Skip to main content

One Simple Thing - Tuesday - Environmental Print

All print our children see around them can be considered environmental print.
Just drive your three-year-old by any McDonald's and he will plead with you to get him french fries the minute he sees that golden "M."

One Simple Thing you can do today to help your child succeed in learning to read is to support her love of environmental print!

Collect five or six DVD or VHS covers of shows or movies that are your family's favorites (your local library is a great source of movies you can rent for free!).
Lay them side by side on a table or rug and begin talking about each one. Your child is likely to tell you some of the titles immediately! Point to the words in each movie title as you read it aloud. Then, the fun begins! Point to the title of a movie your child knows for sure and ask, "What does this say?" Most likely, he or she will "read" the title correctly. If it is slightly off ("Bug's Life"), point to each word and say, "Yes, "A Bug's Life." Make sure to encourage your child by saying, "You read it!" or, "You are a reader!" excitedly. He or she will light up with confidence and will continue to want to read all the movie titles to you! Once you have played this game for a while, make sure to let your child demonstrate his environmental print skills to an encouraging parent, sibling, or friend. Have fun!

One Simple Thing you can do to boost your baby's reading skills today, is to take a nature walk! Describe the flowers and bugs you see, how the rain feels, the smell of the air etc. Help her to really notice the world around her and to build her vocabulary!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Candyland Party

This year Boo's birthday party theme was "Candyland." We had plenty of inspiration for this fun party from this site . Here are some pictures I took at Boo's party! The candy buffet was made up of favorite candies I had bought on sale whenever possible, beginning a few weeks before the party. Most of the containers are from the $Tree. A pad of construction paper was used to create this Candyland path. My oldest, Miss Independent, painted this "Gingerbread Tree" for a bean bag toss game. The party guests earned tickets based on how many of three bean bags they tossed through the openings. We used a piece of foam and painted it for our Princess Lolli lollipop game. The kids each pulled out a lollipop, the color at the end of the lollipop stick earned them one, two, or three tickets (at the end of the party tickets earned at various stations were exchanged for prizes). Party guests visited Princess Frostine, making ice cream creations at her stat...

Tile Coaster Tutorial

Tile coasters are easy and fun to put together and make wonderful gifts! Best of all, they are inexpensive and functional ! Here's what you'll need: Modge Podge (available at craft stores) 12x12 scrapbooking paper (scrap paper is fine too, you'll need 4x4 squares) 4x4 tiles (13 cents and up at home improvement stores) foam brush felt pads (any size, four per tile, found at Home Depot, Lowes etc.) clear acrylic spray Cut as many 4x4 pieces of scrapbooking paper as tiles. Using the foam brush, cover each tile with a thin layer of Modge Podge. Quickly press the paper unto the tile. Let the Modge Podge/paper dry for 15 minutes. Next, apply a thin layer of Modge Podge over the entire surface of the tile and paper. Let dry, then repeat. Finally, spray each tile with a thin layer of clear acrylic to seal. Add the felt pad to four corners of each tile and...Voila -water-resistant coasters that can be customized to match any season or decor!

Frozen Hot Chocolate

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on low heat in a medium size saucepan. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of baking cocoa. Next, add 1 cup of milk and whisk until almost smooth. Add 6 oz of milk chocolate chips and stir until a smooth chocolate sauce forms. In a blender, combine chocolate sauce, 5-6 pieces of ice, and 1 cup of milk. Blend until the mixture has a frappuccino-consistency, about 20 seconds. Pour into two tall classes, add whipped cream, and enjoy!