The only downside to attending Los Angeles private schools is the traffic during drop-off and pickup. Rather than just sitting and waiting for the cars to go, you can turn this downtime into a fun learning activity. There are a ton of cute games you can play in the car together that will help your child practice their reading skills. Here are some of our favorites:
“I Spy”
This classic game is super easy to play. You simply find something in the environment and say “I spy…”. Give it a phonological twist by offering the first letter as a clue. If you see a tree, you can say “I spy something that starts with a T.” Take turns spying things with your child. This will help your child begin to associate letters with words with objects in their world.
Make Rhymes
Rhymes are a fun way to stimulate learning memory and practice phonetics. Pick a word and have your child find a rhyme for it. For example, you can say “cat.” Your child would then respond with “bat.” Try to give your child some challenging words too like “orange” or “wolf” to stimulate the creative use of language.
Alphabet Game
Pick a letter for the car ride. Then look for things on your drive that start with that letter and call them out. For example, you can pick the letter “C”. On your drive you could see “cars,” “cats,” and “coats.” You can even do one letter every day until you go through the whole alphabet. Guessing together helps your child learn new words like “cathedral,” “college,” or “commute.”
License Plate Sentences
This game can get very silly. Take the letter combinations off of license plates from other cars. Then make a sentence where each other starts with one of the license plate letters. For example, if a license plate is “ZMP456,” you could say “Zig Zag Monkey Pies.” It’s a great way to practice vocabulary words and laugh together.
Categories
Categories are a great way to help children associate related words. You simply choose a category like “things that are green.” Then have your child name ten things that are green like “frogs,” “trees,” and “tennis balls.” A great idea is to work with your child’s classroom vocabulary list.
These reading games will help make your commute to Los Angeles private schools more fun and educational. For more reading games and ideas, talk to your Valley School teachers. We love partnering with parents to help our students thrive!