Extending Vocabulary

One piece of advice we received during our visit to Chapel Hill on Monday was to work on extending Brooke's vocabulary. For example she know the word "same" but doesn't understand the word "alike". She uses "big" and "small" really well but needs to add some more synonyms for those words. So we have been trying a few new things around here that incorporate into our daily life. With a little focus by me, we are extending her vocabulary.
1. Use active listening to show your child you are listening; create opportunities for your child to comment and add to your thoughts. Create pockets of time in which you really talk with your child. When Brooke brings up and idea or topic, I try to keep the conversation going for a few minutes and include her brother and sister. She loves to talk about things so she really enjoys these conversations.
2. Restate what your child says, using slightly more advanced, new vocabulary. For example, if she says, "Did you see that house by the water? It was big!" respond by saying, "I did- the cabin next to the creek was gigantic!"
3. As your child talks, ask "how" and "why" questions to help her extend and analyze her thoughts. Wonder out loud, for example, how the cabin was build or why the family chose to build it on the creek. Doing so allows your child to use new vocabulary to talk about abstract thoughts, rather than simply talking about the concrete objects that are right in front of her.

The more Brooke is able to hear and understand, the more likely she will begin to use the new words in her vocabulary.

Rhyming - Phonemic Awareness - Step 2

Play The Name Game
Just play with line one at first. You can begin with any name or word--but run it through your mind first, to eliminate words that result in unwanted rhymes.

Honey, honey, Bo-bunny Banana-Fanna-Fo-funny Fee-Fie-Mo-money --Honey!

Bear, Bear, Bo-ear Banana-Fanna-Fo-fair Fee-Fie-Mo-mare --Bear!

Jake, Jake Bo-Bake Banana-Fanna-Fo-fake Fee-Fie- Mo- Make -Jake!

Brooke, Brooke, Bo-rooke, Banana-Fanna-Fo-Frooke Fee-Fie-Mo-Mrooke- Brooke!

Kake, Kate, Bo-Bake, Banana-Fanna-Fo-Fate Fee-Fie-Mo-Mate-Kate!

Mommy, Mommy, Bo-Bommy Banana-Fanna-Fo-Fommy Fee-Fie Mo-Ommy- Mommy!

Stick, stick, Bo-bick, Bannana-Fanna Fo-fick, Fee-Fie Mo-mick --Stick!

Five Little Chicks

objective:

a. to answer questions about a simple story

b. to listen to the story on a recorded device with background noise


Points to Remember:
1. Brooke spent time listening and answer questions about a story. Then we started listening to a story on a cassette tape; now we are listening to the story on a cassette tape with background noise. This required that Brooke really begins to focus on her listening skills.

2. Record your voice reading the book. Remember to pause after each page since you will be pausing the tape after each page.


Lesson:

1. Listen to one page at a time without allowing your child to see the pictures in the book.

2. Ask a question. For this book, there was a different object that the chicks were looking at such as: a bug, a butterfly, a strawberry.

3. Ask, what did the chicks see?

4. Once your child answers, show her the page in the look.

5. Rewind the tape and listen again if necessary.


Modification:

1. There are lots of children's books on CD/cassette. Most have background noise such as music or sound effects. These will work great.

2. Extend the lesson into a fun craft or snack. We make a chick out of a left-over Easter egg!

/d/ and /g/ initial sounds

Objective:
a. to practice sounds with the same place
b. /b/, /d/, and /g/

Points to remember:
1. The sounds /b/, /d/, and /g/ are very similar. When you make the sound the only difference is where you make the sound. Try it! The /b/ is made with your lips, the /d/ is make with the tongue, and the /g/ is made back of the tongue
2. It may be difficult for your child to hear the difference in the sounds and/or to make the sounds correctly.

Lesson:
1. Practice making some non-sense words first. Ask your child to repeat after you.
baa dee
goo bay
die boo
bye gee
doo gay
2. Then add repeated sounds such as
baa baa dee
goo goo bay
die die boo
bye bye gee
doo doo gay
3. Once mastered try the sounds alternating:
baa dee baa
goo bay goo
die boo die
bye goo bye
doo gay doo
4. Then 3 sounds repeated, such as
baa baa dee dee
goo goo bay bay
die die boo boo
bye bye goo goo
doo doo gay gay
5. Then alternate those sounds - this is where is gets difficult for Brooke
baa dee baa dee
goo bay goo bay
die boo die boo
bye goo bye goo
doo gay doo gay
6. Practicing this speech babble with your child will help her to hear and remember a series of sounds. So that when she hears a word that is new to her, she will be able to remember it and repeat it. It also helps her to practice making sounds correctly
7. Here is a sheet we found that we have been practicing with since Brooke has some difficulty with /d/ and /g/ sounds.

D-G Sequencing Sheet

Modifications:

1. Other sounds with place differences are /p/, /t/, and /k/ as well as /m/ and /n/ and /f/ and /s/. Listen to your child and see if she struggles with these sounds - then make sure to practice!

Listening Game

Objectives:
a. to identify common household sounds

Points to Remeber:

1. Can your child close her eyes and identify sounds around the house--a door shutting, footsteps, water running, silverware being put away? Make sure she can before moving on to other phonemic games.

Lesson:

1. There are different Listening Games. We have Listening Lotto: Sounds at Home

2. The game comes with a CD of 29 common household sounds.

3. Choose a lotto card and start the CD. Each sound is played 2-3 times. When your child identifies the sound, have her place a marker on the picture.

4. Each lotto card is different so there are opportunities to hear and identify quite a lot of sounds.

5. We play until the card is full.

Modifications:

1. Make sure you are pointing out sounds to your child and helping her to identify them in everyday life. For example, when you hear a siren approaching, point out the sound and ash if she hears it. Then ask her what she thinks the sound might be.

Fill-In the Rhyming Words

Can your child fill-in rhyming words:

‘There was an old woman who lived in a shoe; She had so many children she didn’t know what to d__’?

"Baa Baa Black Sheep have you any wool? Yes, sir Yes sir Three bags f___."

"Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the cl____."

Little Bo Peep lost her sh___."

Provide your child with the beginning sound so that she will begin to recognize the initial sounds in rhyming words.

Shaking Eggss

objective: a. listen to a variety of sounds b. compare the sounds and find the 2 that match Points to remember: 1. Listening and recognizing sounds is an important step in learning to recognize sounds in words.

Lesson:

1. Fill 12 eggs with 6 different objects so that there are 2 of each object. I used marshmallows, pennies, rocks, pom poms, bells, and macaroni.

2. Place the eggs in the carton. In the picture I have the eggs organized by color, but the sounds are not in the same color eggs. For example, the macaroni is in a purple egg and an orange egg.

3. Give your child 6 eggs, each a different sound. Listen to each one at a time. Set those eggs on the table and leave the 6 matching eggs in the carton.

4. Give your child 1 egg from the carton and have her listen to it. Then ask her to match it to one egg on the table that sounds the same.

5. Once she has found the match, open the eggs and look to see if they are the same.

6. Celebrate!

Here is a video of Kate and Brooke playing with the eggs. This is after we did it a few times and they knew the objects inside.

Modifications:

1. Switch out the objects and play again.

2. Set out all 12 eggs at one time and have your child find the matches - this is much harder since there are 11 options to choose from.

United States Puzzle

Another Puzzle As you know, I am not a fam of puzzles but this one was great! Here is out last puzzle. I helped get the outside pieces together and the kids did the entire middle all by themselves! Jake likes to glue to pieces together, frame them, and hang it on his wall.

/m/ and /o/

objective:
a. to recognize beginning sounds
b. to sort objects according to beginning sounds
points to remember:
1. make sure you review with your child the letter name and letter sound before they begin sorting.
2. use a fun container to hold the objects...today we used an Easter basket since it is close to Easter - it just makes it more fun for the kids
3. Write out the letters on paper for your child to sort...we use sandpaper letters.
Lesson:
1. Use your itsy-bitsy miniatures and gather objects beginning with 2 sounds. Today we did /m/ and /o/
2. One at a time, have your child pull out an object, say the name of the object, and put it under the correct letter.

3. Help your child as needed. Here is a video of Kate (Brooke was not interested in being videotaped so Kate offered to help)

Step on the letter

objective:
1. recite the alphabet correctly
Points to remember:
1. Brooke has always struggled with the alphabet and we work on it almost daily. For her, most of the letters all sound the same such as B, C, D, E, G, P, S, T, V, Z all have the /e/ sound.
2. It would be like me trying to learn 26 random sounds that only have very slight differences and remember them in order, so I am okay with her still continuing to struggle.
3. This activity makes you say the alphabet more slowly which helps her to hear to sounds more clearly.
Lesson:
1. Lay your foam letters on the floor.
2. Put them in alphabetical order. Have your child help as much as possible. Brooke is able to identify most of her letters.
3. We sing the alphabet song after we add every 3-4 letters. Just more repetition.
4. Once the letters are in order, have your child step on each letter as it is sung.

Modifications:
1. Use Puzzle Pieces or Flashcards for stepping too!
2. Here are a few sites we use to reinforce the alphabet song. Alphablocks Alphabet and Starfall

Leprechaun Magic Part 5

In our Steve Spangler Science Kit we were given some rare Leprechaun eggs. These eggs are so cool because they disappear in water.
Here are the Leprechaun eggs

Brooke says, "Magic Hands" and puts the eggs into the water. They disappear!

Then we can pull them back out and there they are!

The Magic is in the water-absorbing polymer that forms an amazing clear sphere. Due to the refraction in the cup of water, it looks as if the spheres completely disappear.

So what can first, the Leprechaun or the egg?

Leprechaun Magic Part 3

Just as we sometimes get snow in North Carolina, the Leprechauns sometimes get snow in the land of the Leprechauns....and I have some. Now the snow looks like ordinary white snow, but with some Leprechaun Magic, the snow is actually green!





Our container of Leprechaun Snow:

Idea and supplies from Steve Spangler Science.

Leprechaun Magic Part 2

How do Leprechauns catch green fish? They use green worms and we know how to make them.
We added some soduim alginate to a water-calcuim solution. The calcium helps to link the small molecules of the alginate into a polymer, a long chain of smaller molecules......in other words, it makes green worms from worm goo.

Idea and supplies from Steve Spangler Science

Leprechaun Magic Part 1

With St. Patrick's Day soon approaching, we have begun some Leprechaun Magic at our house.

Today we learned the secrets of the Leprechaun Sandwich bag! Leprechauns eat enormous sandwiches at lunch time and we happened to find one of their sandwich bags.

We tied a knot at the end of the bag. I asked Jake to try to blow up the bag. He tried about 10 times and gave up saying it would take forever.

I told Jake that I could blow up the bag with just one breath! And I did! Then we talked about why I was able to blow it up with just one breath and he was not even close after 10 blows.

Here is why:

Here is Jake blowing it up with one breath.

Idea and bag from Steve Spangler Science

Sequencing

objective:
a. to sequence 3 events in a story
b. to retell the events of a story using the pictures as a guide
c. to reinforce logic skills, patterning, and sequencing
d. To prepare for pre-reading and pre-writing

Points to remember:
1. Make sure you are working in a quiet environment so you child can hear you easily.

Lesson:
1. Read the story to your child showing the pictures as you go.
Eddie the Elephant rolls in the mud. He thinks it is fun to splash and play and get all dirty.
To get clean, Eddie will give himself a shower. He sucks up water in his big trunk.

Eddie sprays himself all over with the water! That looks like fun!

2. Set the 3 pictures on the table and ask, "Which came first?" and let your child choose the picture. Then ask, "Which comes next?" and finally, "Which comes last?"

3. Once your child has put the pictures in correct sequence, ask her to re-tell the story

Modifications:

1.

Going to the Park

I found this great listening game at The Listening Room. They post a new listening activity each week for preschool and school age children. This one is called Listening at the Park.

objective: a. to listen to clues about objects on the game board b. to give auditory clues about objects on the game board by describing gender, colors, actions, etc.

Points to Remember 1. you will need a die and 2 game pieces

Lesson: 1. Player 1 begins by placing a token on the start space at the top of the gameboard and rolling the die. Player 2 then chooses a card from the face down pile. Without showing it to Player 1, Player 2 describes the item on the gameboard.

2. Player 1 must then LISTEN and find the matching item on the gameboard. When the item is found Player 1 can move his token the indicated number of spaces.

3. Play then passes to Player 2

Modifications:

1. Grandpa and Brooke played this game, you can have more members of the family join in the fun. 2. Create your own game board of an I spy page or a busy scene from a magazine.

Sequence and re-telling

objective:
a. to retell a story
b. to sequence the events of a story
c. to listen and recognize parts of a story


Points to remember:
1. Story re-telling is a 5 year old skill; don't press you child if this is difficult and she is under that age of 5.
Lesson
1. Using the 6 cards, make up a story about the pictures. Here is mine:

The cow, the pig and the sheep decided to make a snowman. The cow rolled a big snowball for the bottom, the pig rolled a medium snowball for the middle, and the sheep rolled a small snowball for the head.

The animals put their snowballs together to make a snowman. They put mittens and a scarf on the snowman. They gave him a carrot for a nose.

After making the snowman, the cow and the pig and the sheep got very, very cold.

The farmer came outside and said, "You animals should put on a hat so you are no cold!"

The cow put on a hat, the pig put on a hat, the sheep put on a hat, and the snowman put on a hat. Now the farmer is cold.

2. Once you tell your child the story, have your child retell the story using the picture cards.

3. Your child will not tell it exactly the same but as long as their is a part for each picture, I am happy. Brooke's story went like this:
"The cow made the bottom, the pig made the ____ (I gave her the word middle) and the sheep made the face. Put on gloves and scarf and nose. They are so cold. Man says you need to wear a hat. The cow put on a hat, the pig put on a hat, the sheep put on hat, the snowman put on hat. The man is cold."

4. Next work on listening to a part of the story. Put the cards face up in order on the table. Slip a sticker under one of the cards without your child seeing. Say the sentences for that card. You child will then pick up the card that goes with the sentence and find a sticker is she is correct.

Modifications:

1. Use with any 4-6 picture sequence cards. Here is on on a monkey we have done before.
2. Practice this at night by talking about the events of your day in sequential order.

Puzzle Time

I HATE PUZZLES. I have never liked puzzles. I think puzzles are hard. But, I do know the value of puzzles: doing puzzles on a regular basis reinforces logic, critical thinking, reasoning, visual, reading, and math skills. Puzzles sharpen kids' visual perception, aid their understanding of logic, and help them learn to simplify complex situations. Doing puzzles builds persistence and creases focus and helps them stick with a task until the end. Children who are avid puzzlers also often find it easier to gather information, assess a situation, and find a quick solution to a problem. So, if I did puzzles maybe I will develop some of these skills too! Therefore, we introduced a Family Puzzle.
We set the puzzle up on the dining room table which we rarely use. Then over the course of days or weeks we slowly work on the puzzle until it is finished!

Kate helped to put the final pieces into the puzzle this morning! Good work Kate - she may be only 4 years old but she is already better at puzzles than I am! This puzzle was 300 pieces - I think we will stick with that amount for a few years - I can't handle any more than a 300 piece puzzle!

Computer Time

We spend a little bit of time playing on the computer each week. It is my opportunity to introduce some computer vocabulary that the girls will need in Kindergarten as well as focus on academic skills. Here are our favorites:
1. Star Fall.

The girls practice alphabet skills as well as stories. This is good practice for moving and controlling the mouse.

2. Nursery Rhyme videos

We watch and listen to Nursery Rhymes at this site and this site. Sometimes we watch them on You Tube as well.

3. Power Points

Letter Alphabet Power Points from 1+1+1=1 are great. Here is a video of the Letter T and information on how to get them.

4. Microsoft Word

Brooke and Kate like to type letters into a document. They have fun finding letters and seeing them pop up on the screen.

Outside Alphabet

On the nice warm days that are soon to be coming our way, turn your outside time into Alphabet Learning Time. We look a large roll of paper and I wrote each letter of the alphabet on it.

We then looked around the yard and garage for items beginning with the letter sound.

For the /g/ sound we found grass, golf ball, an old gummie, and an old grape (our yard really isn't that gross, I promise)

For /h/ we found a helmet, for /j/ a jumprope, for /k/ a kite, /l/ is a leaf and a lid, /m/ is a milkbone, and /n/ is a net

/p/ is a pinecone, /r/is rocks and rubberbands, /s/ is sunglasses and a scuba diver, /t/ is a top and a tennis racket

I was really surprised by all the items we found outside! Brooke and Kate needed a lot of help with recognizing the beginning letter sound, but that is waht learning is all about!