Syllables: Bring 'The Clapper' Out of the Closet

 

Today's Snack: Rice Krispies cereal with milk and just a little sugar - and after you listen for the snap, crackle, pop, clap your hands to make it go "snap, crackle, pop, clap!" Then, as you eat, make a count of all other (polite!) body noises you can make. Can you make 10 different noises? Bet you can!

 

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Supplies:

 

A plug-in "clapper" device

A book of clever children's poetry

 

 

OK, I know, it's one of the nerdiest products on the market. You know "The Clapper," the device you can plug into a lamp or TV, and when you clap your hands, it turns it on or off? "The Clapper" has been advertised for years as a help for couch potatoes, the disabled, and the elderly. Most everyone has one in their closet somewhere. But did you know "The Clapper" can be a great aid to help your young child with prewriting skills?

 

Writing is like music: it's rhythmic and dynamic. It ebbs and flows. It has a "beat." You can help make that clear to your child by the way you read aloud, with inflections and varying how loud and soft your voice gets. But you can also play around with the music of speech by using "The Clapper."

 

Plug it in to a light, and then get out your child's favorite book of kiddie poetry, perhaps some good old Dr. Seuss. Read a line aloud. Both you and your child should clap on the last word. You can laugh at the effect your clapping has on the light. Then read aloud the next sentence, and clap on the last word. Again, pause and enjoy the effect.

 

Gradually, your child will pick up the rhythm of the rhyme. Eventually, you can clap at each accented word, and if you really get in to it, you can clap for each individual syllable.

 

            Either with the Clapper device, or your own hands, clap on each of these syllables:

 

            Jack and Jill

            Went up a hill

            To fetch a pail of wa-ter

 

            Jack fell down

            And broke his crown

            And Jill came tum-bling af-ter.

 

Do the same thing with other nursery rhymes and children's poems, even lines to your child's favorite songs.

 

It's important to train a young child to "hear" individual syllables in words. That prepares them to someday write those individual syllables in proper order on paper. The better trained your child's "ear" is to the sounds the English alphabet letters make when spoken aloud, the easier the transition to putting words down on paper will be.

 

Yes, to the outside world, you might look idiotic doing this. But it's great for your child to get a feel for the rhythm of our language. It will pay off in more flowing writing on down the road. There's nothing embarrassing about that. In fact, you deserve applause for being a good parent setting your child up to be a good writer!

 

Imagine a theater full of people with "The Clappers" . . . appreciating your efforts to help your child grow up to be a good writer . . . and take a bow.