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Children and Scrabble: The Perfect MatchScrabble was a tradition in my family. From the time I could barely see the board from my vantage point at the edge of the table, I witnessed the subtle strategies used by my older brother and sisters at play. I dreamed of the day I was old enough to playâ€"how I'd dazzle them all with my victory! But that day was long in coming. If there's any game that makes kids feel left out, it's Scrabble. Because it requires reading, spelling, and vocabulary skills, many parents think Scrabble isn't for the very young. Think again! Parents these days can easily introduce the game to a child as young as four or five years old. With a little time and effort, they can help children even develop advanced skills that many adults don't know. After the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary, the best Scrabble tool introduced by Hasbro in recent years is the Scrabble Junior Edition. This by far is the best way to introduce Scrabble to your four year old. Play resembles regular Scrabble, getting children accustomed to the flow of the game. First, children draw seven tiles from the pool. In turns they lay down tiles from their racks to match the letters on the board. Letter by letter they eventually spell out entire words, winning points. By game's end, they will have used over a hundred tiles to work a variety of different words. Few preschool teachers could match that for reading practice! Children who have mastered this simplified version can then "graduate" to the next level of play by flipping the game board over to reveal another basic version of the classic Scrabble game. Using this board and modified scoring rules, children progress in difficulty and skill level. By eight years old, most children will be ready for regular Scrabble. Don't get caught up in talking rules and strategy at first. Just jump right in and let your child experience the game for him or herself. Even better, you might play an opponent as a team, allowing the child to suggest plays and explaining tactics as the game goes on. Even if it's not the best play, use your child's suggestions occasionally so that he or she feels like a valuable member of the team and experiences first-hand the triumph or failure of a move. Having a teammate to share the disappointment will help when moves aren't successful, or when the child doesn't win. Particularly in their early years, allow children to use a dictionary while playing. One rule variation used in my home while growing up was that players were allowed to "browse" the dictionary for word options as long as it wasn't their turn. This way, young players didn't get bored waiting for their turns, while they acquired a great learning skill! Dictionaries are a terrific safety net and their use can help children broaden their vocabulary base. Outside actual play there are a few games you can teach that will help children sharpen their Scrabble skills. Using the Scrabble tiles, have your child spell out his or her name. Add up the score. Then spell out the other names of friends and family members, cities, states, countries, or other favorite words, adding and comparing the scores of each. Play for fun, taking off the competitive edge, and allow the child to explore the value of different word options. Few skills are more important than anagramming to a Scrabble novice, and this is a skill you may want to explain as your child progresses. Give them a word and a time limit, and challenge them to find five, ten, twenty, or even more words using only the letters given. As they improve, encourage them to find lengthier options, maybe even offering a reward for using all the letters. I've used this game frequently in the elementary classroom when my class is waiting in line, and I haven't yet found a youngster who doesn't like it. Students especially love comparing their lists. If they've found a word nobody else found (or a word I didn't) it is especially rewarding. You may be surprised how fast your child picks up on more advanced strategies after introducing Scrabble this way. More importantly, he or she will develop an interest in word play, which is infinitely more valuable than alternative interests in TV and video games. Go ahead, invite your child for a game of Scrabbleâ€"it'll be a perfect match! Other articles by this author »
About Emma Snow
Emma Snow works a pragmatic puzzler at the Puzzle Place http://www.puzzle-place.net and Chess Strategies http://www.chess-strategies.net leading puzzle portals. Related
And here is another random article you might be interested in... Lack of Operations Manuals Stunting Your Growth?Lack of Operations Manuals stunting your growth? CONTENTS: 1. Do you lack functional Operations Manuals? Great businesses depend on systems, not people. That's because you can duplicate systems, but not people. If your business can't duplicate salable results, it won't survive. Duplication is Nature's Survival Law. If your organization lacks Operations Manuals, your growth and success will be limited due to lack of a duplicable (documented) system. 2. You can use a SYSTEM to write your Operations Manuals! Extraordinary people don't build great businesses. Ordinary people produce extraordinary results using a duplicable system. That's how you build a great business. The faster you develop good Operations Manuals the faster you will have a great business! 3. Yes, but my people just don't/won't write stuff down! You will hear many excuses and attitudes for why people don't write Operations Manuals. "We just don't have enough time." "It's not my job man! You hired me to be a [manager, programmer, accountant, engineer, whatever]. I'm not a writer!" "I hate to write. Who needs it!" "Whenever I feel like writing, I lie down until the feeling goes away." "It's different here. Things change too fast. The minute we write something down, it's obsolete..." These are typical objections people express. But, one of the most UNexpressed fears is: "If I document my job in an Operations Manual, I can be replaced! I'll lose my job!" No wonder so few organizations have Operations Manuals! 4. But people WILL write stuff down - if ... . and only if they can realize a benefit! Let's face it. You can grow your organization ONLY if you can promote and/or replace your employees. Thus, you and your team can MOVE UP only if you can replace yourselves. And you can do this by documenting your positions in well-organized Operations Manuals. "Mike! Are you saying that by writing stuff down in Operations Manuals we'll receive more raises, promotions, and vacations." Absolutely! These goodies are not available without your company's growth and prosperity! Did you know most business start-ups fail while most franchises succeed. Successful franchises use a documented management system ... in short ... Operations Manuals! "But Mike, our company is not a 'franchise!'" Neither is mine. But SMS has a documented management system, including about 13,000 pages of Operations Manuals. When anyone or I want to know how to do something, all we need do is pull a manual off the shelf. What could be easier? There's near zero "tribal knowledge" here. We can relocate on a moment's notice with minimum hassle. I know of many companies that wanted to move from California. Suddenly, they were faced with hiring many new, inexperienced employees in another state. Suddenly, they were faced with writing (insufficient) Operations Manuals literally as-they-packed! Believe me, displaced employees were less than cooperative! And those who moved with the company inherited enormous problems due to poor - or no - documentation. So, here's my advice. Start now! Develop a set of Operations Manuals where you collect information that governs how your company's positions function. At SMS, we have at least one 3-ring binder for every position on our Org Chart. Develop your Operations Manuals in a standard format containing at least the following information for each position. ACCOUNTABILITY - Specify the position's accountabilities. STANDARDS - Specify the standards for the position. Include the policies that define / limit the position's authority and the position holder's general conduct. WORK INSTRUCTIONS - Specify how the position's work will be performed. GENERAL INFORMATION - Provide information about your organization, your products and services, your competition, etc. Include other material that enriches the position holder's understanding of the working environment. INTERFACE - Describe how the position interfaces with:
You can design your manuals to have five sections each as follows.
5. Call to Action. To review, your Operations Manuals are collection points for information that governs functioning of positions on your Org Chart. I sent you this eZine to give you an outline to ease development of your Operations Manuals. As you've probably guessed, developing Operations Manuals is a big task. I've done it often for many clients. If I be of assistance, just send me an email. Together, we can document what you want, how you want it, and when you want it. We will discuss various creative approaches before the project begins. Mike Hayden For more information, (c) 2003 Mike Hayden, All rights reserved. You may use material from the Profitable Venture Tactics eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live website link and email link. Other articles by this author »
About Mike Hayden
Mike Hayden is Founder/CEO of Senior Management Services and the Documentation Express in Silicon Valley, California. Mr Hayden is the author of "7 Easy Steps to your Raise and Promotion in 30-60 Days!" The book that smart bosses want their employees to read. ISBN 0-9723725-1-2. More articles at http://www.SeniorManagementServices.com/pvt-information.html Related
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