There are many family home activities that can supplement the learning that takes place in your child’s classroom. Take the initiative to think of family ideas that make your home a place where education is goes on all the time. This is a mindset that one needs to get into. Always keep your eyes open for opportunities to encourage learning and improve grades through fun family activities.
Some time ago Forbes magazine featured a new company that made a product called Magnetic Poetry. Magnetic Poetry is nothing more than words on magnets. You can re-arrange the words to come up with silly sentences and stories. I fell in love with this product immediately and had to have it for my homeschool. I e-mailed Forbes and asked for the company’s phone number. I then phoned the company and asked for the name of the local stores that carried their product.
When I reached the store, I was quite disappointed. Not only did the product cost $20; it was geared for adults. I left empty-handed. On the way home I stopped at the craft store and picked up two magnet sheets for $3 each. I decided to make my own Magnetic Poetry.
Upon arriving home, I sat down at my computer and typed easy words for my beginner readers. I set the margins on my computer to the same size as the magnetic sheets and enlarged the font to 36 points. I was able to fit 117 words onto the two pages. You could use a smaller font for older children and easily double the number of words. I made sure to include the children’s names as well as “Mom” and “Dad” to add to the fun.
The magnetic sheets had peel-off backings so I could effortlessly stick the print out from my computer to the reverse. The magnet cuts easily with regular scissors. In less than ten minutes I had magnet fun! I used a metal cookie sheet to hold the words. The side of the refrigerator and stove also work well. My usually not-so-eager readers were having a blast re-arranging and reading the words. The best part - not only were my children having fun while learning; I saved $14.00!
As my children have grown in knowledge, our magnet fun has become more challenging. I make the words more complicated as their reading levels increase. I arrange the magnets to teach sentence structure. I use the Greek font on my word processor when we studied Ancient Greece. I even found that I could use the magnets to teach English roots, prefixes, and suffixes. The kids enjoy mixing up the roots to make silly new words such as telephobos and phonephilia. When we add Latin to our studies next year, I can print out Latin words.
You can even forgo the magnets and glue your words to cardboard, then use your kitchen table to play. Use your imagination--and don’t forget to have fun!