Science experiments are commonplace in our house, where my son has filled an attic “lab” with mysterious shampoo-based potions sealed in old jars. But few of these projects, Joe and I agree, have been as rewarding as the crystal-tree propagation we tried not long ago. Making the cardboard bases and setting them in a salt […]
The Letter G is an unreliable letter. It makes the “guh” (hard g – /g/ sound) as in garden or dog or the “juh” (soft g – /j/ sound) as in giraffe. When combined with the letter “d”, a grapheme is formed which sounds like /j/ (as in ledger) G is part of the ‘gh’ […]
1. Make Practicing Fun Offer your child a special pencil or a rainbow of colored ones. Don’t just give her words to copy. Try simple word puzzles, anagrams, a game of hangman, or ask her to brainstorm lists around a theme to give writing practice a purpose. Â 2. Encourage Drawing and Puzzle Games In […]
1. Present a lower case and capital E to your child. Explain that E is one of the letters that sometimes makes the same sound as its name. Give examples of long E words, such as eagle, easy, easel and evening. Ask if she knows another sound E makes. Give examples of short e sounds […]
Grow a snowflake in a jar!  string wide mouth jar white pipe cleaners blue food coloring (optional) boiling water (with adult help) borax (available at grocery stores in the laundry soap section) pencil  With a little kitchen science you can create long lasting snowflakes as sparkly as the real ones. Cut a white […]
Black and white glossy acrylic paint Plastic soda or water bottles (we used 12-ounce, 1-liter, and 2-liter bottles) Styrofoam balls (2- to 3-inch diameter) Black and yellow craft foam sheets Tacky glue Masking tape (optional) Butter knife Googly eyes (we used 3/4- to 1-inch diameter) Funnel Sand Small doll accessories (optional) Child’s socks (optional) Permanent […]
On a piece of wax paper squeeze a dot of glue about the size of a quarter. I give each child 8 or 9 Q-Tips, and they lay one end of the Q-tip into the glue. Continue placing Q-Tips around the circle of glue. Completely dry (day or two) and peel off wax paper. (Some […]
The Letter D is a generally reliable letter. It usually makes the “duh” sound as in dog or sad.  D sometimes makes the /t/ sound (especially when it is the suffix “ed” as in kissed) When combined with another consonant, especially the letter “g”, a grapheme is formed which sounds like /j/ (as in ledger) […]
