Fellow parenting blogger, Kori, recently wrote a blog about how she uses the newspaper as a way to jump-start conversations with her teens.
I have also found the newspaper to be an invaluable teaching tool. Every section can be used to teach a new concept or reinforce one that your kids are learning. One section I especially like is the comics, especially the Sunday section.
One activity you can use to teach or reinforce the concept of sequencing is to take a three or four comic panel, cut it out and then give it to your child and then have them look at the pictures and place the panels in the correct order. Sometimes Tyler and I will take the panels and create an entirely new story. It’s a great way to work on your child’s verbal and reasoning skills.
Another fun activity is to use panels from different comics and make a new story from them. In most cases the story will be kind of silly, but Tyler loves it. I generally read through all the comics to see if any of them would go together and use those panels. Other times I let Tyler decide which ones he wants to use. Like I said, the results can be quite comical. Here’s an example from the Sunday comic section of the Mobile Press Register.
From Born Loser: “You want Christmas Lights On the House in February?”
From Wizard of ID: “Yes, Sire.”
And that’s just two panels. You can sometimes come up with some really funny stuff.
Some newspapers also carry puzzles in their Sunday comic sections. Some will have two panels that look almost the same but have a number of differences. Readers then have to look at the pictures and note the differences.
Finally, the comics are a great place to help your child practice their drawing skills. Many of the drawings are quite simple. Look at Dilbert for instance. My nephew is a budding artist and he uses the comics to practice his drawing techniques.
The comics are great for a good laugh but they are equally great as a teaching tool.
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