Day 2: Organizing For a Print Rich Environment

Welcome back to 5 Days of Organizing Your Home to Promote Literacy!  If you missed day 1, click on the above image to view.

 

Today, I’ll focus on organizing your home to create a print rich environment.

First, what is a print rich environment? Simply put, it’s an environment filled with purposeful print.  And whether you homeschool or not, here are some ways to organize your home to make this happen:

1. Labels, Labels, Labels

I LOVE me some labels.  Why?  Because labels can help young children understand that print has meaning.  I have them all over my house-l.i.t.e.r.a.l.l.y!

And I often get comments by first time visitors: “Do you not know where your bathroom is?”

My Top 6 Favorite Things to do With Labels:

*You guessed it-GET ORGANIZED!

When we assembled our new IKEA shelf to hold toys, that’s the first thing ALuv (currently 6) did with our label maker.  It was also a great way to sneak in some spelling.

One of my favorite finds for labeling came from a blogger friend of mine a few years ago.  First, I bought quite a few of these canvas bins from Target to organize toys.  I also bought some 1 inch binder rings (the kind that open and clip closed) and some key rings with tags -both from Office Depot.  I put my label maker to work and I had labels hanging from the bins!  I’ve had these on for at least three years and after multiple play groups and handling only one has fallen off, so they’re very sturdy.

For the young child, pictures can be added with the labels.  You can have your child draw the pictures, draw them yourself, or go to this website to find some domain free clip art.  Pictures beside each word can be especially helpful during clean up time!

*Ask your child to help write the labels, especially in her space (like her bedroom or playroom).  This is such an authentic way to practice handwriting, letters, & their sounds!

If the child is too young to write letters independently, write the letters large enough that she can trace over them, remembering that these labels don’t have to be perfect.

*Put the labels on the walls together!  If you have a lot of labels, break this activity into several days.  This is a great way to talk about letters, their sounds, and other features of a word.  Just listen, “Oh, Tim.  Look at this word.  It has a k at the beginning of the word.  The k makes the /k/ sound.  I wonder which room of the house we’ll put this word in?  The /b/-/b/-bathroom or the /k/-/k/-kitchen?”  Amy of Teach Mama has a super fun post on putting up labels with her kiddos…and so does Malia (The Labeling Game).

*Read or Write the Room

I used these as a literacy centers in my “former” life as a school teacher. I love how Carisa has adapted it for the home!  Kids can wear silly glasses (purchased at the dollar store) or use fun pointers.

*Go on a Letter or Word Hunt

I created a letter hunt for NJoy (currently 3 years old) in my ABC Review Pack.  This same activity could be adapted for older readers.  Create a sheet containing word chunks (phonograms) on it, such as ow, ee, or er and ask the child to find them within words around your house.

2. Word Walls

Word Walls are a common sight within elementary school classrooms.  And there are SO many good reasons to have one in your own home, too!

Word Walls can take up an entire wall, like this one I made for ALuv for our schoolroom.

They can also be smaller, like this current one NJoy is using to accompany my FREE Reading the Alphabet curriculum.

Listed below are some wonderful resources and pictures for more Word Walls:

• Reading Rockets: there are some great suggestions for adaptations at the end!
• Mini Portable Word Walls
• Kitchen Word Walls-I’ve also seen kitchen cabinets used with Post-It Notes and words
• Sight Word Chart
• Seasonal Word Walls

3. Practical Print

Simply use print around your house in practical ways to help them see that print is useful and carries meaning.  For example:

Names– Write your child’s name on sippy cups, bags, hang their name up in their bedroom.  You *name* the place, put it there! (Yes, that corny pun was intended.)

Even if kids don’t like to learn, they usually love to see their own name.  A child’s name is a GREAT place to start in learning about literacy.  I am 100% convinced this is how NJoy learned to write his own name.  I never sat down and taught him.  He was given multiple and meaningful exposures and it took root.

Websites posted by the computer

A shopping list-Here’s a real reason to read and write!  Let children help you spell words they know or read them once you’re at the store.

Now, it’s your turn: What are some ways that you organize your home (or classroom) for a print rich environment?  I’d love to hear your ideas!

Stay tuned tomorrow!  We’ll talk about organizing your routine to integrate literacy.

Click on the image above to get great tips on organizing your homeschool supplies, classical education, your kitchen and MUCH more!

 

If you enjoy these activities and printables, I would encourage you to follow along in one or more of these ways so you don’t miss a thing!

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~Becky