Fun & Learning at Home! Letters
STORY TIME - with Ms. Ann
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Learning pre-reading and pre-writing skills is a process. It happens one step at a time as children are ready for that step. Here are some of the steps that we walk through with children at WWP...
Singing "ABC's", so children learn the names of letters.
As children are read to, they come to understand that letters convey meaning. Each letter has it's own sound and when put together, they make words. Point to the words as you read to your child.
Usually the first letter that children learn to recognize and to write is the first letter of their first name, followed by the other letters in their name.
Long before a child learns to write letters s/he is working on strengthening finger muscles (fine motor skills) through play, such as building with Duplos, doing puzzles, using play dough and other sensory materials.
As a child scribbles with crayons, and other writing materials s/he is learning how to control the writing utensil and gaining strength to eventually make the straight and curvy lines needed to make letters.
Children learn through their play! At WWP we incorporate learning to recognize letters, their sounds and how to write them into children's play. Here are some fun ways to PLAY with letters!
Notice the small container for paint? That encourages the child to just use one finger to paint with. Q-tips are another great painting tool to make dots and it strengthens those finger muscles!
Write letters on pieces of masking tape and have your child match them to ones on a paper. For younger children use the letters in their name first until they have mastered those letters before going on to other letters. Older children could match upper and lower case letters.
Shaving cream is great sensory, small muscle FUN for all ages. As your preschooler gets older, encourage writing letters in the shaving cream. Have some letters nearby for inspiration and to copy.
Use food boxes with a dry erase (or regular marker would work too) to search for letters. Find the first letter of your first name, like Ms. Ann!
