Guest Author - Meg Grooms

This morning found us at Wal-Mart on an emergency dog food run. We had a bit of a wait in line (don't we always at Wal-mart??) and out of nowhere I started teaching my children about prefixes, specifically pre-. Prefixes are one of those things I've always MEANT to explain but just never have.

When you have a large family it's so important to take the few minutes you have here and there to discuss a topic you might otherwise not get around to (or forget). Books on tape are a favorite here, as well as educational videos and computer games. These items help create learning time when there otherwise might not be any.

Other ideas for learning on the fly:

-BATH TIME - Even when your child is old enough to bathe indpendently, this is a prime time for learning. You can buy special bath toys in the shapes of letters, or make your own from craft foam (dry well!) Use this time to mix and match colors using bath water dye.

-DINNER TIME - if you can stand having your kids in the kitchen, this is a good time to teach basic math and chemistry concepts, as well as life skills.

-DRIVE TIME - as I mentioned, books on tape are ideal and inexpensive. We recently purchased several story cassettes for $.99 each at a thrift store. Coloring books, Leap Pads (a learning tool made by LeapFrog), lap books, and small felt sets are great ideas. To make a portable felt board simply cut a piece of felt to about 15" and place it with several felt characters into a gallon zipper bag.

-LUNCH TIME - cut sandwiches into fractions or shapes. Drill students on math facts between bites.

-PLAY TIME - write math, science, spelling words, etc. on a beach ball. Toss the ball back and forth and have the child answer the question that lands between their hands.

Squeezing the most out of a few extra minutes can provides hours of learning time in the span of a month!

Please join in our forum discussion on this topic!

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