Reading Mail

If you are looking for a fun activity to help your early readers gain literacy skills, then I recommend this game. M enjoys writing little notes to place in her mailbox for me to read and then I write little notes to her. She calls this the "secret messages" game and it's a great way to reinforce literacy with simple words and sentences. It is also a good activity to engage younger siblings who like to scribble their own notes for the mailbox!

As much as M and I love "Dick and Jane," these types of homemade reading exercises add some variety and help kids to enjoy writing their letters and sounding out words. Activities like these also showcase an important benefit of homeschooling: the ability to tailor curriculum to your child's interests and abilities. For instance, M is still very eager for Easter to arrive, so this morning's mailbox messages focused on notes about bunnies, and eggs, and other Easter accoutrements. These types of activities also make learning easy and fun, so there's no need to set aside special time for "school," (unless that works well for your learners), but instead include games like this one as part of your routine play.

I just discovered this great phonics game, using Easter eggs, from another homeschooling mom.... M will love this!