Showing posts with label learning letters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning letters. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
15 Fun Ways to Work on Letters and Sight Words
My daughter finished Kindergarten this Spring and her teacher advised us to work on sight words every day this summer so she doesn't forget everything. We prefer to spend our time outdoors playing in the sunshine, so this seems a little daunting. However, I know it's important, especially since we will be moving to a new school next Fall, so I made a list of all the fun ways we have worked on letters in the past. I hope this will help you this summer too!
- Egg Hunt for Letters and Sight Words - Write words or letters on small pieces of paper and leave place them in eggs for a fun hunt!
- Make Letters with this Easy Home-made Play-Dough
- Write letters to friends or family or create a Pen-Pal
- Matching Game - Write letters on several different sheets of paper. Use Play-Dough to create shapes and then ask your child to match each shape to the correct letter. Such as matching "Star" to "S". Have your child physically place each shape on the correct letter.
- ABC Activity Using Dot Markers
- Rock Letters
- Hunting in sand for letters
- Using glue and Christmas sprinkles for fun sensory letters and words
- Letters with Home-Made Puff Paint
- Play Bingo, either by making your own, or buy this cheap one from Amazon!
- Play Scrabble Junior - It's a lot more fun than than we thought it would be!
- Do "Homework". Make letters on a page and have them circle each letter as you say it (This works especially well if kids have an older sibling and you can tell them they are doing "homework")
- Cut out objects from a magazine and spread them on the table. Tell your child to pick out every object that start with "s", and so on.
- Letter Tree - Make a large tree and make sight words on "leaves". Have your child glue the sight words to the tree and let them hang it in their room so they can see it often.
For more ideas on engaging your children and keeping them busy, please consider buying my book, co-written by an amazing Kindergarten Teacher! We give you lots of fun ideas on ways to work on fine motor skills, reading, math, science, and lots more. The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn
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Monday, September 17, 2012
ABC Activity Using Dot Makers
It's official. My daughter knows letters T, S, N, A....and well, that's about all the official ones for now but we are making definitely progress! I still love the dot makers that we used a few weeks ago to make our amazing tye-dye coffee filters, so I decided to use these to work on letters. I simply made the letters with circles first, sort of like I did for the Rock Letters, and then I just gave her the dot makers. As you can see, she thought this was a super fun and stuck with this activity for quite awhile.
Even Little Buddy had fun with the dot makers, although he didn't exactly make the letters (he's 2 and a half), but he still enjoyed it and claimed that each letter was an "S!!!!"
If you enjoyed this post, you will really enjoy reading my newly-released book! I teamed up with Susan Case who is a former Kindergarten teacher and a passionate advocate for learning through play, and we wrote the book together to give a Mom and a Teacher point of view. You can watch a video that explains more here:
Monday, August 20, 2012
Learning Letters Using Rocks
When my daughter was about 18 months, we were at a party with a bunch of kids. One of the kids was only about two years old and he was going the room, pointing at everyone's shirt and identifying each letter. He would yell, "T! O! R!" Everyone was very impressed, including me. I will admit that I filed away that image for later use. I really wanted my daughter to be the "trick pony" at a party someday and be able to impress everyone with her knowledge of letters. I asked the Mom how her little boy already knew all his letters. She laughed and said, "Because I make him do flashcards every day!"
As a new Mom, I didn't know any better. This seemed perfectly normal and wonderful to me. I went out that day and bought a bunch of flashcards and started trying to drill her. The only problem was that she wasn't interested. At all. I waited a few months. She still wasn't interested. I didn't want to force her so I eventually put them away, but I was puzzled. Why didn't she want to learn letters? Isn't that what little kids do?
A few months later, I met a wonderful former Kindergarten teacher, named Susan Case. She explained to me that my thinking was totally wrong. Flashcards weren't the answer. Here are her thoughts:
Young children love to learn by using their five senses and movement. Sensory integration is the ability to take in information through the senses of touch, smell, taste, vision, hearing, and movement, and to combine the resulting perceptions with prior information, memories and knowledge already stored in the brain. In other words, children learn by exploring and discovering using their five senses and movement. You don't need flashcards or expensive products to teach. Of course, flashcards can supplement learning. And it is very important to read books every day possible with your children. But young children may be more interested in the pictures and movable gadgets than focusing on squiggly lines and circles that make up letters. However, there are ways to grab a child’s attention to help them learn the letter sounds and names:
Begin with a child’s name – which is the most important word to them. Help your child form the letters in their name using interesting materials such as beans, pasta, rocks, marbles, buttons, PomPoms, playdough, and pipe cleaners. Always supervise young children when they are using small objects.
As my daughter got older, I took Susan's words to heart. I found these colorful rocks at the Dollar Store and we use them for lots of different things but this is my personal favorite. I love it because I feel like I'm doing my job, helping her learn her letters, and she loves it because it's fun! All I had to do was draw out some letters using circles. Then I gave her the colored rocks and we talked through each letter as she did them, so she knew what letter she'd made. I found that she was more interested in letters that spelled words she liked, such as her own name, Mom, Dad, or her friend's names.
If you enjoyed this post, you will really enjoy reading my newly-released book! I teamed up with Susan Case (who is also the one who commented above) and we wrote the book together to give a Mom and a Teacher point of view. You can watch a video that explains more here:
We give you dozens of other ideas on how to keep your kids busy, but in a productive way, so they are actually learning while they are also having fun! Here is what one of my readers wrote on Amazon after she read our book:
This book seriously saved my sanity. I've read a bunch of parenting books but this is literally the only one that actually gave me real and specific advice and ideas for things to do with my daughter. I'm a stay-at-home mom to a 2-year old and I was at my wits end trying to come up with ideas of fun, easy, creative things to do with her that will keep her busy and occupied and help her learn. I wasn't very good at following through on ideas that I heard about from friends or read in other books or online because they seemed too complicated (aka: messy!) but this book broke it down and made it so simple. I highly recommend it!
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Monday, August 6, 2012
Using Sand to Learn Letters for Sensory Fun
We've always had lots of fun with sand, but this time I decided to try something new. I hid a bunch of magnetic letters in the sand while Munchkin Girl had her eyes closed. She had to dig around and find them, one by one and once she pulled them out, she arranged them on a cake pan. Since they were magnetic, they stuck nicely to it.
Once we got enough letters, we started making words with them. We made CAT and then pulled off the C and replaced it with a B and so on.
Now you might be wondering if this sand in the house made a mess. Not really. Every once in awhile a little bit of sand gets flicked out, but she has worked with sand enough to know that if she makes a mess, we stop playing. I even have a small dust pan handy so that she can clean up her own messes!
Honestly, she didn't stick with the letters for long though...she ended up filling up that butterfly with sand and pretending she was making cookies. I have learned never to interfere with her imagination! In fact, I got out a few more cookie cutters so she could make even more cookies. If she's playing happily, I make it a point never to interrupt! Even if I was secretly trying to get her to work on letters!
If you liked this post, you will LOVE my new book (which is currently ranked#4 on Amazon in the category of Motherhood!). If you have ever asked yourself questions like, these, then this is the book for you!
- Why do my kids drive me so crazy sometimes?
- Why do they just want to watch TV all day long?
- How am I ever supposed to get anything done when my kids won't stop pestering me?
"This book seriously saved my sanity. I've read a bunch of parenting books but this is literally the only one that actually gave me real and specific advice and ideas for things to do with my daughter. I'm a stay-at-home mom to a 2-year old and I was at my wits end trying to come up with ideas of fun, easy, creative things to do with her that will keep her busy and occupied and help her learn. I wasn't very good at following through on ideas that I heard about from friends or read in other books or online because they seemed too complicated (aka: messy!) but this book broke it down and made it so simple. I highly recommend it!"
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Learning Letters the Sensory Way
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After my first baby, I quickly realized that life was all about milestones. People don't mean to put pressure on you, but they are constantly asking, "Has she rolled over yet?" "Is he walking yet?"
The problem is that if your little one ISN'T doing something, you feel ashamed and worried that your little one is behind. Now that Munchkin Girl is three and a half, I'm starting to feel the pressure about learning the letters. My friends tell me how their child knows the letters already and I have tried to get her interested, but she just isn't. Since I don't know anything about teaching, I started with what seemed logical to me: I bought some flashcards with letters and pictures. She was about as interested in those as she in in cold peas for dinner. Then I bought a cool easel with magnetic letters and we tried to learn them that way. Again, she ran away from me and I was left wondering what I could possibly do to get her interested in learning letters.
I am lucky that I have made a good friend through my blogging network and she is a very knowledgeable Kindergarten teacher. She advised me to use sensory activities to teach letters. I was sure it wouldn't work, but I tried it anyway.
For this project, our materials were simple: Elmer's glue, construction paper, and sprinkles. Some people use glitter, but I read somewhere that you should NEVER use glitter with little kids because it can get on their hands and then if they rub their eyes it can damage their cornea. Instead I used the leftover green and red sprinkles from making Christmas Cookies last year.
I simply wrote out a name on the paper with glue, then I let them sprinkle it to make the word come to life for them. I was utterly amazed at their reaction. They were both intrigued and they kept begging me to do more until I ran out of glue!
They adored pulling the finished product out the pan to see what they had created. That's the babysitter's name, Renee. They call her Nene. After we finished, Munchkin Girl was sooo excited to show Nene she had done her name!
After my first baby, I quickly realized that life was all about milestones. People don't mean to put pressure on you, but they are constantly asking, "Has she rolled over yet?" "Is he walking yet?"
The problem is that if your little one ISN'T doing something, you feel ashamed and worried that your little one is behind. Now that Munchkin Girl is three and a half, I'm starting to feel the pressure about learning the letters. My friends tell me how their child knows the letters already and I have tried to get her interested, but she just isn't. Since I don't know anything about teaching, I started with what seemed logical to me: I bought some flashcards with letters and pictures. She was about as interested in those as she in in cold peas for dinner. Then I bought a cool easel with magnetic letters and we tried to learn them that way. Again, she ran away from me and I was left wondering what I could possibly do to get her interested in learning letters.
I am lucky that I have made a good friend through my blogging network and she is a very knowledgeable Kindergarten teacher. She advised me to use sensory activities to teach letters. I was sure it wouldn't work, but I tried it anyway.
For this project, our materials were simple: Elmer's glue, construction paper, and sprinkles. Some people use glitter, but I read somewhere that you should NEVER use glitter with little kids because it can get on their hands and then if they rub their eyes it can damage their cornea. Instead I used the leftover green and red sprinkles from making Christmas Cookies last year.
I simply wrote out a name on the paper with glue, then I let them sprinkle it to make the word come to life for them. I was utterly amazed at their reaction. They were both intrigued and they kept begging me to do more until I ran out of glue!
They adored pulling the finished product out the pan to see what they had created. That's the babysitter's name, Renee. They call her Nene. After we finished, Munchkin Girl was sooo excited to show Nene she had done her name!
They were sad when I finally ran out of glue, so we put them all on the kitchen table and I pronounced each name for her so that she could see what she had spelled. I used her friend's and grandparents names so she was totally intrigued. By the end, she could pick out each name and I even heard her telling Little Buddy later, "See? This spells Paaapppaaaa. Don't worry, little buddy, one day you'll be able to read like me."
I have asked Susan to explain more about why this worked and give some extra info on how to teach kids to read, in there is anyone out there who is teaching-challenged like me.
Teacher Thoughts on Sensory Letters
by Susan Case, Teacher Blogger, and Author:
Why are Little Munchkin and Buddy spending so much time learning these glittery letters? Because it is a fun, interesting, hands-on, relevant, playful activity. They are involved and participating in the production and tactile exploration of letters. Children are wired to learn using their five senses. They enjoy touching and participating in the process of forming letters. The are playfully learning through an activity that respects their developmental stage.
I have asked Susan to explain more about why this worked and give some extra info on how to teach kids to read, in there is anyone out there who is teaching-challenged like me.
Teacher Thoughts on Sensory Letters
by Susan Case, Teacher Blogger, and Author:
Why are Little Munchkin and Buddy spending so much time learning these glittery letters? Because it is a fun, interesting, hands-on, relevant, playful activity. They are involved and participating in the production and tactile exploration of letters. Children are wired to learn using their five senses. They enjoy touching and participating in the process of forming letters. The are playfully learning through an activity that respects their developmental stage.
Developmental Stages and the Children's Thoughts while Learning Glittery Letters
- Physical: I’m happy my mom isn’t making me look at those flat cards while she makes funny sounds. I like touching these shiny, bumpy, sticky things.
- Emotional: Mommy sure gets excited when I’m playing with these letters. She keeps pointing to them saying my name and PaaaPaaa’s.
- Cognitive: I think I saw these same kind of lines and circles in that book she keeps reading to me. She sure is happy when I make sounds like she makes (phonemic awareness).
- Social: I love being with my mom doing messy things. She’s wonderful.
Put away the flashcards and get out the sensory materials if you want to teach your child letters. Young children learn by sensory/motor integration as they explore and discover new things in their world. They want to be involved physically in the learning experience by feeling, not just seeing non-dimensional flat surfaces such as paper and screens. Of course, books are wonderful for children to learn as it increases their vocabulary and interest in reading. And letters can be learned from books, television and computers. But children need balance in learning through the use of a variety of tools and teaching strategies.
Other Sensory Learning Exploration Ideas With Letters
- Print letters on cardboard or paper. Lower case letters are best to learn first because most reading is done in the lower case. Pour sand, rice, sugar or popcorn kernels over the letters and let your child find the letters to trace with their fingers. Or you could make block letters out of fine-grain sandpaper for your child to find and trace. While your child traces a letter, say the sound. Put a few letters together and blend the sounds. Of course, a child’s name is the most important word in the world. So begin with the letters in their name.
- Children love making letters in shaving cream and this will erase crayon marks and germs.
- Make letters out of Fuzzy Sticks
- Put magnetic letters on a cookie tray
- Buy blocks with bumped up letters
Children are curious and playful by nature. They are wired to learn by hands-on manipulation of objects. If you give children developmentally appropriate activities, they will stay with the task longer, retain more, and have good memories. You will be their hero for providing such wonderful opportunities for growth. You will have fewer behavior problems as your child will be emotionally, physically, socially, and cognitively challenged and content. Slow down, relax, and enjoy your child. Play and feel like a kid again while they become smarter and happier.
Susan is the author of Kindergarten: Tattle-Tales, Tools, Tactics, Triumphs and Tasty Treats for Teachers and Parents. Her blog address is http://kindergartenbasics.blogspot.com/
If you enjoyed this post, you will love my book! Susan and I teamed up and released the book in July, 2012. If you have ever tried to cook dinner while your kid clings to your leg and cries, this is the book for you! As we did above, we give you a Mom's point of view and a teacher's point of view, so that you can do activities that not only keep the kids busy, but also keep them motivated to learn and develop their natural curiosity. Kids behave better when they are given challenging projects to work on, which will in turn give you more free time to do the things you really need to do, like washing dishes, paying bills, and relaxing so that you can be a better Mom!
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