Flashcard Fun

Flashcards seem to be an inevitable part of education. It’s such an easy way to practice something until it becomes automatic. It’s really scary what I can still remember from Human Anatomy and Physiology due to flashcards. And that’s from over 15 years ago, so we should all be scared together!

But flashcards for kids tend to be boring. What bores children usually does not teach children–at least not much. So let’s make it more exciting, shall we?

Number one hint is let kids make their own flashcards. Even if your child can’t write them out or draw the pictures to prompt themselves, at least let your child decorate the cards. This is so much more interesting for her. I say her, because he might be a little less inclined for this suggestion. Accept this. Find another way to help him…like tip number two.

Make practicing with the cards a game. Let your child flip, blow, throw or otherwise fling the card when he practices it correctly. Boys seem to find this sort of “naughty” thing fun. So let them do it. Also, it can be fun to set a timer or have races. Divide the deck in half and see how fast you can do each have. You get the idea.

Finally, don’t ever, ever forget that short and sweet is best. Even if you have to practice three or four times a day to build up to twenty minutes, short, focused practice is ALWAYS better than long, drawn out, whiny practice. For you and for your child.

If you look online, you’ll find all kinds of flashcard sites. Personally, I think that they get in the way of the first tip–make your own. And, often the teachers send home flashcard sets anyway. However, I do like FlashCardExchange, because it allows you to play memory online with cards you make. This is best for older kids who are using flash cards for test prep in a question-answer format. It does not work for sight words, letters, colors, numbers and other items where the purpose is just recognition. It does have a “study” option which flashes the cards for you on the screen. This can be good if you have a child with a computer fascination. It might be the thing that gets him or her to practice. To get access to some of the more advanced options, you’ll have to pay a registration fee. I’ve never had a need for that, so I know nothing about it. If you do, I’d love to hear your opinion.

If you don’t want to spend money buying your preschooler flashcards, then abcteach has an excellent set of preschool concept flashcards for free. It even has some blank flashcard templates for you (or your child) to make. Again, if you want access to premium features, there’s a subscription fee, but I’ve never needed more than their free stuff.

So flashcards–make them fun, make them short and sweet. Do you have any other ideas? I could definitely use them. The multiplication tables are on the horizon and I’m going to need some fresh ideas for Dylan. So please share!

Tags: drill, flash cards, homework