Right Start Blog

Teacher's Kid

By: Emily Cranwell
Mrs. Cranwell shares how fun and educational it can be to be a teacher's kid!
When our son was in preschool, our house was plastered with sticky notes. Each of these colorful stickies was labeled with a sight word. Our friends would chuckle when they came over and laugh out, “teacher’s kid.” Guilty as charged.

As a teacher I have tried to create some fun ways to build in skills to our daily lives. The good news is: you don’t have to be a teacher to create these opportunities.

During our sticky note phase, one of our son’s favorite games was living room football. What I added to the game was an element where we called out a word and he would race to the matching sticky note. Then he had to try to dodge past one of his parents on “defense” to make it to our couch with the word. He had to be able to read the word to score his touchdown. And he didn’t even know he was reading! (Just think what you could do with your child’s weekly spelling list!)

I am also a big fan of making the most of “boredom.” Waiting can be hard, but it also presents an opportunity where even a small task can be turned into an entertaining game. One of the easiest boredom busters for us has been digging out a handful of loose change when waiting in a restaurant. We offer challenges of increasing difficulty, from ordering the coins and naming them to counting out a given amount or making change. This math work helps develop the skills for counting and ordering coins, but beyond that, as children skip count and add or subtract, they are also developing number sense in a natural, motivating way--especially if they can earn a quarter in the process.

Car rides for us are also a great chance to play games. A classic game that develops working memory is “I’m going on a picnic…” where you add to a growing alphabetical list of items you need to bring with you. On your turn, you say back the items that were added to the list. Car rides are also a good opportunity to listen to audiobooks and for a long time they were part of our bedtime routine, too. After bath and reading together, an audiobook was a relaxing way to settle our son in for the night, and it dramatically decreased the number of trips out of bed to get a drink of water. Not only are the stories enjoyable, but kids are developing their vocabulary and comprehension skills, too. Sneaky, right?

Now that he is a little older, our son has his own ideas…many ideas. One snowy day this winter when he ran out of screen time, our son wanted us to jump on the trampoline. I wasn’t really thrilled at the prospect until he found a way to make the game fun for me as well. His idea was to use a jar and write activities on slips of paper. We would take turns drawing out our notes and doing the task as a family. He added “jump on the trampoline 50 times” and “eat candy” and my husband I balanced the list with “read a book” and “teeth-brushing party!” The activities were varied and made fun by the element of surprise, all while encouraging my son to write his ideas down--another skill made fun.

There are thousands of ways to use fun and games to build children’s foundational skills. As you choose games, think about what skills they might promote: counting and adding with dice, strategy and planning, or working memory to name a few.

What are your family’s favorites?
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