Motivate Your 1st Grader
Ever wish there was a secret to unlocking your child's natural love of learning? Try these tricks.
If you know what inspires kids at every age, you'll find the key to helping them master new skills and become successful students. Here's how to nurture your enthusiastic learner.
1st Graders Love: Dramatic play
How It Promotes Learning: Making up and acting out stories builds literacy and social skills, says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., a child development psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia and co-author of Einstein Never Used Flashcards. "Research shows that children who are able to tell and act out stories are better readers," she says. Whenever your child creates scenarios or reenacts a beloved tale, she's practicing story sequencing — a necessary reading and writing skill, explains Dianne Carter, a veteran 1st grade teacher for many years at Anne Hutchinson School in Eastchester, New York (she now teaches 2nd grade). Through pretend play, your child learns that a story has a beginning (where the characters and setting are established); a middle (where most the action happens); and an ending (where a problem gets solved). Role-playing also requires your child to see the world through the eyes of another — an essential social skill that builds empathy and tolerance.
Motivating Activities:
- Create a costume center. Fill a drawer or box with old clothing, scarves, shoes, glasses and other props to inspire pretend play. Also toss in some open-ended items to spark kids' imagination. A cardboard box can be transformed into a taxi; a paper plate might become a mask or hat. "Using familiar things in new ways helps your child become a flexible thinker," says Dr. Hirsh-Pasek. Watch from the sidelines first to determine the roles, before joining in. "You want to follow your child's lead," cautions Ellen Frede, co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and an associate professor at the College of New Jersey. He may invite you to be a specific character; or you can try introducing a new one and expanding the plotline. If your son invites you to play house, for example, you might knock on the door and say you need some help planning a party. Ask things like, "What kind of food shall we serve?" or "Where should I have my party?"
- Have a puppet read to your child. "Puppets are very real to children this age and can be used to engage them in conversation and vocabulary-building," says Carter. Be playful as you bring the puppet to life. Start with familiar stories, nursery rhymes, and poems, told in a squeaky or bellowing voice. Hearing rhymes and repetitive verses, brings kids' attention to the initial and ending sounds in words. The puppet can also lead a silly sing-along. Clapping and stomping along to musical favorites like Bingo, Willoughby Wallaby Woo, and Apples and Bananas reinforces the rhythm of language, teaches your child about syllables, and gets her comfortable switching sounds around. "The rhythmic patter helps your child figure out what word will fit next, something essential in learning to read," says Amy James, author of First Grade Success.
- Move to the music. Music is another great vehicle for dramatic play. Pop in an instrumental CD and pretend to be different animals. As your child gallops, slithers or kangaroo-hops, he's using his body to express himself and bolstering gross motor skills in the process.
