Early Lit Tip Tuesday- Make It A "Something" Kind of Day

Magnets for purchase on Etsy.com
by artist Jen Skelley

Every day is an opportunity for your child (and you, believe it or not) to learn something new. So why not make every day a "something" kind of day?
How to you make a "something" kind of day? It's easy!

• Pick a topic. Letters, Sounds, Numbers, Colors, Shapes, etc.
• Then break it down even further.
• Pick a letter of the alphabet, pick a sound (ck, ch, long a, long e, etc.), pick a number, pick a color, pick a shape.
• Then, focus on that one topic for the rest of the day, the rest of the week, the rest of the month. However long you and your child choose to do so.
• Make it fun! Wake your child up, and declare, "It's "circle day today! Let's find circles today!" Maybe dress them in a corresponding color, or a shirt that has a matching shape on it. Print off a coloring page, and color it in the color of the day, or cut the shape of the day out of construction paper, or trace/color the letter or number of the day. The options are endless!

For example, Little Man and I are currently working on his colors (he has his letters and numbers pretty down pat). And colors for him, like the can be with other children, are hard to learn. With so many different shades and hues, it's hard to know what is green, and what is yellow sometimes.

So today, at our house, it's green day. Little Man is wearing a green shirt. So any time that I see green today, I'll ask Little Man if he sees any green and give him the opportunity to identify it (we might even play an actual game of iSpy). If he can't find it, I'll point it out to him. It is through every day activities such as this that children learn and retain information.

What something are you and your child going to focus on today?