I bought some of these agendas at the Crate & Barrel outlet over the weekend and gave one to Avery and one to Nate to use as sketchbooks. I like the modern aesthetic of them and thought that looking at all the numbers would help Avery as she is in the process of learning to identify and name them. As Avery was drawing in her new sketchbook one night this week, she turned it around and called it her "laptop" (upper right photo).
Lately, Avery has been really into building race tracks. It's useful to have more than one block set that she can use for building. The more blocks, the longer the track and the more varied the terrain. Whenever she builds a track, she always asks me to take a picture. I love how she's proud of her work! Also, by constructing race tracks again and again, she is working through different ideas, generating new designs and innovating. She is learning that there are different ways to build something, which will help her become a flexible thinker and a creative problem solver in the future. Block sets pictured are by Kid O, MillerGoodman and Land of Nod.
Green is a unique children's book that is also a remarkable work of literary art. In it, Laura Vaccaro Seeger presents various shades of green, each with its own charming story and within its own gorgeous painterly environment, and then weaves the greens together in an intriguing way, using die-cut pages. Avery enjoyed seeing the die-cut shapes change and transform, from leaves in a forest to fish under water on the next page. Inspired by the book, we collected different green materials for Avery to collage and explore (paper in different shades of green and varied textures, tissue paper, paper leaves, ribbon, washi tape and crayons). Avery and her dad collaborated to build a race car (one of Avery's interests at the moment). More information about Laura Vaccaro Seeger and her creative process can be found on her website. We eagerly look forward to this Caldecott author and illustrator's next book!
Alphabet blocks like Land of Nod's Nod blocks can help in teaching not only letter names, but phonemic awareness and letter-to-sound correspondence. Children need numerous exposures to print and letters in order to lay the foundation for reading. Alphabet blocks are one way to expose children to alphabetic concepts and phonemic awareness. Each block also helps to reinforce the concept that one letter represents one sound.
Here is a simple and quick activity you can do with your preschooler who is starting to learn the alphabet and letter sounds. Put some stuffed animals, animal figurines or pictures of animals in a bag and have the alphabet blocks ready and off to the side. Have your child pull out an animal from the bag and then place three letter blocks, one being the actual letter that the name of the animal starts with and two other random letters. For example, if your child pulls out a cat, you say, "What letter does 'cat' start with? C-c-cat. C, N or E?" Have your child choose the correct letter (with help if needed). Later, spell out the whole name of the animal and read it with your child so that s/he can get used to what that word looks like and also so that your child can start to learn that one letter stands for one sound. You can repeat these steps with the other animals. Later, you can use alphabet blocks to help teach blending and segmenting (pre-reading skills taught in kindergarten). There are so many good uses for alphabet blocks! They are an essential tool for play and learning in these early years.
Joint writing on a regular basis is also very important for early literacy development. You and your child can draw simple pictures of animals and write words below.
Two engaging and fun iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad apps for learning letters and phonemic awareness are Duck Duck Moose Reading and Endless Alphabet. Another good resource is KinderTown, which is an app that reviews and recommends educational apps in different areas. Their Power Packs are "mini" lesson plans that provide ideas for activities and games in various subjects, such as these: Getting Ready for Kindergarten and Letters and Sounds. Also, for a limited time, KinderTown is offering a 30-day free trial of their Power Parent membership, which gives you access to their Power Packs and other useful features of KinderTown. Lastly, some great phonological and phonemic awareness activities to help your child get ready for reading can be found on this website. Have fun with the process of learning to read!
I was glad to be a part of this baby shower given for some good friends last summer. The color palette consisted of warm reds and oranges, partly because the shower was for a girl and partly because those colors seemed to evoke summer. A summer sunset, perhaps? The shower was a great team effort and much attention and care went into the planning. Most of the foods served were also red and orange, which added to the summer sensibilities and feel of the gathering. The favors were candy-filled cherries made from tissue paper, floral wire and floral tape. The paper used to make the pennants and lanterns was from Paper Source. This was a great example of how color can inform and inspire all aspects of a party, including food!
Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 9:03PM