If there’s one thing that SPARK parent partners are really good at, it’s tailoring learning activities to each individual child’s learning style. 
Take Brecken, for instance. At first, he was shy and
hesitant to engage in SPARK lessons. Jessica, his parent partner, tried
teaching him to write the letter B. First, she asked him to use his journal.
Then she tried flash cards. She even tried magnet letters.
Play dough was the
game changer.
The play dough sparked his interest. He loved sculpting his
very own letter B. He was so proud of his creation that he asked Jessica to
take a photo!
Now, when Jessica visits, she makes sure to bring lots of hands-on learning games and activities. One of Brecken’s favorites is the Pie Game; he loves sorting by color and by fruit, and using the fruit pieces for counting and patterns. Brecken and Jessica even pretend to make the fruit pieces come to life and talk to one another as friends, which means that hands-on learning has become a gateway for practicing the critical social-emotional skills Brecken will need in school.
As for Jessica, she’s learned a lot, too! Brecken’s hands-on nature has encouraged her to seek out lots of unique tactile activities to complement lessons, which has been helpful for many of her SPARK families. She feels Brecken has taught her as much as she’s taught him.
