Practice Skills Page

Dear Parents,

Below are some ideas for phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and mathematics skill practice you can help your child with at home.  These are good to do at home on days when there is no assigned homework.  Many of them can also be done as you are driving in the car, getting ready for bed, making dinner, etc.

ENJOY!!

NAME THE BEGINNING SOUND OR LETTER?  -  You say a word and ask your child to tell you the first sound they hear or letter of the word?  Example:  What is the first sound you hear in “cat”?  or   What letter does “cat” begin with?

NAME THE ENDING SOUND OR LETTER?  -  Same thing, but for the last  sound/letter of a word.  Example:  What is the last sound of “cat”?  What letter does “dog” end with?

DO THE WORDS RHYME?  -  Say two words and ask your child to tell you whether or not they rhyme.  Example:  Do “cat” and “hat” rhyme?  Do “dog” and “dish” rhyme?  Can you give me a word that rhymes with “cat”?

WHICH ONE DOES NOT BELONG?  -  Say three or four words and ask which one does not belong.  Example:  cat, cow, rag, corn (rag does not belong because all of the others start with c).  You can do this game with beginning or ending sounds, letters, or rhymes.

SPELLING:  -  Say a short word and help your child sound out how to spell it correctly.  You can do this out loud or on paper.  Help your child hear the individual sounds and connect them with the right letters.

COUNTING:  -  Have your child practice counting to 100.  If he/she cannot go up to 100 yet, work up to it slowly.  Work on 1-20, then 1-30, etc. until your child can go all the way to 100.  Then change the goal to counting by 10s, 5s, 2s.  Ask your child to name the odd/even numbers to 10. 

ADDITION/SUBTRACTION:  -  Say a simple math problem out loud and ask your child to tell you the answer.  Example:  There are three potato chips on your plate.  If I give you four more, how many will you have all together?

WRITING NUMBERS:  -  Have your child practice writing his/her numbers from 1-20.  Also, higher numbers.  You can do just ten numbers at a time like

41-50.

WHAT NUMBER COMES BEFORE/AFTER:  -  Say a number from 1-100 and ask your child what number comes after that number or before that number.  Example:  What number comes after 23?  What number comes before 78?

WHICH NUMBER IS GREATER/LESS:  -  Say two numbers and ask your child which one is greater (bigger) or which one is less (smaller).