Adults and children of all families can learn together in fun and exciting ways, all the while connecting with the outside world. Reading and learning together takes us from the immediate world to the great world beyond! Here are some enjoyable, as well as educational, activities for families to try at home together.

Using Literacy Tools: Scissors, pencils, pens, tape, crayons, and modeling clay are all examples of literacy tools. Using a variety of these can extend your child’s learning from the basics of reading and writing to new forms of creativity and self-expression.

Reading and Writing: Praise your child’s attempts at these skills. Provide a variety of reading and writing materials – from newspapers to library books and from writing on the sidewalk with chalk to using pencils and paper. Remember that children need to feel successful and competent with these skills.

Problem Solving: As children begin to learn the alphabet, they will associate letter sounds with written letters. Cutting letters from the newspaper is a perfect opportunity for a child to work on this skill. Families can play "letter-sound" games. As children learn to sound out or read, families can expand their family reading time to include “rhyme” games.

Math: Preteens are best motivated when learning is linked to prior knowledge and experiences. Ask your child to select three favorite and three least favorite stores of the same type (for example, electronic, video, toy, shoe). The child will make a shopping list of items to purchase from these stores. Then, the child will collect prices of these items at each store on the list. Together, parents and children can make a comparison chart or bar graph that shows the prices. Families tally the savings. See if the child’s opinion has changed regarding favorite and least favorite stores. Talk about why or why not.