Do you often ask, “How can I make my child pay attention when I try to teach the alphabet?”
Well, there are two main reasons why young children fail to pay attention when adults try to teach them about the alphabet. For some children, the task seems abstract — why learn all those letter names anyway?
Kids are amazing and have the most amazing ideas, so at HOMER we thought it would be fun to tap into their imagination and create some amazing content for kids.
Last week, our friends at Kidpass joined us at The Tribeca Craft Studio to help as some amazing kids got creative. Our team of HOMER kiddos rolled up their sleeves and got to work by letting their imaginations run free. The result? Wild, wacky, and outside-of-the-box ideas that helped us create a new Make Your Own Story activity! Keep reading to find out more.
What are Sight Words?
What’s the most common word in the English language? It’s the. Imagine if every time you saw this word, you had to stop and figure out what it was. It would make reading even the simplest text very slow and painful. Being able to read the at first sight makes things a lot easier: no sounding out, no trying to remember. You recognize it just like your own name. Sight words are words like the. These words occur so frequently that readers, including very young readers, need to know them instantly.
Exploring an area of interest helps children grow their vocabulary and background knowledge, gives them an outlet for creative self-expression, and helps them make sense of how the world works can even help them discover new interests. Importantly, it also creates a positive attitude towards learning that can have a lasting impact.
As March begins, teachers and parents across the country are bracing for another season of test prep in their public schools. Even kindergarten teachers feel pressure to show gains on early literacy assessments that prove their students are making progress on critical reading and math skills.
We spent a significant part of our careers in the New York City Department of Education and understand the importance of measuring student progress. As the creators of HOMER, we’re also passionate about keeping a child’s love of reading alive and well.