Language activities
Naming the world, hearing sounds, playing with rhymes, then building first words: language grows with real objects and the three-period lesson, never with worksheets to fill in.
19 Language activities, sorted by age. Every one works at home, with what you already have.
For 18 to 24 months
The Real Objects Basket
Five household objects in a basket, and one exact word set on each.
Real Picture Books
A book of real photographs, an adult fully present: words arrive through the lap.
Action Songs
The same songs, the same motions, every day: music that plants the words.
Naming Body Parts
Where's your nose, where's your elbow: the words for the body arrive through the pointing finger.
Animal Sounds
The cow says moo, the cat says meow: first words often start right here.
For 2 to 3 years
Naming Pictures
A handful of animal or object cards, and the three-period lesson that makes words stick for good.
Object and Picture Matching
Setting the real spoon on the photo of a spoon: the bridge between the world and its images.
Grace and Courtesy
Greeting, thanking, asking, in a two-person role-play: courtesy gets rehearsed before it gets lived.
Learning Colors
Red, blue, yellow: three tablets, three words, and the three-period lesson.
For 3 to 4 years
Beginning Sounds
"I see something that starts with mmm..." The very first step toward reading.
Opposites
Heavy and light, rough and soft: words the hands understand before the mouth can say them.
Sequencing Pictures
Three pictures from the same story to put in order, then tell: the story starts to take shape.
The Rhyming Game
Cat and hat sound the same at the end: the ear getting ready to read before a book is even opened.
Clapping Syllables
A word, a few claps: your child hears that words are made of pieces.
Sorting Pictures into Categories
Animals on one side, fruit on the other: vocabulary finds its own drawers.
For 4 to 6 years
Name Writing in a Rice Tray
A tray of rice, one finger, and a name you can erase with a swipe to start again.
Sandpaper Letters
Letters to trace with fingertips, saying their sound: the hand learns to write before the crayon does.
First Words with the Movable Alphabet
Spelling out "mom" with letters you place, long before you can hold a crayon: the magic of the movable alphabet.
Writing a Real Letter
Writing to someone who will write back: writing finally serves a purpose.