Off to Kindergarten and It's Rigged!

I'm very thankful that Jeannie from Kindergarten Lifestyle has graciously let me hang out on her blog today.  I've left a little post there about how to help struggling readers read without inhibitions.  I hope that you drop by and read it, and let Jeannie know you were there as well.  Thanks!  (Click on the graphic to see what it's all about, but please do return as soon as you can.)

On a different note, I have a great group of parent volunteers, and they'll tell you that I keep them busy.  Unless they happen to be around when the kids are at a special, you won't find them copying papers, cutting, stapling, laminating, or any other menial task.  Instead, they'll be working with kids, because there's simply not enough of me to go around.  In fact, I believe that's the best way to use them.  I'll manage to get that other stuff done, but I won't always be able to pull off giving kids the heavier dose of one-on-one that some of them must have.  

Janice Sullivan, my Reading Recovery instructor/mentor fifteen years ago, introduced me to My Pile, Your Pile.  It's one of those games that my parent volunteers play with kids who need some extra help.  Create a pile of sight words.  If the child knows the word, it goes into their pile.  If not, it goes into the adult's pile.  At the end of the game, the child and the adult count their piles.  The player with the most in their pile wins, and it's always the young-in.  I like to stack the odds against the parent by making sure the child knows most of the words.  I suppose you could say it's rigged.  There are always words in the pile that the child doesn't know though, so I always ask my parent volunteers to play a second time with the child after first reviewing the words that were unknown.  

My Pile, Your Pile is also great with letters, numbers, and numerous other skills.  You might try it.  I can tell you one thing for sure.  The kids will not only walk away with some needed extra practice, but they'll also walk away with big smiles after singlehandedly beating someone's dear, sweet parent.