By Rhonda Pharr

Children learn the value of education from their parents and how education is viewed in their homes. As a family, you can create a positive outlook on school and learning. Trying innovative, fun ways to reinforce skills at home will help make your child a more enthusiastic and well-rounded student. I will provide a few simple tips and ideas for you to use at home to enhance the education your students are receiving at school.

For young learners who are just beginning to recognize words and are learning to read, place index cards on items around your house such as the refrigerator, television, floor, window, etc. Leave them there for a week or so. Point out to your children that the card shows the word corresponding to the item. After a week or so of the child seeing these words each day, mix them up and place them on the wrong item. Make a game out of how many the child can put back in the correct place. This simple activity will increase your child’s sight vocabulary. Each week, add a few more words, and their vocabulary will continue to grow.

Another way to reinforce sight words is to have your child help you locate items at the grocery store. Make your child a list with the word and a picture beside it. As you are gathering items from your list on that aisle, give your child their list (it can be one or two items on a few rows, or more if you are comfortable with that). Have the child find the items on their list and add them to the buggy. This helps your child learn responsibility while also adding to their sight vocabulary. It will also help them not become bored while shopping.

The kitchen is a great place to reinforce math skills in the home. For children learning fractions (which oftentimes is difficult), have them help you measure items for a recipe using measuring cups and measuring spoons. Take the time to compare what a whole looks like compared with 1/2 and so on. They will enjoy taking part in the cooking process and will love the time they get to spend with you as well.

Create a family “show and tell time” where each member of the family shares what they learned that day. Mom and Dad can even take part in this activity. We all learn something during the day, and it will benefit your children to see that you, too, are learning. Getting excited about learning new things and exhibiting that to your children will help them become excited about school. They will look forward to coming home and sharing with everyone what they have learned. This small amount of time set aside each day shows children that you are interested in what they do each day and that you value education.

Learning can be fun. Enthusiastic parents lead to enthusiastic children. In the words of Dr. Seuss, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”