Children

Every Summer has a Story: 2018 Edition

Sprouting Balance Leave a comment

Every Summer has a Story: 2018 Edition | www.sproutingbalance.com | #Toronto #summer #fun #todo #list

School starts again next week and I can’t believe the summer holiday is finished! I worked less this summer and my schedule was better organized to allow more time with my Lil Sprout.

So what did we do aside from some cuddly days at home and backyard days at my parents? A fair amount of paid and free activities were enjoyed as the weeks passed. It is fun to get out and explore the neighbourhoods around us, the city we live in, and other towns and cities nearby.

Continue reading →

Advertisements

Word wall

Sprouting Balance Leave a comment

Word Wall | www.sproutingbalance.com | #literacy #reading

Looking for an inexpensive way to help your child learn to read? We created a ‘Word Wall’ of colourful words!

SUPPLIES:

  • index cards, preferably colourful
  • black marker
  • scissors
  • sticky tack

HOW TO MAKE THE CARDS:

  1. Using the scissors, cut the index cards in half.
  2. Choose some key sight words – include names, favourite foods, shows & characters – anything that will encourage them to play with the cards.
  3. Write one word on each card – capitals at the top of the card and small case at the bottom.
  4. Play with them! Display them!

ACTIVITIES WITH THE CARDS:

  1. Decorate a corner of the child’s play room or bedroom. Give them a chance to be curious. Be open to them asking you questions.
  2. Match words that rhyme – cat, hat, sat, mat, etc.
  3. Find your family on the word wall – search for mummy, daddy, granny, etc.
  4. Find words with similar sounds.
  5. Make a sentence.
  6. Sort them by the number of letters in the word.
  7. Find all the words that start with a particular letter.
  8. Be creative! See what your child creates too. As my daughter started to learn more words, she would sort them into words she could identify and words she didn’t know.

By using the sticky tack, it is easy to keep moving these cards around. If you don’t want to stick things to your wall, you could also add magnets to the back and have them on a magnetic board or the fridge.

I’m always looking for ways for child-led learning to occur. I feel like the learning is less stressful and more relaxed. Especially with reading, I didn’t want learning to be a fight or something my daughter started to avoid. I’m grateful that we have a child that adores reading and I will try to encourage that passion.

Connect with Sprouting Balance by leaving a comment, following us and SPROUTING a conversation on Twitter – @sproutbalance – and/or liking us on Facebook!

SPROUTING [P]INSPIRATION:

Looking for some ideas on recipes, organization or things to do with your Lil Sprout? Come check out my Pinterest page and the things that inspire me to become more balanced.