Letter Recognition Activities

What is letter recognition?

Letter recognition is the ability to quickly and accurately name alphabet letters in order, out of order, whether capital or lower-case form.

Why is letter recognition important?

Knowledge of letter names isn’t strictly necessary for reading. When reading a text, skilled adults and older children rarely make use of letter names—what’s important is the sound represented by the letter, not its name.

Why, then, is letter-naming so tightly linked with reading skill? To begin with, the ability to label an object probably helps children store it in memory. Common labels, or names, also allow children, parents, and teachers to talk about letters, point out letters that appear on signs, and examine letters in storybooks. These naming activities help the child learn to recognize letters quickly and automatically.

-Ann Pychawww.brainconnection.com

How do I assess letter recognition?

Use a checklist to mark off correctly identified letters as your child learns them.  You may want to use multiple symbols through the chart.  I use a star for naming the letter and a heart for naming the sound.  Here is a chart created by Fountas and Pinnell:

http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/kpop/letterrecsheet.pdf

 What activities can teach letter recognition?

I posted about how to make alphabet caps and now I want to share some activities on how to best use them to benefit your child. 

We always begin by dumping the container into a large pile.  Then we dig into the fun. 

Beginning with the letter A, we start to line them up in order.  With each cap placed we say it's name.  When finished we go backwards through the alphabet from z to a and again state the name of the letter.  Don't always go in order.  Ask your child to "show me an e" Your child will then say, "I found an e" and point to the correct cap.  Extend these activities by stating the sound that each letter makes, not only the name of the letter. 

Go through the alphabet and create a sentence for each letter.  Use as many words that begin with that letter as possible.  Allison Alligator admires adorable apes. 

Play I spy with each letter as you go through each cap.  I spy with my little eye something that begins with an "A"

I always like to add a book to our activities.  I absolutely love "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"  It is a great read to go along with letter recognition. 

Use the link below to print out learning mats to use to match your alphabet upper case letters to lower case letters. 

http://www.pcboe.net/les/elderweb/hidden%20resources/chickachickaletterpull.pdf

Although there are endless ways to teacher your child the alphabet names and sounds, these are a few I have choosen to share with you and I hope you will share a few with me. 

How did you teach your child letter recognition?

Letter and Number Recognition

My 5 year old is getting ready for kindergarten and I wanted to ensure that she was prepared and check some of her learning benchmarks.  An important concept to be ready for kindergarten is letter and number recognition.  I put together a fun, hands on game that she could pull off the bookshelf at any time to practice her letters.  Here is how we made the pieces:

First, start a collection of lids from water bottles.  I kept a ziploc baggie by the recycling bin, so that as people threw away their water bottle, they could put their lid into the bag.  Once you have 26 you can move on to the next step.   

Second, add letters or numbers to the top of the cap. 

The first time I tried I used a permenant marker and although it worked, it wasn't the best.  I redid the lids and my daughter told me they were much easier to read. 

The second time I created this activity, I used stickers that I found in Target's dollar isle.  Each sticker package has 4 sheets and each sheet has all 26 letters with a few letters having extra and numbers zero through nine. 

 Here is how the number caps turned out. 

Here are how the alphabet caps turned out.  

Check back to learn how to use the number and alphabet caps to increase number and letter recognition. 

Picking books for bedtime

My girls are absolutely obsessed with reading and I'm to blame. A few friends realized how many books my children owned as we dropped off five boxes to donate to the church's book drive and it didn't put a dent into their home library.  My husband often get's on my case about the amount of books we own, but I stand by my belief that if children are surrounded by books and are read to nightly, they will develop a natural passion for not only reading but for learning. 

Tips for Choosing Bedtime Books~

Read Daily
Every night we have a routine of reading before bed.  Being an educator I always stressed reading 30 minutes a day and research proves the theory.  When I became pregnant I already had a small stash of books that somehow has accumulated over the years to our home library.  If you have not accumulated such a selection, swing by the library and grab a handful.

Try Variety
I am slightly obsessive with organizing certain things and books happen to be one of those things. We have holidays, science, history, girls, early readers, characters that look like me, etc.  Choose different genres and types of books.  Use your imagination and become the author/storyteller, no book is necessary.  You may even start reading a book and then put it down and change the ending. 

Teach the Concept of Time
If you don't have a lot of time, pick short books.  If you have a while, then let them pick a longer or thicker book.  Every night I have the girls pick three and follow the length of the book rule.  You may switch it up and say it's a one book night or a four books a night, depending on time. Before my oldest learned to read, I was the only one the would read the tall stacks of books.  As she became a little more confident as a reader, I would have her read one from the stacks.  She has since become such an avid reader that sometimes she will read the stack completely by herself. 

Talk About It
This will not only enhance the bond you are creating between yourselves, but also your child's comprehension.  Ask thier opinion.  Give yours. Ask questions.  Let them ask you questions.  How would they rate the book?  Do they know anyone like the character?   What would they do if in the same circumstances?

How do you and your child choose bedtime books? 

How much clothing does a newborn baby need?

My sister sent me a text the other day completely baffled by how many outfits they would need to purchase.  I am blessed to have a small stock of clothes built up from the first two girls that will be able to get me started with my third.  I am also blessed with a great friend that has a daughter six months older and willing to pass along clothes.  But with an amazing 40% off everything Carter's online/in store deal currently running, who isn't able to resist purchasing a few more outfits.  I also have a code to receive an additional 20% between the dates of August 1st and 31st- code=(AUGUST)

Baby Girl Layette
Newborn to 3 month checklist
10-15 bodysuits/onesies
4-6 pants
2-4 gowns
6-8 footed sleepers
4-6 blankets
4-6 bibs
6-12 washcloths
2-3 towels
4-6 booties/socks
2-4 caps

Be careful not just to go by age when buying clothes.   My daughters were always longer than "typical" at each age range and were always a few sizes above where clothing labels suggested.  For the size ranges were discussing here, double check the weight and length below:

Newborn- 5-8lbs, 21.5 inches
3 months- 8-12.5 lbs, 21.5-24 lbs

The easiest way I found to shop was to click this link:
http://www.carters.com/carters/carters-little-layette-shop,default,sc.html

When you click it, it will provide you with a checklist of everything you need for newborn to 3 months.  There is also a section for 6-9 months.  Scroll over the items you need, select one, then click the gender you need and it will take you to a listing of items currently in that section. 

Check it out soon, before the sale expires! The Little Sweetie Collection was a must have for us and I purchased it for my sister, also~

                                            

Do you shop at Carter's?  What is you current favorite collection?



Eliminating indigestion during pregnancy

I have had terrible indigestion with all three of my girls.

Now some old wives tales say it's a girl thing and others say it's because of a head full of hair.  Although I love my girls and I love bringing them home from the hospital with a bow in their hair, I DO NOT love indigestion. 

Although tums did work occasionally with the first two girls, I felt like I was constantly popping them into my mouth starting around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. 

With this third pregnancy my husband began a ketogenic diet. The object of the diet is to empty the liver of glycogen stores as quickly as possible so that fat burning occurs. This is done by severely restricting carbohydrates and eating only  sources of proteins and fats.  Now I love potatoes, rice, bread, pancakes, waffles, pasta, and any other carb possible.

At the same time, I wanted to support my husband and make sure he had what he needed to stay on track.  Monday through Friday I began making dinner without carbs or sugary treats.  We had all kinds of meats; steak, chicken, pork, fish and all kinds of vegetables; spinach, broccoli, salads. 

I only ate carbohydrates in the morning for breakfast and I NEVER had indigestion again.  COINCIDENCE?!?!  Now I know this is because I took out carbs and sugars because on the weekends according to his diet plan he could eat whatever he wanted, so I would too.  Every weekend I would have indigestion at night. 

So if you are going through the same annoying indigestion night after night as I have.  Might I suggest removing carbs from your evening meal and maybe even lunch!

What other remedies do you have to eliminate indigestion during pregnancy?

Ready to POP!

Every baby shower must have a theme.  My sister and I are both pregnant with girls and after much debate and contemplation we decided to throw a shower together and make the theme: Ready to POP!

We had a POPcorn bar with multiple flavors of popcorn that we served in paper cones.  We found hundreds of recipes online and eventually came up with four that we were in love with.  As we began to prepare the different flavors, we realized the recipes sounded much better than they tasted and decided to head to the store and buy some prepackaged white cheddar, cheddar, butter, and kettle corn.  My sister also wrote up a blog post about how to make the cones.  Check it out here: http://wereparentsnj.blogspot.com/2012/07/scrapbook-party-cones.html

 We had POPcorn chicken that we purchased from the deli at WalMart

 POPable meatballs made from my aunts famous family recipe (secret ingredient- grape jelly).

 Pizza POPS-

http://www.thegunnysack.com/2011/03/easy-pepperoni-rolls.html

POPpy seed ham and cheese sliders-

http://www.food.com/recipe/the-best-ham-sandwiches-ever-358553

We had to change up the recipe slightly based on the grocery store we shopped.  We switched out hawaiian rolls for potato rolls and virginia ham for black forest ham.  They were still absolutely amazing!  We also decreased the butter from 3/4 of a cup to 1/2 a cup. 

We made cherry and apple POPtarts.

http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/09/01/poptart-pops-an-interview-with-bakerella/

 We made chocolate dipped oreo POPs:
http://www.makoodle.com/oreo-pops/

 My brother in law made an amazing Fruit cradle bowl in POPable size pieces. 

 Yummy Blow POPs and Tootsie POPS
This was supper easy but we had to run out to the store twice to buy more POPs because we didn't purchase enough to start with.  We found a plain white flower pot that we added special ordered Ready to Pop stickers with our shower date.  Then we placed a round styrofoam ball on top and began to stick lollipops on the inside.  The ribbons around the bottom were handmade from wrapping ribbon and then curled with scissors.   This was super easy, the kids even helped!

We also made sure that there were lots and lots of balloons and bubbles to POP!

What kinds of things would you have added to a Ready to Pop shower theme?

ARE WE THERE YET?

When traveling to visit my parents, we always make sure there are plenty of activities for the girls.  The trip takes six hours and I always become bored, I know if I didn't create activity kits for the girls it would be nonstop, "ARE WE THERE YET?"

I recommend three things to prevent boredom and avoid the aggravating, repeated question. 
A laptop, an IPad, and a filled backpack.

1. Laptop with Sprint Hotspot and videos. 
Did you know you can turn your Sprint phone into a mobile hotspot that can provide an Internet connection for another Wi-Fi enabled device?

$19.99/per month for 2 GB of combined 3G/4G on-network data

$49.99/per month for 6 GB of combined 3G/4G on-network data. 

This allows the girls to get on all their favorite learning sites. 
www.starfall.com
www.pbskids.org
www.ggg.com
http://www.kideos.com/
http://www.gameclassroom.com/
http://www.whizkidgames.com/

I love the $5.00 movie section at Target.  It always has a good selection and not too pricey to grab a few different choices. This trip we decided to go with Barbie. 

2.  Then we grab the iPad.  A few apps they love are:

3.  Fill the backpack-
If I didn't give the girls a limit, they would pack their entire room.  Each of them pulled their backpack from the closet and they were allowed to fill it with activities. 
pencil box with markers, crayons, colored pencils, regular pencils, a pencil sharpener, a roll of tape, post its and sticker sheets.  Previous trips have included scissors and glue sticks, but this becomes to messy!
learning and coloring books- you can get these from Dollar Tree or Target's dollar section
journal or notebook- I have the girls draw and write about things they see or want to see during the trip.  They write notes to each other or to family they just left.
pipe cleaners- the girls always come up with a different use for these.  This trip I saw everything from headbands to bookmarks.  They formed the pipe cleaners to spell their name and make a bouquet of flowers.  Endless possibilities...
favorite snacks and a water bottle- I love to make up a few containers of each girls' favorite snacks to give some choices and avoid asking to get something at every rest stop.
favorite pillow and blanket- until the day we buy a RV, the kids must remain buckled and in their car seats, so a pillow to lean against and blanket to snuggle with always helps!


 We did consider packing a car charger for electronics, but decided that once the battery on each piece died, they had had enough technology and it was time to get into the backpacks.  We made sure before we left the house or the hotel that the laptop and IPad were fully charged and had no problems, not bringing the car chargers.

And the gender is....

         
While many of our friends in Cleveland found out the gender when we found out.  My sister and I decided to make family wait until we could both arrive in town. On July 21st, Larisha and I held our gender reveal party with our family in West Virginia.  Mind you I had been holding back the news from my parents and family for eight weeks and my sister kept her secret for three.  I don't do secrets well and I'm not sure how I managed to keep for so long.  But, I did and so did my five and six year old daughters, even with bribes of presents and gifts. 

Well almost.  The shower was on Saturday and both my sister and I drove into town on Friday to begin preparing for the big day.  My sister arrived first and once we pulled into my mother's driveway, I reminded my two oldest girls to keep the secret for just more day.  I told the girls not to listen to any bribes or promises of new toys and they agreed.  We walked into my mother's house and gave hugs and kisses. My mother began to rub my belly and asked if "it" was kicking.  I responded, "no, she's not kicking." (Immediate flow of tears)

I could've kicked my own butt that day, if only time could rewind for thirty seconds.  I mean really, eight weeks of keeping a secret and within five minutes of being with my mother I spilled it!

The girls had been playing in their room and didn't realize that I had spilled the secret and Jazzalyn, my oldest comes out and says mom, "I've been thinking and I can't hold this secret past one o'clock tomorrow."  I told her that I had spilled the secret and it was ok to talk to Nana about it.

Then, my husband commented, "I didn't know I needed to bribe you to keep the secret?"
Even after my slip up, the big day FINALLY arrived.  Here are some of the things we did:

Gender voting- my sister took a facebook poll to find out predictions from friends and family.
Gender pop- pink confetti inside balloons

Gender cake- pink food coloring inside the cake mix- (Be sure to use white cake mix and not yellow or butter.  My pink was slightly tinted orange.  Oops!)

  And the verdict is...

We are BOTH having a girl!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the shower, one of my great friends told me of an idea that her son and daughter in law did for their gender reveal.  They asked not to be told the gender at the ultrasound, but for the gender to be posted on the sonogram photos.  After the ultrasound they sent the photos to the bakery and asked that the baker create a cake according to gender.  So the day of the gender reveal, NO ONE, not even the parents knew the gender of the baby!  How exciting!

Need more ideas- There are many other things you could do at a gender reveal party.  Here are some other ideas I found:

Create teams and have players wear colored buttons

Write name under choice gender

Use bows instead of buttons

Use lips and mustaches

Who doesn't love chocolate

Color the punch

Release helium balloons

 I found so many fun cakes, cupcakes and cake pop ideas when researching

My favorite- This was our inspiration for our cake!