Literacy Ideas for the Dinner Table

Conversations

• An old-fashioned family conversation around the dinner table not only helps your family bond, but builds literacy skills. Literacy involves all aspects of language, including speaking. By talking about your day and asking your child questions, you help expand his vocabulary and understanding of language. He may hear words related to your daily experience that he doesn't know. Use this learning opportunity to explain the meaning of words that are new to him. Recounting the day's events teaches sequencing -- a useful skill in reading, comprehending and retelling stories he reads. Prompt him by asking questions, such as, "What did you do after Charlie pushed you down at recess."

Interactive Place Mats

• Place mats protect the table, but they also give you a chance to work in literacy at mealtime. Glue various pictures, letters or words onto a rectangle of paper. Your child can name the objects or read the words and letters to expand his literacy. Another idea is to design a game on the place mats. For example, hide certain words or pictures in a collage on the paper. Write a key on a blank portion of the mat so your child knows what he needs to find. Laminate the homemade mats to keep food and drinks from soaking in.

Menus and Recipes

• Menus are more common at a restaurant table, but you can make up your own menus at home to increase your child's interest in literacy. Print out a weekly menu to keep on the table that shows all of the upcoming meals. If you don't plan in advance, keep a dry-erase board nearby so you can write the meal's components on the menu. For younger children, include a picture by each item listed to help with reading. The recipe cards you use also help develop your child's reading skills. Carry the recipe cards over to the dinner table so your child can practice reading them.

Games

• Dinner doesn't need to be serious or boring. Playing literacy games during meals keeps the mood light and helps your child strengthen his literacy base. A guessing game related to the meal encourages him to think of related words. For example, you might say, "Name something on your plate that rhymes with born," on a night you're serving corn. Another idea is an "I Spy" game with items you can see from the dining table. Describe the object you spy so the others can guess what it is. A sample description is something that starts with the letter "W" for a pitcher of water on the table. A variation is to find as many object in the table area that start with a certain letter. For the letter "S," possibilities are salad, salt and soy sauce.