Episode 12: More Tips for Parents: Working with Kids at Home!

I’m your host, Elizabeth Morphis and for today’s episode, I’m sharing with you more tips to help your child practice literacy at home—those that won’t take a lot of time! 

When it comes to the actual activity of reading, especially for kids who are just starting to learn, a few strategies you can do are the tap-it-out strategy to look at the word, segment the word, or use a bookmark or finger under each word. The goal is to improve their focus while reading, and for them to learn to be comfortable with being frustrated if they encounter difficult words. 

When it comes to activities you could do at home, here are a few I suggest: 

Write letters to friends and families. 

This would be cooler if you could have your friends and family write back to your kids. 

Write journals. 

Either their own or have a journal where you can write back and forth to each other. This will encourage them to express themselves more, write down their thoughts, and it would also improve communication between you and your child. 

Roll storyboard. 

This is a fun activity that would have kids come up with their own stories. 

Choosing books with your kids. 

Whether at a bookstore or the library, having your kids choose their own books would make the reading experience more fun, and they would be more invested in it. 

Make it fun. 

If your kids don’t enjoy sitting down with a book, find other activities they enjoy or ones you could do together, and find ways to incorporate reading into it. 

You can go through each of these strategies, modify them and apply them in your own way. The key here is to find which strategy and activity works for your child.