Homeschooling - language art centers

There are million variations on these centers.  Be creative and try to use what you already have around the house.  When you do need to  purchase something try the dollar store or yard sales before paying full price.

Sand writing - a shallow tray of sand

Write letters or sight words in the sand.

Playdough writing - playdough (if playdough is too messy for you, try chenille wires instead)

Form letters or sight words with playdough.

Boggle Junior - Boggle Jr. game (I got one at a yard sale.)

This game has 3 and 4 letter word cards with pictures on them. The word is covered; the child sees the picture and tries to spell it with the letter blocks. Then they uncover the word to check themselves.

Upper/Lower case letter match – flashcards of letters – upper and lower case on separate cards (dollar store or make your own)
They will need some space to spread out all of the cards and then they match the letters.

“Creative” writing – a notepad and a pencil
Your child tries to spell (sound out) words of things around them. I said he was a word detective trying to take notes on what was around him.  You can also write words for them and have them copy.  As they get older you can encourage them to write simple sentences.

Sight word scrabble – sight word cards (dollar store or make your own), scrabble letters (You can also use refrigerator magnet letters, letter blocks, or anything else you have on hand.)

The child pulls out a sight word and tries to spell the word with scrabble letters. It's more challenging than you think because the sight words are in lower case and the scrabble letters are in upper case.

Whiteboard writing – whiteboard, dry erase marker

You can use any small whiteboard but I had one of these flip-style activity boards.  There is also a smaller version that I found at a dollar store.

Word-searches – printable word-searches, highlighter

You can print very simple word-searches that even non-readers can do. Kids at this age think highlighters are amazing.