The U.S. ranking 30th out of 45 in literacy motivation for 10 year olds, will make any parent gasp. Why? How? When you think about it, back in the day most children tended to farms and chores with no access to the internet or screens. But today, children living in the U.S. are glued to their screens and doing more sports and after school activities.
What does literacy motivation even mean? It is about kids being curious and wanting to read, write, speak and learn more on their own. Finding that intrinsic motivation inside of them to have a love for reading. While we can look at all kinds of stats and feel like we are doing our kids a disservice in education. We can also band together and find ways to motivate our kids.
So what can we do as the parents to help our kids?
As a mom of 2, I’m also a previous elementary and middle school teacher. I stay up to date on pre k-8th grade education with continuing education courses and guest teaching. Right now I’m nerding out on k-3 literacy. 🤓
Here’s some easy ways to keep your kids motivated with literacy:
1. Grocery shopping- have kids write out the list, read labels, compare prices, find items that start with the letter A, B…
2. In the car: sing songs and talk about lyrics, look at road signs and billboards, play I Spy with specific sounds and letters (“I spy something that starts with the /c/ sound), clapping out syllables of words on billboards, reading a map.
**Many literacy building activities are built into the Time Flies Road trip game for ages 6+ @timefliesgames . I created it in a way to build #literacymotivation without parents having to think about how to do it next time you’re all in the car.
3. At a park- identify trees, plants, birds and write and draw about them in a journal. Find out the history of the park before visiting and have a discussion about past and present.
Research shows what motivates kids the most is hands-on real world exploration.
I hope this helps and please comment with your tips in motivating kids' literacy.
#literacymatters #kidslearningfun #inthecar #atthepark🌳 #groceryshoppingtips #parentstry #familytravel #familyroadtrip
Check out https://www.instagram.com/timefliesgames/ for more travel games for kids that includes lots of humor and sneaky education.