Mother Teacher Scatterbrain

One of my new favorite blogs is that of Mama Lisa. This blog is the most amazing collection of children's songs I have ever seen. This lady has collected songs from all over the world in so any languages. What is more, she has the translated into other languages. So she may have a French lullaby featured. Then the lyrics may be available in English and Spanish. What I really appreciate about this site is that there are even songs even less popular languages and dialects. An added bonus is that she has take the time to locate or provide audio or visuals for many sngs so that you can hear them performed.

We did a lot today and will continue with this for a while (until Baby gets it or gets bored!) Cilck on the baby to read the rest of the post!


So today we did some rote counting. We counted with Greg and Steve.

We worked with the letter M using the following:

Mimi Mouse's song and a larger image

Object box with a man, Mickey Mouse, and a mitten

And with Coilbrook's Shawn the Train

More on the letter M.

..



We also reviewed colors and counted as we strung beads for fine motor skills.

I read my own Bible verses (Genesis 1:1-2:3) aloud to him. He pretended to read along with one of his own books. As I wrote this on paper, he pretended to write as well.

We also watched a bit of Muzzy in French.


Additional resources:
Coilbrook's Shawn the Train
Colors
Counting
Shapes

Greg and Steve
Numbers
Days
Months

Dr. Jean
Alphabets

From Harry Kindergarten:
2D shapes
3D Shapes
Count to 20

Here is a months video

Here is another M song

We will also begin with A Rhyme A Week: Jack and Jill. (Lesson Plan, Poster, Riddle Rhymes for Older Kids, Picture Cards)

And my son loves this rat!

Now, my son can rote count to ten just because he took an interest in counting and used to want to count till I couldn't handle it anymore. So needless to say he is 1 to 10 ready. Now, we need to work on one-to-one correspondence and matching the symbol with the quantity. So here are my plans:

My son know his shapes and colors for the most part. Only time he doesn't know them is when you ask him because if he wants you to give him something, he is quite able to articulate the color and shape of the object that you overlooked as you handed him the wrong thing. But we will continue working with colors and shapes.

We will begin working on letter sounds (not so much the names) using some Montessori methods. I will prepare some object boxes. I will basically use a Tupperware bowl (but not the name brand kind, the grocery store kind) and put in it objects that begin with the same letter. Now, I will be very consistent with the objects I choose. For consonants I will choose the most common sound (no soft c or soft g). For vowels, I will only choose objects beginning with the short sound. Also, each box will contain corresponding sandpaper letters. (I will describe how I have decided to make them below.) I haven't decided whether I will include both capital and lowercase or just lowercase. Anywho, I will introduce the boxes one letter at a time. As he gets good with the objects, I will create picture cards. Montessori Albums for some lesson ideas.  

After careful review of many resources and suggestions on creating sandpaper letters, I decided on two things. First, I decided to buy The Red Letter Book. Second, I decided that the easiest way for me to make sandpaper letters was to use cardstock, glue, a paintbrush, and sand. We will go outside, I will paint the letter with glue, and my son will sprinkle/dump the sand on the letter. Here is to praying that this doesn't turn into a project that continuously sheds sand.

We will do some singing and dancing too! We try to rock out around hear at least daily! So we will be using Dr. Jean Who Let the Letters Out and The Whole Alphabet in My Mouth. We will be using Houghton Mifflin's Alphafriends songs. (There is one for each letter with accompanying pictures!)  Here is our sequence.

I just want to be clear that while I totally think that my baby is a genius, I am quite partial. I have an understanding of child development that lets me know that his development may not be in line with my plans. I am simply going to offer him the opportunity to try. If he does not show interest, I will revise the plan. We will still rock out daily though!

Here is a wonderful resource for homeschool, P-12!


We will be using letter stamps and crafts to teach each letter. Say the letter name when dipping in paint and the sound when stamping.






Additional Resources
Letter of the Week Games and Rhymes: http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/letter/all.html