More Multitasking for Multiples

If your home is anything like ours, you have a lot of little people eating a lot of food, and a lot of little people who, over time, are fine-tuning their reading and writing skills. Today's post is a simple tip to boost literacy and at the same time make sure your fridge and pantry stay well-stocked.

Keep pads of paper and pencils/washable crayons in a central location of your home. Whenever any member of the family (grownup OR child) notices that you're running out of milk, bread, or even toilet paper, encourage them to go ahead and put it on the shopping list. Younger kids can even draw a picture of the item, or get spelling help from a grownup or older sibling. Pictured above is my 5 year-old who uses the spelling of the almost-empty bag to add dried cranberries to the list. Practicing the Real World skill of writing items on a shopping list is just plain fun for a preschooler, and they don't realize they're gaining valuable literacy practice at the same time.

If kids are encouraged to add to the shopping list on a regular basis, it will become a habit– you'll be instilling good responsibility, teaching each child to contribute to the household. Just don't be surprised if you walk by the list one day and see a child's scrawled "chocolate" or other such kid-endorsed "necessity" appear on your shopping list.