Following on the heels of contributor Amy Anderson’s wonderful post on letter writing from Wednesday, here are five more ideas for keeping your child’s language arts skills fresh this Summer.

With a grin on her face, my eight year old declares, “Mooom, I ain’t gots nothing to do.” She does this on purpose, of course, knowing that her words will make me cringe as if she had scratched her fingernails down the chalkboard.

While I know she is speaking this way just to tease me, this does raise the issue of the potential for languishing language arts skills now that summer vacation is here.  She made such progress during the last school year, and I don’t want to see those skills fade over the break before school begins this fall.

Seeking to keep our language arts skills fresh and ready for the school year ahead, I’ve been making sure that certain activities and grammar exercises have been a part of our summer time fun.

Perhaps a few of these will be a hit with your little scribes as well.

1. Mad Libs

One of our favorite games for grammar and parts of speech review is Mad Libs. These books are available in a wide range of themes. There is even an iphone app and an online widget now as this classic game adapts to these modern times.

Playing with a pencil and paper is still our favorite way to enjoy Mad Libs, and sometimes we don’t even use an official book, but make up our own.
[Read more...]

The following post is by contributor Amy Anderson of Let’s Explore.

Every day, my daughters excitedly walk to the mailbox and check to see if they received any letters. There is just something special about receiving a hand-written note in the mail. I love it, too!

Writing letters is a wonderful way to maintain connections with family and friends. And, letter-writing provides meaningful reading and writing practice.

To make letter-writing a regular part of our weekly routine, I put together a kit with all the supplies we need. Toddlers and preschoolers can use a kit like this alongside mom or dad, and older kids can develop independence with all the helpers and fun inspiration.

We keep our letter-writing kit in an inexpensive plastic envelope from the office supply store. I added a ribbon handle, just for fun. It’s portable, so the girls can take it to their desks, or we can throw it in the car when we’re heading out on vacation. A basket, caddy, or small suitcase would work as well.

Here is a peek at all the goodies in our letter-writing kit: [Read more...]