Two weeks off is a wonderful time to recharge, rest, and reconnect. Two weeks away from school is also a long time away from class routines and skill building. So, what fun things can you do at home to help your child keep the skills they have learned this trimester fresh? Read on!

1. READ! Read to or have your child read daily! They have worked so hard to learn their letter sounds and the concept of blending….keep the practice going. For ideas on decodable books for your child to read, take a look at this blog post from last month:
   

   Learning to Read: The Magic of Phonics and Decodable Text!

    

2. Practice writing numbers up to 50! Will you go to the beach or the snow? Have your child grab a stick and practice writing numbers up to 50 in the sand or snow! Remind them that with the tricky teens, the number one is always in the tens place, even though it sounds like the number in the ones place goes first…. fourteen is written 14 and not 41. Another great way to practice writing numbers is with shaving cream on a tray or table or using steam on a bathroom mirror or glass shower door.

3. Practice writing words and spelling using your child to write using their best guess spelling! Encourage them to write thank you notes for gifts received. Have them write the grocery list! They might even write a daily journal entry detailing what they have done each day during break. Students have learned the proper sequence of strokes for printing each alphabet letter. Ensure they start printing each letter from the top down and use the expected pencil grip. Here are some resources to help young writers:

4. Strengthen Fine Motor skills. There are many fun ways to strengthen your child’s fine motor skills. Try having them eat goldfish crackers with chopsticks or tongs. Create a playdough cookie or cupcake bakery. Play games that require them to use their hands. Here are some tools that we use in class:

5. CHALK! Children love chalk! Give them a smooth surface outdoors and a bucket of chalk; their imagination can go wild! Make mosaics by taping masking tape to the ground in a pattern and then fill in the spaces with different colors of chalk. Remove the tape once finished, and you’ll have a beautiful design. Have your child draw a track for their Hot Wheels cars. Write math equations to solve on the driveway!

6. Play some board games. Playing board games helps children learn how to win or lose. Some of my favorites include:

7. Play card games! Card games are a great way to practice math skills like counting, matching, ordering numbers, etc. We love playing:

So, enjoy the two weeks, and see you in 2024!