At-Home Literacy Activities

Research tells us that "involvement with reading activities at home has significant positive influences not only on reading achievement, language comprehension and expressive language skills (Gest, Freeman, Domitrovich & Welsh, 2004), but also on pupils’ interest in reading, attitudes towards reading and attentiveness in the classroom (Rowe, 1991)." Extending literacy into the home is paramount in the overall development of young children. Parents play a large role in exposing young children to quality literature to enrich and extend learning from the classroom.

In Jefferson Parish, we utilize the thematic learning of the Frog Street Press Pre-K curriculum to provide extension activities so that parents can play an active role in students' education. Our goal is to extend learning past the walls of our classrooms. There are many fun activities you can do at home to develop literacy skills. Through dynamic instruction and purposeful home/school connections, we are creating lifelong learners and readers. The below activities come recommended from our Pre-K department, and are suited for children from preschool through third grade.

Letter Hunt
Take your child on a scavenger hunt for letters in the home environment. Begin with identifying the letters in the child’s name. When identifying the letters, you can also identify the sound associated with each letter. Once your student shows a familiarity with the letter names and sounds, you can begin to brainstorm and come up with other words that begin with the same sound.

“ABC by Me”Provide paper and guidance for kids to create their very own alphabet book. This is a project you can do with your student over a few weeks, only making a page or 2 at a time. Once your child understands the task, s/he can begin to work on their own to create pages of the book for each letter. Provide your child with a variety of materials; stickers, magazines with pictures to cut out, crayons to create their own drawings, etc. When the book is complete, host a book party with the family to share his/her creation with everyone. (adapted from pbs.org)

Build Vocabulary with CategoriesAs you go about daily tasks around the house, find ways to categorize or sort items throughout the house. This is a great activity for meal times and while doing laundry. Allow your child to sort items and guide him/her to explain their reasoning for the categories (colors, sizes, textures, etc). Use this activity to build new vocabulary and allow your child to explore the world around him/her.

Storytime TipsAll it takes is 15 minutes of reading each day at home to nurture strong literacy skills. Engage your child in reading by encouraging him/her to point to each word. Talk about the story as you read it. What do you think will happen next? What does this story remind you of? How do you think this character feels? Don’t be afraid to read the same book again! Repeated reading helps build reading fluency. This beginning reader guide from "All Students Can Shine" is full of tips and tricks to help you foster literacy while reading with your child at home.