Flash Cards -
The Best Teaching Tool Ever!

A few years later, I used cards again with my son, who loved to pull them off of the refrigerator and onto the kitchen floor and then rearrange them into sentences. Often, he would realize that he needed a specific word to complete a sentence. "Mommy! I need a new word! Make outside! Make outside!" Now, that is the kind of whining I love to hear!

You can buy pre-printed cards in teacher stores, the big box stores, and even some grocery stores, but I strongly recommend that you and your child make them yourselves.

Paying close attention to each new word, carefully writing each letter, repeating the word over and over- all of these things do wonders for learning and recall.

Another HUGE benefit of sitting down with your child and making your own cards is that you will have two sets of each word. Here are just a few things you can do with all of your flash cards:

How to Use Flashcards

• Keep one set in a binder or tote bag so you are ready for some quick tutoring.

• Instead of standing in line grumbling, pull out those cards!

• Dinner almost ready? You got it: let's take a look at those cards!

• Keep one set on the refrigerator. When your child walks by the fridge, he will see (and read) his spelling words with pride and glee!

• Hide vocabulary and spelling cards throughout the house: bathroom, dresser drawer, hamper. Your child can earn points each time he brings a card to you and reads the sight word correctly. Redeem the points at the end of the week. For example, 10 points earns 10 extra minutes before bedtime.

• Keep a set of cards in the car. Turn off the radio and ask your child to read the cards as fast as he can a few times. Or, the passenger (not the driver!) can hold up one flash card at a time while your child reads them from the back seat.

My children are older, but we are still a Flash Card Family! They use flash cards to study for all kinds of tests, including weekly spelling tests, all of their exams and quizzes - you name it!

Fun, easy, portable, adaptable and inexpensive- what more can you ask from a teaching tool?