A Week

          We had a great start to our alphabet school time adventure!  Brooklyn has really enjoyed having this learning time each morning.  Several days, I found her waiting for me in her circle time spot on the floor when I came downstairs from laying Madelyn down for her nap.  This time has quickly become a highlight of my day also.  I love seeing her excited about learning!

                           

          This week we focused on the letter A.  We learned about alligators, ants, airplanes, apples, and animals and had so much fun in the process!  On Monday, we started out with our circle time songs, then I introduced the letter A.  We talked about the sounds that A can make and different words that start with the A sound.  I also introduced our Bible verse, finger play, and song for the week.  Our theme song was “The Ants Go Marching” which I found on one of our fun Wee Sing CD’s.  This quickly became Brooklyn’s favorite part of school time each morning.  We would march around together and act out what each ant did in the song.  (I got a good workout too after marching around to all 10 verses over and over each day!)  After getting some of our energy out, we worked on our craft - a big letter A that looked like an alligator. Brooklyn enjoyed gluing the teeth and eyes on! We ended our school day with a yummy snack of more A things – applesauce and animal crackers. 

                            

          On Tuesday, we learned about ants.  Brooklyn really enjoyed our ant craft.  She loved painting green grass and later stamping her fingerprints to make little marching ants in the grass. We attempted a math counting/beginner addition game (which is explained in the lesson plans) but after two times, Brooklyn started eating all of the ants (raisins) (I even thought of that possibility beforehand and planned snack time right before this math game thinking she’d be full and not eat them, but Brooklyn always seems to have room in her tummy for a few more raisins!).  For snack, we made ants on a log (I forgot to buy celery at the store so we used carrots.  They look more like logs anyway, and they must have been good because she ate them all up!)  We got around to our science lesson for the day but may try it later. 

                            

          We had MOPS on Wednesday so we skipped school time.

          

          Thursday was apple day.  We talked about the parts of an apple and where apples come from.  I showed her a picture of an apple tree.  We cut an apple in half to look at the seeds inside.  We used this apple for our apple stamping craft which was lots of fun.  We then enjoyed apple slices for snack.  If you have more time, you can try making these baked apple chips together. 

          We ended our week on Friday with Bible day.  We read the creation story and focused on how God made the animals.  This website has lots of hand print animal ideas.  We chose three animals (giraffe, monkey, and lion) to make for our craft.  We then ate animal crackers for our snack. 

                         

                           

          I think we had a successful week of learning.  Although Brooklyn has been able to recognize all of her letters for almost a year now and even knows most of the letter sounds, I can already see how she is starting to be able to hear and understand how words start with those letter sounds.  Each morning in circle time when I asked her what words start with an A, she was able to name several words on her own.  We constantly talked about A words throughout the week, and we had fun discovering new ones each day.  I was also so proud and surprised that by the end of the week, she was able to say her verse (with a little help to get her started).  We reviewed it randomly throughout our day, and I was sure to say it (and sing the little song I made to go with it) before nap time and bed time each day.  She loves showing off all of her crafts, which are proudly displayed on our craft board, to everyone who comes over. I’m looking forward to B week and all of the fun it will bring J

          For details and instructions on these crafts and activities, please click to see my lesson plans.  If you have more ideas for the letter A, please comment and share - I would love to hear them!! 

Preparing to learn

Last week I officially started “school time” with Brooklyn.  We had been doing a practice run for a few weeks before that to help get both of us use to this more structured time each morning.  During those weeks, we established that school time started after Madelyn went down for her morning nap.  We also started our circle time routine to kick off each school day which is followed by a story or quick lesson, and then a craft or activity.  Brooklyn has thoroughly enjoyed the structure of this routine!  I have taught other kids in the past that would not sit still during the stories, pay attention to the songs, or participate in the crafts.  I am blessed to have a very calm daughter who loves it!!  My advice to moms of more energetic/easily distracted kids is to try to get on their level and be creative at coming up with ideas to teach them while they play.  Every child learns differently; it is important to figure out your child’s learning style and tweak your teaching based on that.  Discover your child's learning style here.

As I mentioned before, we start off our school time with circle time.  Brooklyn and I sit on the floor together with our musical instrument box, shake our egg shakers, and I guide her through the following list:

We sing:

• The Good Morning Song
• This is the Day That the Lord Has Made
• ABC’s (while doing the sign language)
• The Days of the Week (and we talk about what day it is)
• (I will add in the Months of the Year song when she is a little older)
• The song of the week (that goes with our letter – with motions)

We say:

• Spell her name
• Count to 20 – we count our fingers and toes (start with counting to 10 then increase as they learn)
• The letter of the week and words that start with that letter (we look at our craft board of the things we have made that week to help her remember)
• The verse of the week

We read:

• Our poem/fingerplay/nursery rhyme of the week (with motions)
• Our book of the day and/or week (that goes with our letter)
• A book that she chooses

I am constantly changing this list around and adding/taking away things from it.  I know that repetition will ultimately help children learn and remember so I try to make sure that I use this time wisely (a 2 year olds attention span is only so long so don’t make this list too long).  In the future, I plan to incorporate our address, phone number, more Scripture memory, The Pledge of Allegiance, and other important things like that J Some days, when I can tell she’s not very focused, I’ll pick a couple of things from this list to do and not worry about the rest.  Her favorite things tend to be the songs or poems that have active motions.  These almost always get her excited about school time!

Before we start circle time, I make sure she has had some play time and isn’t hungry.  I have found that if she hasn’t had time to play yet that morning, she is probably not going to stay focused.  She needs to have time to get her energy out first, or I can’t expect her to sit still.  Also, if she is hungry, she tends to get a little grumpy.  Some days, we start our school day by playing a game together or having our snack.  Other days, we jump right into circle time and our school time ends with our snack.  Figure out what works best for your child and base your schedule around that.   Just remember that if their needs are met first, their learning time will go much smoother.

During the songs, we play instruments, do motions, dance, and sing.  It is important that I also participate and do everything right along with her.  If she gets distracted during this time, I try to redirect her back to whatever we are doing.  If she continually stops paying attention or playing with other things, I take a break and just let her play for a few minutes.  I know she needs to learn to follow directions and stay focused, but I also know that she is only 2 years old!  I try to be flexible and remember that this time is for her.  (She is teaching me flexibility while I teach her structure J - everybody needs a little of both in their life.)  Also remember that children are usually still listening and learning from what you are saying while they are playing even though it may seem that they are ignoring you.  Sometimes I’ll just keep right along talking or singing while she makes me some “pizza” at her play kitchen. 

As I introduce the letter each day, we talk about the sound that letter makes and the different words that start with that letter.  As we go through our daily activities that week, we will continue talking about words starting with that letter.  During A week, every time we saw an airplane, we would talk about how airplane starts with the “a” sound.  When we are reading books, I will point out the A’s and ask her to try pointing them out as well.  This constantly reinforces what we are learning.  Learning the letter sounds early will lay the groundwork for reading in the future. 

I have also used the alphabet to help guide Brooklyn (and myself) in some Scripture memory.  Each week we have a new verse that I write on a card and hang on our board.  We review it during circle time and throughout our day.  I explain to her what it means and try to apply what it says to our lives.  We also spend time on Fridays reviewing the verses we have learned in previous weeks as we flip through our old cards.  I try to make up songs for the verses – music usually helps kids learn and remember better.

I will be sharing my weekly lesson plans on this blog.  Each week, I come up with a variety of songs, rhymes, crafts, snacks, and activities to do which are based on the letter of that week.  I try to incorporate math, science, movement, music, reading, and art in some way each week.  I plan to post my lesson plans and also share what worked for us and what did not.   Many of the ideas I post are not my own.  I will share many links to great websites that have helped give me tons of inspiration and ideas.  Use your imagination to come up with your own ideas or change mine up to better fit your child.  Have fun – I know we will!!