This lesson is brought to you by the letter o, homemade cloth balls, hermit crabs and jars.
Select letters that your child knows the phonetic sounds very well and familiar objects that start with the letters. For example, if you child knows the 'j', 'c', and 'd' sound, select the letter j and a jar, the letter c and a toy cat, the letter d and a toy dog.
Unroll a rug and place 2 or 3 objects on one side and the corresponding letters on the other side of the rug.
Take on one object and say the word, emphasizing the beginning sound. For example, hold up the jar and say "This is the j-ar. Let's find the letter it begins with." Find the matching letter and place it under the object. Continue with all the objects and letters until finished. Ask, "Would You like to do this next?" and let your child have a try. It's fine to allow your child to do the activity as soon as they are ready. Some children understand it after only one example and want to do it right away. You may have to say the word for them, emphasizing the beginning letter as they do the activity.
This sewn ball can be a community project for an older child or a fun first ball for your little one. Try making each section out of materials with different textures. Your child can feel the different textures using their sense of touch. Also, you can play some fun games with this ball.
Babies can just hold and feel the ball, it feels just like a lovey. Just don't pack it too tight with stuffing—it's easier to grab if it's not full! Also, you can sew a ball with black and white material for younger babies to hang over their cribs. Black and white is easy for young babies to see.
When baby is laying down or sitting up, put the ball within arms reach for a "grab the ball" game.
When your baby starts to walk, make extra balls for putting into a basket or box. Later they can the throw the balls into the basket.
This homemade soft ball is great for a toddler's first game of catching and throwing. At first, face each other (you may want to be sitting or kneeling) and stand apart only a few paces. Start by just tossing and catching the ball. As your toddler gets better at this game, increase the distance between you and your child. Eventually you will be able to stand and your toddler will be able to throw the ball up to you.
For this activity, you and your child will make interesting designs by rolling a marble inside a box on blank paper.
Fit a piece of blank paper inside the box. For younger children use just one color of paint. You can add more colors later or for an older child.
Tell your child, "Lets dip the marble into the red paint. Next, let's put the marble in the box."
Grasp the box on both sides and gently roll the marble back and forth to make a design. Let your child roll the marble in the box. Use different balls and colors to make the art project more complex.
Use the balls according to size. Ask, "should we use the big or small ball first? Let's do the next size." Go through the balls in ascending or descending order according to size.
This is a great way to introduce colors and how colors change when mixed together.
Hermit Crabs make a fun and interesting unit of study. It's fun to provide live hermit crabs in your classroom or home. They really capture children's attention. The really exciting thing about hermit crabs is that they use old discarded sea shells for their homes. As they grow they move into bigger shells. I bought mine at the local pet store.
Here are some nomenclature cards about hermit crabs.
Here are some links that may help:
Here are some Hermit Crab books to consider.
Put the pairs of balls in a basket. Put the basket on a rug and match the balls to each other.
Later, put the balls in order from largest to smallest or largest to smallest. Go through
what is the smallest to the next smallest, eventually to the largest ball. Group the balls according to size, color or texture.
Count the balls forward: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.
Count the balls backwards-10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Use number symbols appropriate for your child's knowledge.
Take a number card, such as 5, ask your child if he or she can find 5 objects to put next to the number.
For older children, use smaller objects, such as pennies, and larger numbers.
Montessori Jars is a great hands-on activity to help with life skills and sensorial learning. If you have trouble screwing the lid back on just unscrew the lid until it grabs the treads of the jar.
Use what you have on hand-here is an example of a lesson!
You'll need 2 or three of these vegetables or fruits-add more if your child is ready for a challenge.
Put the items in a basket or box. Use the three period lesson to teach the names of the fruits and vegetables your are going to use.
Take 2 or three items and show your child how to match them to the pictures you have printed out and colored below.
Put labels on the coloring pages (to let you child have exposure to the word)-for example on the bottom of the page write the word apple.
Print out labels to match the labeled pictures. Show your child how to match the labels to the correct picture. Your child should be able to recognize letters at this point in order to do this successfully.
Print out and color these pages from Preschool Coloring Book
Introduce the letter "o"
Show your child the letter "o", say the short "o" sound, ask your child to point to the letter "o" (say it as a phonetic sound), point to letter "o" and ask what letter is this? Tell your child what sound o makes- a sound in the word like ox. I usually start with the phonetic sound of the letter, but more times than not, most kids know the name of the letter before they start school. So it's okay to confirm the name of the letter while introducing the sound. To reinforce the letter let your child point to the letter and rap or sing to melody of "Row, row your boat" to these words
o-o-o-sound, "o" makes an octopus sound. o, o, o, o, "o" makes an octopus sound.
If this is simple for your child, add another short "o" sound word.
By adding vowel sounds to your child's knowledge he or she can start to spell words with the moveable alphabet using this word list .
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