Nurturing a Love of Language for children
It’s never too early to start nurturing a love of language in your children (they’ll thank you later, and the benefits will last a lifetime). Break out of boring old textbook exercises, and show your kids that learning vocabulary, spelling and grammar can actually be fun. Whether you’re teaching your children the basics of English or introducing them to a second language, you can blend these activities with playtime through reading, games and songs.
Learn With Word Games
- The new Frecklebox sight word pad is an indispensable tool for teaching your beginning reader the 20 most common words in the English language. Each word has its own activity page, drawing and flash card to reinforce learning.
- Quick! Say, “She sells seashells by the seashore” five times fast! Rediscover your favorite tongue twisters and expect a lot of giggling fits.
- Turn your Frecklebox personalized notebook into a word game activity center. Play games of hangman and bingo; create your own simple crossword puzzles and word searches—the possibilities are endless.
- Check out Super Silly Mad Libs Junior, the perfect zany story game for younger readers who need a little more help figuring out adjectives, nouns, verbs and so on. You can even play online.
Learn With Board Games
Your favorite grown-up board games are often available in kid-friendly “junior” versions that are both fun and educational. Some of our favorites:
- Apples to Apples Kids – This easy-to-play game geared toward early readers teaches language through hilarious comparisons.
- Boggle Junior – Preschoolers who are just learning how to spell and read will love this simple matching game. (For older kids, the original Boggle is also tons of fun.)
- Scrabble Junior – This version of the classic game has a two-sided board, one for beginners and one for advanced players, to grow with your kids.
Learn a Foreign Language
The younger you are, the easier it is to pick up a second language. Get your kids interested at an early age with these fantastic interactive tools.
- MUZZY (http://www.early-advantage.com/) — The beloved BBC teaching method uses animated stories and catchy songs to expose children to a new language.
- iTunes podcasts – Browse the language learning section of iTunes podcasts to find a wide variety in a number of foreign tongues.
- Rosetta Stone for Kids – This full-immersion, visual and interactive system is available in 31 languages, from Spanish and French to Russian and Thai.