If you’ve been following along with my 365 Days of Literacy for Kids – Fun, Easy & Completely Do-able, you will give your children 31 poems in the month of JANUARY to think about, talk about, remember and share.  These poems are filled with ideas, images, feelings and powerful words. Your children will be bumping into these poems and poets and words again and again as they maneuver through school and life… and they’ve been given a great gift, a great edge, to have that knowledge stored in their heads and hearts.  Go back and read the poems again and again.  Read them when moments of life imitate literature.  Read them when they recognize the poet or theme in another work.  Read them just for fun.

Now it’s almost FEBRUARY.  February is going to be the month of ADJECTIVES!

Why ADJECTIVES? Because ADJECTIVES are the words that hold the magical power to form images in our heads. It really is magic.  Here is an example of the magic.  Say the word DRESS.  Now think about a DRESS.  Picture that DRESS in your head.  Oh, no! That’s not the DRESS I had in mind.  I was thinking of a baby-blue and pure white polka-dot dress… sleeveless cotton, with a small, dainty ruffle around the neck.  The one that looked just like my Mom’s dress, except hers was a beautiful grown-up lady’s blue and white polka-dot DRESS and mine was for me, at 5 years old.  I loved that DRESS.

See what I mean?  We all build great, detailed images in our minds when given the chance.  That’s why ADJECTIVES are so important in building LITERACY skills.  The more a child is able to describe, express, read and recall details… the more language develops and the more the child will want to read/speak/write.  It really is magic.

During the month of February, each day, I will give you 2 ADJECTIVES to play with.  To use.  To use in your children’s writing, to use in their speaking, to use just for fun.  To talk about with your children.  1 ADJECTIVE will come in the morning.  1 ADJECTIVE will come in the afternoon.  At the end of February, your children will own 56 adjectives. 56  beautifully descriptive words!

Remember:  LITERACY is all about WORDS – Written, Spoken, Felt. Have fun with ADJECTIVES in February!