Labels, labels everywhere!

A guest post by Amanda Lehrman from The Momma Files.
Amanda Lehrman has a background in education and is a mother to her son Jack.  This is her final post in the September Education Series as a  guest writer for Mama Tales.

With the various spelling strategies taught in school, many parents struggle with which one to use at home. Some of you tell your child to sound out the word, some say to look it up in the dictionary or refer to spell check on the computer. I believe that a combination of these strategies can be used, often depending on your individual child. The one universal piece of advice I have is to let each child explore his or her surroundings and come to a conclusion on his or her own.

This spelling tip will allow them to do just that. It can be used for children of all ages; it will just need to be adapted based on the grade level. It may sound strange but it is a tactic that I used in my Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms that worked tremendously well. It is also a suggestion I made to the upper elementary, middle and high school teachers I worked with after teaching in the classroom. I/we labeled our classroom and you are going to label your house! Yes, label your house. Everything in it. The doors, the food, the refrigerator, the toilets, the televisions, etc.

Sound weird? Let me explain. When my students entered their classroom the first few days, everything was new. We wrote and drew a lot at the beginning of the year and there were so many questions of, “how do you spell this?” and “how do you spell that?” We hadn’t learned all of the sounding out strategies yet, they didn’t know how to use a dictionary or a word wall, much less spell check on a computer, and so what was I to do? Everyone got a bunch of index cards and tape and we started labeling. However they thought a word should be spelled, that’s how it went up on the index card. The only way it was corrected was when someone realized that a word was spelled differently. This happened when we were reading together, when they were reading alone, when someone saw a sign for the word “shelves” and realized that our class spelling was incorrect. We would cross out, never erase, the incorrect spelling and write the correct version underneath. Gradually, my students became aware of their surroundings and started to notice words and the patterns that they followed. They took an interest in how words were spelled and why certain combinations of letters created
certain sounds. It was the most successful way to have them take ownership of their own learning. One by one, week by week, all of the words in our classroom were labeled correctly and they remained posted around the room for the entire school year. They used these index cards as reference points and before they knew it, they did not need the index card; they had committed the correct spelling to memory. Mission accomplished.

The same can be done around your home. It is a fun way to incorporate spelling into your child’s life, outside of the classroom setting. If your child is younger, you can start with simple words such as bed, light and door. Even if the index card just has a b on it, that is a great start. If they want to draw a picture of a bed or find a picture of a bed in a magazine and use that, go with it. Any interest is a genuine one. Foster and encourage it.

If your child is older or you want to challenge them, you can add words such as television, refrigerator and staircase. Perhaps they will be on an educational website, see the spelling of mirror and realize that the spelling looks different from how it was spelled on the index card on your bathroom mirror. Maybe they will see a sign for apricots in the supermarket and realize the correct spelling of the word. It will happen in random locations, at random times but having your child understand the importance of spelling and realize the feeling of accomplishment will never be random. It will be priceless! Try it out and let me know how it goes!

Writing starts with W!

The third guest post in the September series by Amanda Lehrman from The Momma Files.
Amanda Lehrman has a background in education and is a mother to her son Jack.  Please check back here next Monday for her last post of the September series on tips to prepare your little ones for school.


Writing is funny.  There are so many rules to follow, lines to stay in and utensils to use.  It's all very technical, especially to a child.  In my opinion, it is too technical.  By the time we get through the rules and such, the creativity is gone.  Shouldn't we foster this creativity first and then introduce the rules later?

Photo credit tonyastaab.com

Children preschool age and below should be writing from the time they can put a writing utensil (sans permanent marker!) to a piece of paper.  Just like with reading, it will not be in conventional sense in which we are accustomed.  It will be a dot here and a line there.  There will be no rhyme or reason but they will be introduced to the concept of putting the pencil or crayon to the paper and making something of their own.  We do with with my 1 year old son.  We have him hold a pencil and help him move it around when we sign birthday cards, etc.  Hand these drawings up on the refrigerator or create a "gallery" of artwork/writing pieces from your child on the wall (painters tape does not peel paint).  The earlier we celebrate their hard work and creative side, the more comfortable they will feel expressing themselves through art or writing.

After the initial phase, your child will most likely learn to sit with a writing utensil, draw pictures and "write".  When this begins, have a special place for their materials.  We call this a "Writing Station" in my classroom; adopt this at home.  Have a bin for different types of paper; construction, computer, lined paper included.  Allow them to use all of these choices and tell them the actual names of the paper to help them identify what they want.  In addition, have different writing utensils in soup cans, coffee cans or shoe boxes for easy accessibility.  Pencils, crayons, water color paint, chalk, colored pencils and markers (if your are brave!) should all be introduced as different mediums.  Challenge your child to mix and explore mediums.  Suggest creating a pencil and water color picture or draw with chalk on a dark colored piece of paper.  These creations can include pictures, words, stickers and any other form of decoration they like.

At first, you may not know what their pictures resemble.  This is OK.  Ask them to describe what they drew. If they are curious on hot to draw something such as an animal, find a picture either in a book or on the computer and show them.  They will also become interested in learning how to write their names.  They will probably ask you how to spell it.  Spell the name out loud and based on readiness level, write the letters and have them trace over them or write the letters and have them copy underneath your writing.  Do no stress over backwards letters (ie: B and D).  This is normal.  Their name is one of the first things children learn to write and spell correctly.  It will be a hug accomplishment for them!

As children get older, their pictures and writing will become more legible.  You will know that the picture is either of a cow or a rhinoceros.  You may not be sure which, but it's narrowed down to one of those!  A helpful hint done with my Kindergartners was labeling their pictures.  Even if the words were spelled totally wrong and the letters mixed up, it was an introduction to writing.  I modeled by showing them an example of a labeled picture (a house scene with grass, flowers, tress, a plane flying overhead, a sun shining, etc).  I drew a line next to each picture and wrote the word.  Have them create a picture and draw lines next to each word.  They should explore with forming letters and deciding which ones they think spell out each word.  Writing is also great for honing a child's fine motor skills.

There is a time and place for learning the rules of writing.  Once school begins, these will come into place for children.  They have time to explore before these technical aspects arrive.  Foster this independent exploration and show them that it is OK to create without rules, lines or dangling participles.  :)

Reading Starts With R!

The second guest post in the September series by Amanda Lehrman from The Momma Files.
Amanda Lehrman has a background in education and is a mother to her son Jack.  Please check back here for more educational tips to prepare your little ones for school.

Reading is a skill that starts before the days of school.  It begins with babies recognizing pictures in a book and progresses naturally as that child gets older.  My son has a book of first works that was introduced to him when he was a few weeks old.  He knows this book as well as he know us.  For a child who is extremely active and mobile, he will sit still and point to the pictures when we read to him.  The earlier parents begin exposing children to literature and literacy, the more beneficial it will be for those sons and daughters.

If your child is in pre-school or day care they are most likely "reading" every day.  They look at signs in their classroom, they recognize their name on a chair or a cubby and they look at books.  They are reading.  It may not be in the conventional way that we picture it but it is most definitely reading.

If your child is not in a school environment yet, there are plenty of things to do to expose your child to these skills.  Continue reading books every day.  Repeat their favorites as many times as they request.  You may start to notice that they anticipate the next page.  Foster this as much as you can.  Ask them questions about the following pages.  What character will we see next?  What happens to Elmo on the next page?  Even though they cannot read the words, they know exactly what is going on in the book.

Take it a step further and try introducing pattern books.  Many of these books have the same sentence on each page, aside from the last word.  For example, a book can read, "The bear is big", "the bear is brown", " the bear is little" etc.  Even if your child cannot read the words. they will read the book through the pictures.  They will know which description word comes next.  If you think they are ready, introduce questions such as "where is the word brown on this page?" or "What letter does bear begin with"?

It is never too early to introduce children to reading.  They are sponges, taking in everything, even if they cannot verbally express what they are learning.  Give them the chance to amaze you; expose them to literacy early on and you will be pleasantly surprised to see what they can do!

Sharing Precious Moments

Copyright National Geographic

One of my treasured memories growing up, was when I watched National Geographic with my dad. I remember sitting with him as a little girl watching programs about lions, sharks and well, the world. I believe those precious moments impacted the very core of my personality. They taught me to respect the wild and developed my ability to empathize with animals, nature and other people.

I loved all kinds of nature programming even though they didn't offer silly songs or dancing cartoon characters. Actually, in most nature shows the speaker's voice is more on the boring side. Picture the teacher's voice in Ferris Buller's Day Off.

Copyright National Geographic

Why bring this up? This memory is so dear to me that I decided to share that experience with Izzy. I chose kid friendly programs and I was able to turn it into a vocabulary lesson. I pointed out animals like birds, elephants, lions, and pigs during the show. I was then able to tie in words she hears at home like "Do you see the pig sleeping?" Afterwards instead of reading the story in her books, I pointed to drawn versions of the animals on the show. These days, she would rather point out to objects to name than listen to the whole story.

My hope is that she learns to love and respect nature and all the creatures in it like I did. Did you share something with your child that your mom or dad shared with you growing up?