Reading aloud to children, as well as speaking with them as much as possible, helps create an environment that’s rich in language. Exposing toddlers and preschoolers to specific phonological awareness skills can be a part of daily life activities.

Here are some examples:

• Rhyming games. “I’m thinking about an animal that rhymes with frog…that’s right! Dog!” Then, have your child choose a word and ask you to think of a rhyme.
• Rhyming groups. “Let’s think of all the words that rhyme with mat.”
• Nursery songs. Tongue twisters, brief poems, and silly songs let children play with language. Very young children may especially enjoy finger-plays like The Itsy-Bitsy Spider that have hand movements to accompany the words.
• Car time. Ask children to spot a house, then ask what rhymes with house. Mouse! Dog? Log! Tree? Knee!
• Syllables. Help kids learn to break down words into their parts. Rowboat = row boat. Firetruck = fire truck. Eggplant = egg plant. Once a child understands syllables, they can break down words like “ap-ple” where the syllables don’t necessarily have meanings on their own.

We are joining forces with the Turnaround Center and multiple other community resources to participate in a food drive. The class that collects the most donations will receive a pizza party from the Turnaround Center! Donations can be sent in starting next week.

Possible items to donate:

Oats, grits, cereal, mac n cheese, pop top cans, canned foods, peanut butter, crackers, spaghetti, meat sauce, spaghettios or ravioli, snack cakes, juice, toilet paper, paper towels