Tell a Few Jokes!

That's right, I said tell jokes. Tell them to your kids. Teach the kids how to tell them to you. Jokes build a host of academic skills and your child will be a better student if you introduce jokes and use them a lot.

Jokes rely on auditory processing skills. These are also foundational for reading and writing, as well as listening to the teacher. Kids must be able to understand what they are hearing in order to learn from it. Jokes point out differences in words, juxtapositions, and absurdities. Your child will be learning listening skills while you both laugh together.

This is where it gets tricky. Young children will want to tell you the same joke again and again, and gosh that gets old quickly! But do your child a huge favor and laugh at it over and over again. The repetition is serving many purposes, and the kids will outgrow it sometime!!

Check the library for children's joke books, and keep your eyes open for new groaners. Kids not only benefit academically from telling jokes, but this can be a great social skill to develop as well.