Jon and Rue Kream

Madlibs, hangman, and word searches are fun. ~Rue

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

mamaaj2000

I'm looking for ideas on things to do with my ds, almost 4. He loves
to play with words (just like me...and my mom...), making up new
words to songs, rhyming words (sometimes they actually rhyme, too!),
etc. He's been telling us what letter words start with, asking me how
to spell words. He recognizes a lot of words and is learning to
figure out the word from context and the first letter.

I'm probably going to buy a LeapPad for him soon. I'm looking for
things to do and play, but lots of stuff I come across is trying to
make teaching reading *fun*, which isn't what I'm looking for.

Hope that made sense, I'm being pulled (literally!) away from the
computer!!

--aj

Jonni-Ann Goulding

We love our LeapPad. And even though many are aimed at that whole "make learning fun" attitude as well-my son LOVES to play with it and mix the words up and play the games.

We make crossword puzzles together too and are just starting to do crossword puzzles. Word searches are great. We haven't tried MadLibs but I keep eyeing the books.

Oh and if he likes making songs and poetry and stuff, you can buy (or even make) refrigerator poetry. They have boxes with magnets with words in it and you mix and match the magnets to make poems and silly sentences. I know you can buy different sets at Border's (if you have that chain where you are) but we made our own. We just got flat magnet stuff from a craft store and we sat over a couple of nights just thinking of all different types of words we might like to play with. We typed and printed the words out and glued the to the magnets and voila! A homemade custom version that cost about half the price. We use it to make silly sentences and even to make messages to each other on the fridge.

There used to be a game with wooden dice and each side had a word instead of a number. That was always fun though I haven't found the game again as an adult. I'm thinking though that maybe that too is something i could make with blocks of scrap wood cut into cubes. You shake them up and take turns making fun sentences from whatever words appear on the dice.

Hope that helps,

Jonni-Ann
Mom to Joshua age 7 and Jenna age 5 (amateur wordsmiths all) :)

mamaaj2000 <mamaaj2000@...> wrote:
I'm looking for ideas on things to do with my ds, almost 4. He loves
to play with words (just like me...and my mom...), making up new
words to songs, rhyming words (sometimes they actually rhyme, too!),
etc. He's been telling us what letter words start with, asking me how
to spell words. He recognizes a lot of words and is learning to
figure out the word from context and the first letter.

I'm probably going to buy a LeapPad for him soon. I'm looking for
things to do and play, but lots of stuff I come across is trying to
make teaching reading *fun*, which isn't what I'm looking for.

Hope that made sense, I'm being pulled (literally!) away from the
computer!!

--aj


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Dana Matt

My kids really liked magnetic poetry (still do)...lots
of words to line up and make sentences out of. They
have sets that have easier to read words than others,
or sets that might interest, say, dog lovers or other
interests...
Dana
in MOntana




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Valerie

Yeah, Laurie got me the erotic version several years back. Try
scraping 500 magnets off of your fridge when your parents surprise
visit! <g>

love, Valerie
www.ubpub.com

--- In [email protected], Dana Matt
<hoffmanwilson@y...> wrote:
> My kids really liked magnetic poetry (still do)...lots
> of words to line up and make sentences out of. They
> have sets that have easier to read words than others,
> or sets that might interest, say, dog lovers or other
> interests...
> Dana
> in MOntana
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!
> http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

Lanie Carlson-Lim

we use these too :)

Lanie
----- Original Message -----
From: Dana Matt
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Nurturing Interests--word play


My kids really liked magnetic poetry (still do)...lots
of words to line up and make sentences out of. They
have sets that have easier to read words than others,
or sets that might interest, say, dog lovers or other
interests...
Dana
in MOntana




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Joan Labbe & Salvatore Genovese

My daughter had a period where she loved playing letter games with the
roladex and also playing hangman (although we usually drew whatever she was
interested in at the time for the "hangman" like scooby doo or a character
from a book she liked or whatever). She also did this thing where she
picked out a "favorite letter" and focused on spelling, writing and
discovering words with that letter (her first one was "X" and she had a few
more after that). She also liked and still plays the computer game "Ready
to Read with Pooh" which she got because she saw the letter "X" on the CD
cover and she loves Pooh.

Joan

************************
"I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than
live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it." ... Harry
Emerson Fosdick

pam sorooshian

"Games for Reading" by Peggy Kaye - should be in libraries. Other books
by her are great, too.

-pam

On Aug 16, 2004, at 1:31 PM, mamaaj2000 wrote:

> I'm looking for ideas on things to do with my ds, almost 4. He loves
> to play with words (just like me...and my mom...), making up new
> words to songs, rhyming words (sometimes they actually rhyme, too!),
> etc.
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.

melissazietlow

--- In [email protected], "Valerie" <valerie@u...>
wrote:
> Yeah, Laurie got me the erotic version several years back. Try
> scraping 500 magnets off of your fridge when your parents surprise
> visit! <g>
>
> love, Valerie
> www.ubpub.com


How HILARIOUS!

Melissa Z.

melissazietlow

--- In [email protected], Jonni-Ann Goulding
<wine_2_water@y...> wrote:
> We love our LeapPad. And even though many are aimed at that
whole "make learning fun" attitude as well-my son LOVES to play with
it and mix the words up and play the games.

I have been considering a LeapPad for my girls for some time, but
keep changing my mind about it, and opting for computer games. I have
not been sure if we would get our money's worth (we are on a
budget). I already know they like the computer, and we can get games
from the library. But the LeapPad seems like a lot of fun and
another way to facilitate learning without teaching...for those of us
who still need to be reassured that learning is happening.

> Oh and if he likes making songs and poetry and stuff, you can buy
(or even make) refrigerator poetry. We typed and printed the words
out and glued the to the magnets and voila! A homemade custom
version that cost about half the price. We use it to make silly
sentences and even to make messages to each other on the fridge.

Great idea to make your own!

BTW, I love the word WORDSMITH! That decribes me!

melissazietlow

--- In [email protected], pam sorooshian
<pamsoroosh@m...> wrote:
> "Games for Reading" by Peggy Kaye - should be in libraries. Other
books by her are great, too.


Pam,

What a cool coincidence that this topic came up today, because I got
on today to specifically report how great these books are, and to
thank you, Pam for the recommendation! I bought all three (Reading,
Writing and Math) instead of curriculum and just started using them.
My girls LOVE the games so far, and we are having a blast. Plus, I
feel reassured as I am seeing some neat things happening as we play.
For instance, today, we played word charades for the first time using
animal words. We had a lot of fun! After the first time around, my
5yod wanted to make her own cards, and asked me how to spell bear,
dinosaur, cow and elephant. She recognized all the words the second
time we played. We also played Word Search and found word cards that
we hid all over the house. I made them with the names of family
members and we pretended they were lost in the wilderness. They got
a kick out of finding grandmas, cousins, and themselves, and begged
to play again! And older dd recognized all the words again!

Besides seeing learning from these games, we are spending quality
time together, which I have struggled with.

On another happy note, my 5yod has been asking how to snap her
fingers recently. The other night she came out of her bedroom quite
late to tell me we need to "get a book from the library on how to
snap so I can learn how to do it"!!!

We also had an outdoor recorder concert last night, followed by an
impromptu parade with kiddie instruments!

Guess the unschooling is going well!
Melissa Z.

Jonni-Ann Goulding

The LeapPads are getting cheaper and cheaper here. I just found on the K-Mart Clearance rack some of the Quantum LeapPads (that have more advanced games and things) and we got the Pads for $15 and the books for $5 each. Also some libraries have LeapPad books to borrow.

--- In [email protected], melissazietlow <Zietlowfamily@...> wrote:

<<But the LeapPad seems like a lot of fun and
another way to facilitate learning without teaching...for those of us who still need to be reassured that learning is happening. >>

Funny but I've been feeling this and am starting to wonder if every year at "back to school" time I will feel this. I start second guessing and wondering if I'm "doing" enough or are they falling "behind" and all of those things that I know in my heart are ridiculous to worry about and yet I do. Maybe it's part of why I do like the LeapPads and get encouraged when I see them playing "educational" stuff.

Regardless though, they love their leappads and I'm already excited about Christmas when we break out the new Quantum Pads and LapPad sticks (also on Clearance). They liked them back when they were pricey and now they're a steal. I love when that happens.

Jonni-Ann (in San Juan)

PS I love the word "wordsmith".


melissazietlow <Zietlowfamily@...> wrote:
--- In [email protected], Jonni-Ann Goulding
<wine_2_water@y...> wrote:
> We love our LeapPad. And even though many are aimed at that
whole "make learning fun" attitude as well-my son LOVES to play with
it and mix the words up and play the games.

I have been considering a LeapPad for my girls for some time, but
keep changing my mind about it, and opting for computer games. I have
not been sure if we would get our money's worth (we are on a
budget). I already know they like the computer, and we can get games
from the library. But the LeapPad seems like a lot of fun and
another way to facilitate learning without teaching...for those of us
who still need to be reassured that learning is happening.

> Oh and if he likes making songs and poetry and stuff, you can buy
(or even make) refrigerator poetry. We typed and printed the words
out and glued the to the magnets and voila! A homemade custom
version that cost about half the price. We use it to make silly
sentences and even to make messages to each other on the fridge.

Great idea to make your own!

BTW, I love the word WORDSMITH! That decribes me!



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