day nine: reinforce concepts for school aged children with posters and table mats

                          “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.”
                                                              Walt Disney


Yesterday I talked about using posters and place mats to teach toddlers and preschoolers. Today I would like to continue that theme with reinforcing concepts and “teaching” older children (school age and up).

In addition to using posters and placemats with small children, we have used posters, placemats, and other “visuals” with our readers as well. More recently, we have had screen savers with Bible verses and other memorable information on the computer in the center of the house--the dining room where we all hang out.


Here are some more ideas for using these types of visuals:

1. Create mini Scripture posters on construction paper or on the computer. Hang a verse a week and recite it together at the dinner table or bedtime.

2. Write family rules, family values, or family "ways" on paper sized "posterettes," and hang one each week in a prominent location--talk about this rule or “way” during family dinners, etc. Some of ours have been "leave a room better than you found it," "your siblings are the most important people in the world," "it isn't funny if everybody doesn't think it's funny," "put others before yourself," “ask if there is anything you can do to help someone else,” and more.

3. Use educational placemats that correlate with what your kids are working on in school at that time. These can be purchased from an educational supply store and are avalable for everything under the sun--colors, numbers, alphabet, opposites, grammar terms, addition facts, multiplication facts, states and capitals, world geography, and much more.

4. Hang US “documents.” I got a set of US document posters when our older children were new readers. I would often find the “olders” sitting on the floor reading the “Declaration of Independence,” “the Constitution,” or the “Bill of Rights” to a little sister or brother!

5. Hang a posterette of a hymn, chorus, or Scripture song that you are learning together or in church. Put it close to the breakfast table or your child’s bed to review at a certain time each day.

6. Hang character posters—with a character quality, picture, and definition of the quality—up. We have often focused on one character quality per month—and had that character quality’s poster up for the entire month, then changed posters when we changed qualities.

7. Hang “I will” posters that correlate with a character quality that your family is focusing on. For example, when you are focusing on diligence, you can hang a poster listing “I will’s” that your children are working on with that quality, such as “I will pick up after myself,” “I will work as unto the Lord,” “I will do my chores without grumbling,” etc.