.  The Name Game:  Look for all the letters of your name on signs, advertisements, or books.  Keep track of the letters you find, race the clock, or race a family member to see who can find all their letters first.

4.  Get your head in the clouds:  Take some time to watch the clouds as they pass by.  Look for shapes in clouds.  Be sure to talk about the corners, lines, and curves that your can see. 

Happy hunting!