Pre Reading
Communication and Literacy Standard 3: Demonstrates early reading skills
Benchmark 3.1: Listens to reading materials with interest and enjoyment
Benchmark 3.2: Demonstrates knowledge of the alphabet
“Making concrete connections between abstract symbols and sounds increases children’s ability to learn the alphabet. You can give your child opportunities to make these connections by intruding activities that encourage them to identify letters in familiar words and to associate the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.”
JULY PRE-READING ACTIVITIES
0-1 years oldTo celebrate the 4th of July, here is a finger play your child can act out on this special day. Boom, crack, whistle, pop! (Open and close hands quickly).
Fireworks in the sky.
See them lighting up the night on the Fourth of July!
Red, blue, gold, and green, With fireworks we say,
Happy birthday, America, It’s Independence Day!
by Elizabeth McKinnon
1-2 years oldThere is a book called “Summer” by Ron Hirschi. In this book are bright pictures of things you can see in the summer. There are also pictures of Mother and baby animals. This would be a fun book to share with your young child. Even if, you do not want to take time to “read” the story, you could leaf through the pages and point to the pictures and tell your child what is happening in the picture. Look for things your child may know what they are. Point out a few things they have not been exposed to as of yet in their life. If, by chance, you happen to see in real life, something that they had learned about in a picture book, take the time to stop the car and point it out to the child. Perhaps they have only seen baby ducks in a book. If you see some at the pond in the park, let them take a closer look at the real thing. Point to it and tell them the name of what it is. Help them to increase their vocabulary a little each day.
2-3 years oldKathi Appelt has written a book called Watermelon Day. After reading about an item, see if you can give your child experience with the real thing. For example, after reading about a watermelon, have a slice for snack time. Talk about what was happening in the story and act it out as you are enjoying your slice of cold, crisp watermelon.
3-4 Year old: --Take a trip to the library and ask for books that have to do with summer or summer themes. These seasons are all new to your little one, have fun taking time and introducing your little one to the wonder of life around them. After reading a book about bugs and insects, try to find a way to look at an example up close. Pet stores have crickets. Perhaps you could get a couple and bring home. Get a magnifying glass and look at their eyes or how their body is put together. How do they make their loud noise? Place insect in a clear plastic container (i.e. snack food container, plastic cookie container) as a terrarium. Create a book of what you have discovered.
4-5 year old: -Do you have a swing set in your back yard? Some evening before bedtime, carry your child out to the swing set and share this poem with them, as they learn how to pump their legs and learn to swing. Here is the poem by Rebecca Dotlich:
Summer Swinging
Up and away to the moon and down, up to the brightest starts.
My feet reach up, my feet fall back; Im climbing up to Mars.
I bend my knees, then s-t-r-e-t-c-h my legs, as back-and-forth I fly,
my barefoot toes touch every star that’s shining in the sky.
Over the hills and over the earth, I swing, I sing, I shout.
I close my eyes, I hold my breath, and I... jump out!
This is what memories are made of... taking an ordinary evening and make it into a memory they wont forget! : ) Seize the day.
5-6 year old: - Do you see a butterfly in your yard... Find out more about them... Google search butterflies and find out what is its name or what does it like to eat. Read books about butterflies. Create a book about the kinds of butterflies you find and what did you learn about them. Memorize a poem together about butterflies like the following:
Butterfly by Rebecca Dotlich
I like the easy way you go, floating freely, flying low, and, oh!
To be a butterfly, sailing on one breath of sky.
Can you create a poem yourselves about butterflies?
TOOLS FOR MOTHERHOOD GRADUATES share the activities they are doing at home.
Zoe’s been really curious lately about rhyming and even spelling and reading. It’s been fun. She’ll ask me in the car just out of the blue… “does T start with Tree mom?”… meaning does tree start with T? But she’s learning the sounds and she can easily spell 3 letter words just sounding them out and even can read some of the words.
3 Year Old-- Read a book & bring to life By Kahle, Graduate of TFM 7-week workshop
We read a book about different, shapes, sizes and colors of beads and then we made a bracelet out of beads and a pipecleaner. Kaihtlyn was so proud of herself for making the bracelet on her own.
To bring the "book alive" by creating a fun activity around what we had read, we created a bracelet like what we had read. We had tried putting tap onto the end of yarn at first, but the beads would not go over the tape. A pipe clearner worked well for her to thread the beads onto. With all the beads on the pipe cleaner, I dont have to worry about it breaking. : )
Recommendations: Yes, helps small motor skills. : )
1 1/2 Years Old & 4 Years Old This is an activity that I got from a friend that encourage "reading" in very young ones. Since little ones love to see pictures of babies then this is perfect. So I had Zoe collect things around the house that were certain colors each day for a week then I dressed Lexi (baby sister) in that color and took her picture. Then I put them online at shutterfly.com and ordered a color book of Lexi. I also labeled the different pages/colors in both upper and lowercase letters so Zoe can "read" the letters in the colors and she quite often reads this book to Lexi and spells the words for her. Looking back, I think I would have liked to have done it when Lexi was younger and maybe do two or one page/color for a month so at age 1, she would have the book and we would see her grow. This is a great activity to teach and watch growth in our little ones. -- Heather
3 Years Old I made a worksheet to have Kaihtlyn trace the dots and work on Left to Right concepts. She still hasnt mastered the tracing concept yet without my assistance. She still wants to draw everywhere. This will help strengthen bounderies when working with paper and drawing. This activity helps to teach the child control when drawing. I like the fact that it teaches fine motor skills and teaches L to R. --Kayle
4 1/2 Years Old So we have this old rocking re-cliner chair that no longer has legs. So we put it in the playroom for the girls. I added some throw pillows and a blanket to cuddle with and added a basket next to it on the floor filled with books. Zoe now gets to go upstairs to the playroom to go to her book nook whenever she needs some space and uiet from little sis. Its been a lot of fun and she's using it a lot now. It's been a great retreat for her and less refereeing needed between the girls for me. : )--Heather
0-1 years oldTo celebrate the 4th of July, here is a finger play your child can act out on this special day. Boom, crack, whistle, pop! (Open and close hands quickly).
Fireworks in the sky.
See them lighting up the night on the Fourth of July!
Red, blue, gold, and green, With fireworks we say,
Happy birthday, America, It’s Independence Day!
by Elizabeth McKinnon
1-2 years oldThere is a book called “Summer” by Ron Hirschi. In this book are bright pictures of things you can see in the summer. There are also pictures of Mother and baby animals. This would be a fun book to share with your young child. Even if, you do not want to take time to “read” the story, you could leaf through the pages and point to the pictures and tell your child what is happening in the picture. Look for things your child may know what they are. Point out a few things they have not been exposed to as of yet in their life. If, by chance, you happen to see in real life, something that they had learned about in a picture book, take the time to stop the car and point it out to the child. Perhaps they have only seen baby ducks in a book. If you see some at the pond in the park, let them take a closer look at the real thing. Point to it and tell them the name of what it is. Help them to increase their vocabulary a little each day.
2-3 years oldKathi Appelt has written a book called Watermelon Day. After reading about an item, see if you can give your child experience with the real thing. For example, after reading about a watermelon, have a slice for snack time. Talk about what was happening in the story and act it out as you are enjoying your slice of cold, crisp watermelon.
3-4 Year old: --Take a trip to the library and ask for books that have to do with summer or summer themes. These seasons are all new to your little one, have fun taking time and introducing your little one to the wonder of life around them. After reading a book about bugs and insects, try to find a way to look at an example up close. Pet stores have crickets. Perhaps you could get a couple and bring home. Get a magnifying glass and look at their eyes or how their body is put together. How do they make their loud noise? Place insect in a clear plastic container (i.e. snack food container, plastic cookie container) as a terrarium. Create a book of what you have discovered.
4-5 year old: -Do you have a swing set in your back yard? Some evening before bedtime, carry your child out to the swing set and share this poem with them, as they learn how to pump their legs and learn to swing. Here is the poem by Rebecca Dotlich:
Summer Swinging
Up and away to the moon and down, up to the brightest starts.
My feet reach up, my feet fall back; Im climbing up to Mars.
I bend my knees, then s-t-r-e-t-c-h my legs, as back-and-forth I fly,
my barefoot toes touch every star that’s shining in the sky.
Over the hills and over the earth, I swing, I sing, I shout.
I close my eyes, I hold my breath, and I... jump out!
This is what memories are made of... taking an ordinary evening and make it into a memory they wont forget! : ) Seize the day.
5-6 year old: - Do you see a butterfly in your yard... Find out more about them... Google search butterflies and find out what is its name or what does it like to eat. Read books about butterflies. Create a book about the kinds of butterflies you find and what did you learn about them. Memorize a poem together about butterflies like the following:
Butterfly by Rebecca Dotlich
I like the easy way you go, floating freely, flying low, and, oh!
To be a butterfly, sailing on one breath of sky.
Can you create a poem yourselves about butterflies?
TOOLS FOR MOTHERHOOD GRADUATES share the activities they are doing at home.
Zoe’s been really curious lately about rhyming and even spelling and reading. It’s been fun. She’ll ask me in the car just out of the blue… “does T start with Tree mom?”… meaning does tree start with T? But she’s learning the sounds and she can easily spell 3 letter words just sounding them out and even can read some of the words.
3 Year Old-- Read a book & bring to life By Kahle, Graduate of TFM 7-week workshop
We read a book about different, shapes, sizes and colors of beads and then we made a bracelet out of beads and a pipecleaner. Kaihtlyn was so proud of herself for making the bracelet on her own.
To bring the "book alive" by creating a fun activity around what we had read, we created a bracelet like what we had read. We had tried putting tap onto the end of yarn at first, but the beads would not go over the tape. A pipe clearner worked well for her to thread the beads onto. With all the beads on the pipe cleaner, I dont have to worry about it breaking. : )
Recommendations: Yes, helps small motor skills. : )
1 1/2 Years Old & 4 Years Old This is an activity that I got from a friend that encourage "reading" in very young ones. Since little ones love to see pictures of babies then this is perfect. So I had Zoe collect things around the house that were certain colors each day for a week then I dressed Lexi (baby sister) in that color and took her picture. Then I put them online at shutterfly.com and ordered a color book of Lexi. I also labeled the different pages/colors in both upper and lowercase letters so Zoe can "read" the letters in the colors and she quite often reads this book to Lexi and spells the words for her. Looking back, I think I would have liked to have done it when Lexi was younger and maybe do two or one page/color for a month so at age 1, she would have the book and we would see her grow. This is a great activity to teach and watch growth in our little ones. -- Heather
3 Years Old I made a worksheet to have Kaihtlyn trace the dots and work on Left to Right concepts. She still hasnt mastered the tracing concept yet without my assistance. She still wants to draw everywhere. This will help strengthen bounderies when working with paper and drawing. This activity helps to teach the child control when drawing. I like the fact that it teaches fine motor skills and teaches L to R. --Kayle
4 1/2 Years Old So we have this old rocking re-cliner chair that no longer has legs. So we put it in the playroom for the girls. I added some throw pillows and a blanket to cuddle with and added a basket next to it on the floor filled with books. Zoe now gets to go upstairs to the playroom to go to her book nook whenever she needs some space and uiet from little sis. Its been a lot of fun and she's using it a lot now. It's been a great retreat for her and less refereeing needed between the girls for me. : )--Heather