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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Wikki Stix

Fancy Nancy... do you know her?  If you have a daughter you need to!  Boys can definitely befriend her as well!  Here Gentry's reading Fancy Nancy's Christmas book with Wikki Stix in hand. (PS- her shirt says "i heart girls' days with mommy" in case you were curious)

Wikki Stix?!

From their website: Wikki Stix are made of hand-knitting yarn enhanced with a microcrystalline food-grade, non-toxic wax, the kind used in bubble gum and lipstick. They do not contain latex, gluten, nor peanut or other nut oils or byproducts which makes them an ideal creative activity toy for children with allergies.   Simply stated…they stick! No glue, no paste, no mess. Just press them down with light fingertip pressure and they will adhere to almost any smooth surface. They are also easy to peel up and reposition so “mistakes” virtually disappear, which helps build self-confidence. There is no preparation, no clean-up, no mess. Press ‘em down, peel ‘em off… it’s that simple! **http://www.wikkistix.com/what_are_wikkistix.php

 

I used to always get my students to underline words in text with them.  We'd search for all the short e words, -ock family words, adjectives, etc.

You can do the same thing depending on your child's reading ability.


Reading ability?!

Try looking for:

  • specific letters
  • letters in your child's name
  • capital versus lowercase letters
  • punctuation
  • words that start with a certain letter or sound
  •  specific word families (-ack, -ock, etc.)
  • funny words
  • challenging words (great for having your child read independently and come back to you for help with later)
Any other suggestions?!  I tried to show you what it looks like to underline a sentence (upside-down), but Gentry just wanted to highlight the pretty pictures.  Baby steps!


Monday, January 21, 2013

Good use for old boxes


 http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrensImages/isbn/large/1/9780061123221.jpg

Reduce, reuse and recycle right?! This book is perfect for getting that point across. It also proves how kids often trump us in the imagination category. It's about how a child views an empty box versus an adult. Read this to your child and then see how many different "boxes" your child can imagine!



Gentry only missed a few words reading today ;) Her "box" is a motorcycle with her sidekick Macon. Someone should have told her to keep her eyes on the road!  Tell me what your child makes with a blank canvas like this!