Emergent Literacy Part 2 (Sounds and Words)

BOOKS!  BOOKS!  BOOKS!  SONGS!  FINGER PLAYS!  POEMS!  GAMES!
Below are a number of different activities for children five and under.  However some are more appropriate for the 4-5 year old.  It is important that you understand that your child must build their skills starting with simple words, then more complex words, putting together before taking apart.  All this comes before substituting beginning or ending sounds in rhyming.   Must identify a letter before or with the sound.  Single sounds before blends.  Most common sound before the secondary sound on some letters.  The English language is not an easy language to understand.  So take it step by step and if you use the right sequence in developing literacy skills your child will excel!

• sing songs require listening and following instructions.  Model the movements with your child.  Have lots of fun!
• listen to music and sing songs that rhyme.  How many of you remember nursery rhymes.  Well it's because someone sung them to you taught them to you.  Act them out.  Again have fun!
• play letter games using large letters of lower case and upper case letters- you can buy these or make them out of foam, paper(laminate) or cardboard  (Make sure you always say the name and sound of the letter)  Have your child match them to the music.  or use a one or two letters each week and have your child bring a couple items from around the house that have the same beginning sound. You can also do this with pictures.  It is important also that you teach your child the difference between a letter, a number, a shape and a symbol.
• Create a Letter Sound Book (At home word wall)  Start with letters of their name and have them cut things out of magazines, catalogs, and newspapers that have the same beginning sound and paste them on the matching page.  Then review the book periodically during the week.  Reviewing the letters, sounds and words that correspond.  This activity will need your guidance and checking for accuracy.  But remember to reinforce positively.
• Play memory using two sets of letter flash cards.  Use only a few letters to start (maybe 5-8 pairs) and increase as the child gets more advance.  You can also make up card games using the same cards (Like 'Go Fish' or create an odd card for 'Old Maid')  There are a slew of activities you can do with two matching sets of cards- see Septembers blogs.  Make sure when you play these games the child identifies the letters and reviews the sounds by saying a word that the letter begins with.
• Talk about sounds that you hear around the house and outside.  Play a game where the child closes their eyes and listens to see if they can identify the sound.  A child has to be able to listen to natural sounds and words before they will be able to listen to specific sounds in words that are letters which is needed to learn to read and write.  This sounds like a simple game but it is very important for young children to master.  Just like they master simple sounds then words, then sentences then conversations.  It is all a sequence they develop through
• Teach the child that some words are made up of two words which are called compound words.  You can find many of these words within the toys they play with like air-plane; base-ball; or nature- sun-flower, butter-fly.  Talk about what each word means separately and together.  Use each hand to represent one word each and say  "If you take air (left hand) and add it to plane"(right hand) bring both hands together and say "your get AIRPLANE" then clap.  Do the opposite to illustrate how a compound word can be taken apart.  "If you have airplane and you take away plane you have air"  Just reverse the hand motions.  You can also ask your child to find the object you are forming with two words.  It is very important that your child understand what butter and fly by themselves are before they become butterfly, etc. for the activity to be developmentally appropriate.  Simple words come before complex words and words are nothing without meaning.  Please remember that simple rule when working on literacy skills with your child.
• Make ups silly rhymes and encourage your child to help you.  This is more advanced and developmentally appropriate for the child who understands basic letter sounds and compound words.  Funny rhymes are always fun.  Then you can try tongue twisters if you are really brave!

Many more activities, games, actual songs, finger plays, poems, and interactive websites will be listed for you to use in September's Blog.  Stay tune.  We are just building your foundation of information.  Any questions or concerns, please let me know.  I will be glad to help!

Emergent Literacy-Part 1 (Reading)

BOOKS!  BOOKS!  BOOKS!  LETTERS! 
PAPER &  PENCIL/CRAYONS/MARKERS!  CONVERSATION! PUPPETS!  COSTUMES!  STORY FIGURES!  BOOKS!  BOOKS!  BOOKS

Emergent Literacy is the building blocks of reading and writing.  A fundamental ALL CHILDREN need to succeed in this world in which we live.  So what can you do to help you child?  Again each day will include 5-10 suggestions to help them in what many educators call their formative years (years before they enter kindergarten):

• Children need books!  Books that teach basic skills (colors, shapes, numbers, letters); Books that tell a story with a beginning, middle and end.  The length of the book depends on the child.  The style of the book depends on the child (boars, plastic, cloth, hardcover, soft cover).  But every home needs books appropriate for your child.  There should be books that your child can pick up and look at themselves and ones you can read to them. 
• READ to your child each and every day more than one time a day.  The more you read the more they will learn.  Talk about what you have read.  Check for understanding.  Point to pictures.  Take your finger and follow the words, so a child sees you are reading from top to bottom, left to right. 
• Draw pictures about what you have read together (or paint . . .)  have the child tell you what they drew as a dictation and write it down to show them that their spoken words can become written words just like the ones in a book.
• You need letters (beads, magnets, plastic, large, blocks . . .) Any type of letters.  Start with the letters in your child's name.  Show them the letter.  Tell them what it is.  How it sounds.  Show them how it goes together to spell their name.  How they all sound when you put the individual sounds together.  Have your child practice identifying and sounding letters on the refrigerator, or beading onto a string (first to spell their name).  Have them take their finger and outline it following the path as if they were printing it. Have them sort the letters by shape (circles, slants . . .), have them sort by color.  Then have them try to write the letters on paper, chalk boards or marker boards.  Make games out of the letters (Sept.  will include many letter games to help with identification and phonemics). 
• You need puppets, costumes, props, figures, . . .  that will allow your child to retell certain stories on their own.  This helps them illustrate their comprehension and understanding of what you have read.  For instance if your book has a butter fly or a caterpillar create puppets out of socks or bags to make it fun.  Then the next time you tell the story have them use the puppet to help.  Then after reading the book several times, you may see your child telling the story using their own words but following the plot using their puppet.  You can do the same thing with costumes, etc.  Be creative.  Have fun, the more you are involved the more fun it will be for your child unless they have a playmate.
• Model reading not just children's books you read aloud to your child.  Show your child you appreciate reading yourself.  Read a book, or use your iPad of Kindle to read a book, the newspaper, etc.  Use the devices as well as the computer to share books with your child during the day as well.  Some sites even have interactive activities that reinforce the book.  (I will provide a list in Sept.)
• Again be consistent, follow through, most important, make time to read each and everyday!

Summer Fun For All!!!!

School's out for summer!!!  Let's take time to help our children become independent thinkers who can learn to occupy themselves, their friends and continue to develop their bodies and minds the entire summer.  It just takes a few simple supplies, a little planning and everyone will enjoy their summer while building friendships and family relationships that will be preserved in memories for years to come.  First you need to determine your child's interests beyond watching television, videos and/or playing video/computer games.  We want children to be active throughout the summer.  Remember it is not a time for the child's mind or body to take a vacation.  It is still important to make sure children of all ages are active each and everyday to maintain physical fitness and health while they continue to build on all their other skills, academically and socially.

Once you have honed in on your child's interests build a summer plan to keep them motivated and involved in a variety of activities.  Summer camps are usually available for most interests but can become rather expensive.  So this may not be an option for many families.  However you can create similiar activities in your community or neighborhood especially if you have a strong parent group.  Parents can create their own 'summer camp' in the neighborhood.  Parents take shifts as the camp counselors sharing the time committed rather than paying for a camp counserlor that you do not know.  You may have one family that has a large pool in your neighborhood, so the days they are available swimming is available or another neighbor has a trampoline, slip and slide, horses, etc., etc.   Maybe you have one or two parents that know how to use power tools to build things out of wood, create a community project the children can learn from; another that sews, paints, draws, cooks or has a green thumb.  You can have small classes going on all summer right within your neighborhood.  Create a neighborhood garden.  Have the children go around the neighborhood (supervised) and collect all the trash or debry that doesn't belong as community service.  Have them go to a nursing home and sing to the elderly.  If you have some parents who love the outdoors, they can be in charge of hiking on local trails; canoe the rivers; day at the beach or park.  Create outdoor games within the neighborhood like croquet; badmitten; teatherball; tennis (if courts area available); basketball; volleyball; sandlot softball . . . Plan weekly organized neighborhood outings to the library.  Add another field trip to keep the children interested- movie theatre (come areas offer free or reduced movies); museums; botanical gardens; local zoos; water parks; roller skating, or the beach (if nearby).  You can also go on long bike rides as a caravan, roller blade, etc.  Make it fun  by creating scanvenger hunts with small incentives.  Have the children prepare and serve each other lunch and snacks.  Work around the schedules of all the parents in your neighborhood.  You will not only be helping each other out but you will reduce the cost of child care while building lasting relationships for yourselves and your children.  And don't forget to award the adults periodically by having a block or neighborhood party.   This idea can be achieved with as few as five famililes or as many as you can handle.  The more families added the more difficult transportation becomes but more adults to share with supervision and activities.  Just remember to include reading and trips to the library in your plan as well as talking to the children about the activity and helping them learn about it.  Have the older children help and give them responsibilities with built in incentives to assist with their motivation.  Be creative and share your ideas, successes and failures if any with others by posting below.

Here are some of the things your child will learn from the suggested activities in this blog-

• Swimming- coordination; physical fitness; increase hand-eye coordination by having children dive for things or play games to help with taking turns, following directions, sportsmanship, cooperation and communication.
•  Trampoline- physical development and control; coordination and dexterity; physical fitness, taking turns, following directions
•  Horses or other animals- compassion; care of another; riding with lessons and directions; communication; following directions; empathy for animals; unconditional love animals give in return
•  All of the ball games- coordination; dexterity; physical fitness; keeping score; following directions (rules of the game- cognitive dev.); cooperation; sportsmanship; teamwork; communication
•  Museums, zoos, local sites or botanical gardens- learn about the community (subject-animals, plants, history . . .); being a good citizen; acceptable public behavior; communication; cooperation; following directions and much, much more
•  Outdoor adventures (hiking, biking, etc.)- learn about the community and rules as they pertain to the activity; being a good citizen; plant and animal life in the area; physical fitness; safety; cooperation; following directions; communication
•  Woodworking- proper use of tools; measurements; following directions; teamwork; cooperation; communication; building a product to be proud of.
•  Sewing- proper use of tools; measurements; following directions; ability to express self; communication; creating something to be proud of.
•  Cooking- proper use of tools; nutrition; health; measuring; reading and interpreting a recipe; create something to be proud of.
•  Paint/Draw/Crafts- following directions; free expression; proper use of various mediums and tools; creativity; creating something to be proud of.
•  Gardening- following directions; plant life cycle; care of plants; final product to be proud of
•  Community Service Projects- compassion; empathy; citizenship; ecology/recycling; importance of giving; following directions; communication; cooperation; teamwork
•  Weekly trips to the library encourage children to read.  You may want to allow time for children to share their books with one another or choose a book for all the children of a given age group to read at the same time and discuss.  Allow time in all the activities to discuss what's being done; why it's being done; how it's should be done; provide guidance as necessary; and any safety rules or parameters related to the activites.  Communication is essential in every activity with children- Also allow time for children to write thank you's to the adults who help and you may even create a pen pal club for the neighborhood to encourage writing all summer long.

As you can see each and every activity allows a child to lean while they are actively involved and having fun.  The activities suggested do not include sedentary activities.  We want the children to be active, not sitting in front of a screen all day.  Good luck and look for more simple, inexpensive ideas to be shared throughout the summer.