A Way with Words – Teach Words While Shopping and Cooking for Dinner

Kids learn words all the time and often it is hard to get them to say it right. It takes a lot of patience especially with smaller kids. My husband and I are constantly looking for ways to teach them proper grammar, saying and speaking right and politely - when they answer the phone, when they greet their friends and family, when they speak to us and others. We even have mini toastmaster’s sessions in our hall, just to teach them a bit of public speaking and putting words together correctly and clearly.

Books also provide a good guide to teaching kids words. We found some great books , not too expensive (less than USD15 some as low as just below USD4.00) just to get them to read and say the words as they read. It also helps with the teaching.

One method that we found was an absolute delight was through the whole cooking process – shopping and cooking. It also helps with managing our time. Between working, caring for the kids and household work, it can be a challenge finding time to teach them anything!

Decide on a menu for the meal or just a list of things you need to get from the market or supermarket.

For example
First Make a list – get your children to sit with and decide what you need to buy:
1. Loaf of Bread
2. Butter
3. Chicken Meat
4. Vegetables – carrots and cabbage
5. Bunch of flowers
6. Small vase
7. Dishwasher
8. Stationery for school
9. Tin opener

2. Start simply – don’t need to complicate it:

“Let's write a list of things we need from the market”
For younger kids, say the alphabet and show them what you have written. They would automatically start recognizing words.

Continue the process purposefully.

‘Do we need this or do we need that.’
The most important of all is to ensure that your kids are involved in the shopping process. Make sure that they hold the list – it works wonders to ensure that they are focused, them and a sense of accomplishment.

Remind them what a great job they did by complementing their efforts and responsibility in getting the shopping done and that you had not forgotten anything.