USE ANOTHER WORD

Nov 062009
 

by Esther Jantzen, guest poster

 This game can be played anywhere, anytime, for as long as it feels fun! It’s good when you are driving in the car, walking to school, eating supper, reading together, or just relaxing. It’s a synonym game. A synonym is another word for something. For instance, “lad” is a synonym for “boy.” Learning new synonyms can really build a child’s vocabulary rapidly!

Here are some ways to play this synonym game:

1) When you are reading a book to a child and come across a word for a feeling like “happy” or “sad,” see if you or the child can think of another word that means the same thing like “joyful” or “tearful.” 

2) When you are driving or walking, see how many words you and the children can think of to describe actions that some animal might do. For example, if you see a dog running on a sidewalk, ask, “What is another word for “run”? Some possibilities might be “sprint,” “dash,” “lope, “jog,” or “scamper.”

3) Say to your child, “I’m thinking of another word for ___. Can you guess what it is?” For example  “I’m thinking of another word for “fast.” Can you guess what it is?” The answer might be “speedy, “quick”, “swift,” or “rapid.” It’s fine to give hints like, “The word I’m thinking of rhymes with _____ “or “It starts with…” 

4) When you’re watching television or listening to the radio, pick some word you hear and see if you can find a few different ways to say it (during a commercial, of course).

 

Esther Jantzen, Ed.D, is a mother, an educator and the author of Plus It! How to Easily Turn Everyday Activities into Learning Adventures for Kids available at www.plusitbook.com and the Way to Go! Family Learning Journal available through www.jantzenbooks.com

WONDERWALK

Oct 162009
 

by Esther Jantzen, guest poster

This activity is easy and energizing! It helps children learn to look closely at the ordinary and amazing things in the world around them. The thing to do is to keep asking “I wonder” questions. It’s fun to hear what children say while you do this. Their answers may be surprising and unusual, and it’s okay if they don’t make total sense.

Here is one way to do it:

1) With a paper bag in hand, take a walk outside your house with your child. Together collect as many different kinds of leaves as you can, picking up only one of each kind. Ask, “What do you notice?” or “What do you see?” 

2) When you get home, sort the leaves (or stones) into groups. For instance, you could put all the pointy leaves into one group and all the leaves with round edges in another group. Ask, “I wonder why some leaves have points and some are round?” and see what your child answers.

3) Then sort those leaves by some other category like by color, size, texture, or some other characteristic. Let the child choose another way to sort the leaves and say, “Tell me about how you sorted those.”

Ask “I wonder” questions often, such as, “I wonder how plants take water and brown earth and make colorful flowers?”  We may not know all the answers to these questions, but it encourages thinking and creativity in children. 

Esther Jantzen, Ed.D, is a mother, an educator and the author of Plus It! How to Easily Turn Everyday Activities into Learning Adventures for Kids available at www.plusitbook.com and the Way to Go! Family Learning Journal available through www.jantzenbooks.com

RHYME TIME

Oct 022009
 

 by Esther Jantzen, guest poster

Kids and adults love rhyming words. Rhymes are in songs, in raps, in poems, in ads, in jump-rope games, and just about everywhere. This activity can be done any time, anywhere, and especially when you’re in a silly mood! It helps children learn that it is fun any time to play with words, sounds, and rhythms. It develops their attentiveness and their ability to hear sounds. It develops their vocabulary. Here are some ways to do this:

1) Think of a simple sentence that you say to your children frequently. Then make up a rhyme to match it. For example, with “It’s time to go to bed!” add, “So lay down your pretty head!” Or with “Sit down and eat your dinner,” add, “We don’t want you any thinner!” OR

 2) Think of a word or a simple statement such as, “I saw a puppy dog.” Then ask your child to tell you a word that rhymes with dog and like log, hog, fog, frog, bog. See how many you and your child can come up with. (For older children, try picking words that are more unusual.)

Then see if you and your child can put these words together in an easy little poem with several rhyming words. For example, “I saw a dog who sat on a log. He sniffed at a frog and then jumped in the bog.” If your child offers a nonsense word, that’s just fine. See who can come up with the silliest lines. Go for giggles here and for the fun of sounds. OR

3) Try for a question rhyme: Did you ever try to tickle a pickle? Did you ever try to hug a bug? Did you ever try to eat your feet? You might want to give a reward, like staying up an extra 20 minutes to read, for the special question rhymes. If you come up with rhymes or poems you like, write them down and save them.  That way you’ll get to enjoy them again.

 

Esther Jantzen, Ed.D, is a mother, an educator and the author of Plus It! How to Easily Turn Everyday Activities into Learning Adventures for Kids available at www.plusitbook.com and the Way to Go! Family Learning Journal available through www.jantzenbooks.com

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