Suppose the day you set for school to start arrives, and the books you ordered got lost in the mail, or you haven't had a chance to examine them as well as you would like. Suppose you've had a financial set-back and you have to wait until NEXT week to buy the books you planned on using THIS week. What can you do to compensate?

Here are 3 activities that you can use should the unforeseen occur. After each lesson, I have also listed the skills it teaches, what the teacher has to do to prepare and the difficulty factor.

1. Teach Dictionary Etiquette. Act as a tour guide to this marvelous tool, and highlight its features. You don't have to get bogged down in each section, just show what the dictionary can do. Explain the guide words, pronunciation key, definitions, the etymology and other forms of the word, cliches, maps, abbreviations, and word usage(noun, verbs, adjective, etc.)

The dictionary we use has a Vocabulary of Rhymes, Pronouncing Vocabulary of Common English Given Names, A Pronouncing Gazetteer containing more than 7,000 names of places, and a section for Biographical Names, where my students can receive a thumbnail character sketch of over 5,000 people in history.

There are so many angles in which you can approach this activity, that'd it'd take more than a day to cover them all. There's no problem in keeping your student busy learning here.

SKILLS TAUGHT:

A. Reading and reading speed.
B. Reading comprehension
C. Spelling
D. History (Word history always has to do with the culture it came from.)
E. Research skills.

TEACHER PREPARATION: Minimal. You must, however, know your dictionary.

DIFFICULTY FACTOR: Easy.

2. The second activity to use when you're in a bind is the Recipe Challenge. Have your student choose from 4 recipes that you've picked from a cookbook. Then, have him double, triple, or quadruple it.

Using this activity has residuals effects. You'll have a permanent gourmet on hand to make the dish if he enjoyed making it. My son's favorite dessert to make for the family is banana bread. He's even tweaked the ingredients to have his own secret recipe. He also contributes Mexican Style Beans and French Fries to our family-of-six menu.

Here are some food suggestions:

For younger students: fruit salad potato salad some kind of drink vegetable salad with dressing

For older students: a pan cake biscuits sugar cookies pinto bean with all the Mexican fixings

SKILLS TAUGHT:

A. Math
B. Reading comprehension
C. Organization skills
D. Home economics
E. Creativity

TEACHER PREPARATION: Some. Teacher must have ingredient proportions on hand.

DIFFICULTY FACTOR: Average.

3. World Events Project could also take more than one day mostly because it contains a Phase I and a Phase II.

Phase I: Cut a few newspaper clippings and put them in a pile on the table. They don't have to be from the same day, just something you found interesting and perhaps profound. Also, select stories that your student could learn from as well as be challenged by.

Have your student read one at a time under the stopwatch. (You decide how much time.) OR She can read the entire article while you time her. (Keep a record so you can note improvements.) Afterwards, have her tell you what she got from the piece, ask questions, ask for her opinion, if agrees or disagrees. (What if she disagrees? Have her write an essay why.)

If she found words that were too difficult, have her write them down and set aside for Phase II of this activity.

Use a cross-section of current events. One sitting I had 3 articles: how the British relinquished power over Hong Kong to China, the opening of the George Bush library here in College Station, and the Bryan Police having an Open House in their parking lot.

Phase II: This phase consists of her becoming familiar with the difficult words from Phase I. She must learn the spelling and definition of each word. When you think she's had ample time to learn the meaning and connotation of each word, give her a spelling and vocabulary test. (You could even have her write her own sentence using that word.) Do you see how one activity can snowball?

SKILLS TAUGHT:

Phase I:
A. Reading
B. Reading comprehension
C. Putting thoughts into words
D. Currents events/history

Phase II:
A. Spelling
B. Vocabulary
C. Dictionary Skills
D. Grammar (if she writes new sentences for the word)

TEACHER PREPARATION: Some. Teacher must gather and read articles in question.

DIFFICULTY FACTOR: Average to Challenging (depending on the articles chosen)

Be sure to customize these activities to your child's age, development, and learning abilities. Our goal is to have him FEEL the accomplishment of learning and to bring on the smile of pride.