by Sarah Perryman

Created on: October 17, 2007

The best parents and teachers know that play is not just for fun. Play is the number one teaching tool for every student, in and out of the classroom. If you want to stimulate the student's cognitive abilities make ordinary lessons extraordinary through play. Parents at home can easily turn homework time into play time with these simple ideas:

Spelling

Cheer Spelling A lot of children are not natural spellers. On top of this, sitting though a spelling list and saying the letters over and over is hard on an active student. The best way to spice up a spelling list for the wiggly speller is to get them out of the chair and moving. When you first receive the spelling list write them on index cards in bold letters. Ask your student to stand in the middle of the room and, as they read the letters from the card, make them with their body. As they make each letter have them yell it out like a cheerleader would. After they have become familiar with what words they have, remove the index cards and simply call out the word.

Draw the Word For the visual student, writing the spelling word may work very well. If you use this method, consider spicing it up with a little art work. Supply your student with crayons or markers and ask them to draw a picture of the word on a large piece of paper. This doesn't mean draw a picture of a bird for the word bird. It means that the student should draw out the letters by using bubble or block letters and color them in with interesting patterns or solid colors. One trick to this activity is to limit the time they have to draw each word. Challenge them with a realistic amount of time and help them color if they need it. When the student is finished with the words hang them up like a poster so they can see each word and how it is spelled.

Reading and Literature

Acting Out For many students the task of reading is a chore. They spend more time focusing on the words than what is being said. Reading assignments, for all ages, can become a lot more interesting by acting out the story. To make this a success, first read the book with the student so they are familiar with it. After that, ask them to act out the story as you read it to them. They can choose to be one of the characters or all of them. Allow them to say what the character is saying by letting them read the part from the book like a script. If you want to change up this activity or make to work for older students, video tape the performance.

Night Reading Students of all ages are often

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