One of John's favorites that he requests is to play the matching game with Trader Joe's alphabet cookies. He won't eat them without my getting the puzzle so he can match! When we began this little preschooling a few weeks ago, John couldn't recognize any letters and I quickly thought that this experiment was too academic, that I should focus on more "life skills" (a la Montessori)--you know, the boy is only two! That probably holds true still, but I was startled to see after a week or so, suddenly John started to recognize letters all over the place! Below is a photo of just a few of the letters John matched today; he matched many more and identified some by name too. Yesterday he even noticed a letter on a sign while we were driving. That's pretty fun for me! Also, John has begun rhyming when he invents songs.
Nonetheless, I think I'll cut some things in order to add in some more of his current passions: calendars and maps! That's my goal for when I design next week's curriculum for the letter 'C'.
Week Three (9/21-25/09): Letter “B”
Language Arts
The sound this letter stands for is - /b/ as in banana.
Theme words - banana, bird, bus, bumblebee (coloring pictures printed out)
Sign Language - Teach the sign for the letter B (ASL Alphabet Coloring Pages)
Poetry and Rhymes:
"Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" a nursery rhyme (Mother Goose)
“Bye, baby bunting” (Mother Goose)
“Betty Botter bought some butter” (Mother Goose)
Books to read aloud:
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
The Berenstains' B Book (requested from Library)
B is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC by June Sobel (requested from library)
Music
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (lyrics printed)
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (lyrics printed)
Snacks
Bake banana bread, bread and butter, bagels, blueberries
Religion
Tell story of The Tower of Babel
Bravery
Bravery
Science
Color - blue (play “I Spy” for blue things around the house or on a walk or driving in the car)
Social Studies & Field Trip
Talk about what goes on in a bakery (while we’re baking banana bread?), then visit the bakery when we’re at the grocery store.
Sport/Game
Blow bubbles.
Montessori
Hey! I am amazed you're doing so much. I do nothing structured until they are five, unless they initiate it. It's very motivating to read about all that you're doing.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing... are you looking for Montessori materials? I might be getting rid of some in the next couple month.
ReplyDeleteJessica: Yes, I'd love Montessori materials you're done with!
ReplyDeleteRe: being structured, I'm trying not to overdo it. Obviously, I'm totally being an eager beaver. It's kind of silly. But in practice, it has ended up being really casual. He doesn't realize I'm reading him certain poems or stories as part of a theme. I just read them throughout the week at totally random times on the couch in the den, just like we read his endless Curious George books. And he's always up for an arts and crafts project, but he's clueless that we're making Animal puppets because we're in "A" week. Today I told him the story of Adam and Eve ("religious studies") while I was cleaning the kitchen and he was eating a snack. So, I'm torn about whether this is all ridiculous and overstructured, or whether it's nice, John likes it, and I'm getting some practice.