Do you have a child beginning to learn to read and write?  Need some help at homework time?  Learning to write is a huge milestone for children, and not all children learn at the same pace.  That is a fact.  I’ve seen children whiz through the process of reading and writing. Others, I have witnessed, struggle with letters such as b, d, and E, as well as numbers, 2, 5, 9, and 6 (which is very common for a kindergartner).  If you find yourself in this predicament, don’t worry too much yet.  Just remember that with patience, a steady routine, good study habits, and lots of practice, it will get better.

Today’s SB find is the perfect tool for this task.  Smart Play Magic Alphabet & Magic Numbers 3D lenticular flash cards are a wonderful tool for children who are in the process of  learning to read and write.  The best part about these is that they are in three languages! English, Spanish, and French.  Since we received them, we have referred back to them as a practice/reference guide almost everyday when my daughter (now in kindergarten) is doing her homework.  She loves them!

When tilting one of the cards, you see the images magically transform between the uppercase, lowercase, and word image (or number). On the other side is a wipe-off writing surface where you can practice tracing and writing with a dry-erase marker (marker not included).  They are made of a layered laminate wipe-off material, light weight, and durable enough for a child to carry around the house or even in their backpack. The ring that holds the flashcards together is made of a solid flexible plastic that is easy for older children and adults to open and close again if needed.

On a side note, we own a different set of alphabet cards (in English only) with a metal ring that is too easy to open and can pinch a child’s little fingers when doing so.  Sometimes it opens up all on its own in fact, so I was relieved to know we wouldn’t have that problem with these flash cards.  Having the flash cards on a plastic re-closable ring was a huge benefit to us because it also allows for sharing with other children at the same time!  The Bilingual Smart Play Magic Flash Cards measure 3.5″ x 4.0″,   and are available in opposites and animal themes as well.

All in all, these make a perfect gift to any child learning to read and write!  Especially if they are learning Spanish like mine!

The Giveaway!

We are giving away the Magic Alphabet and Magic Numbers flashcards to one lucky winner. Just leave us a comment telling us who you’d like to share this giveaway with and enter the Rafflecopter below.

There’s more! If you enter all three Ingenio giveaways going on this week you will also be entered to win a $100 gift card from Toys R Us! giveaway 1 | this is giveaway 2 | giveaway 3

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Some weeks ago I posted an update on my personal Facebook profile sharing how much I love volunteering at my daughter’s kindergarten Spanish immersion classroom. Not even five minutes later I get a text from a very good friend whom I spend a lot of time with teasing me about using the word “love” in the same sentence as “volunteering.” She kept on going that there was no way I could love that and I had to be exaggerating.

I told her she was totally off. She’s actually right in assuming I’m not the school-volunteering type, in the sense that I did try attending PTA meetings and all that jazz, but soon realized that where I really was more valuable and could make some direct impact was in the classroom.

One peculiar thing about dual immersion programs is that parents must not only be incredibly committed, but also very involved. The only drawback, is that for parents to be allowed to volunteer in the actual classroom, they must be fluent in the target language — in our case, Spanish. You can imagine how difficult this makes it for the teachers to have a steady flow of parents assisting in the classroom; and, yes, parents volunteering are an extremely valuable asset to the teacher. Most parents either work or don’t speak the language fluently enough, but I do.

So, I spend 90 minutes of my morning once per week doing flashcards of words and numbers in Spanish with my girl’s kindergarten classroom and I truly do love it. It’s created a very special bond between my daughter, her teacher and even with her classmates that I can’t put a value to.

I actually wrote a story that I’m sharing on Babble called “Flashcards With My Daughter” that describes exactly why I volunteer and the impact it has on my daughter and my involvement in her bilingual education. Please click here to read it. I think you will love it .