School Supply List for Homeschooling Littles

So,

You've made the decision to homeschool. You've purchased your curriculum. Now it's time to shop for the extras!

Just because you've decided to homeschool, doesn't mean that you have to miss out on the back to school shopping! On the contrary, as a homeschooler, you get to make your own supply list! As a homeschooling Mama, I LOVE to take advantage of all of the back to school deals right now, and get our supplies set for the year.

If this is your first time homeschooling, and you're not quite sure what your little ones might need, I've compiled a list of items that are always on my back to school shopping list as well as some things you might not have thought of to launch your homeschooling adventure!

Morning Activity Binder Materials

For littles (PreK-Kinder) I LOVE to put together activity binders that I can switch worksheets out of regularly. I'll include tracing practice, name writing, word puzzles, and seasonal items. More importantly, I put the sheets in sheet protectors so that my kids can write on them with dry erase markers and then erase them to reuse the next day. This is a MAJOR material and time saver over time, since I don't have to constantly keep printing the same worksheet.

To make an activity binder you'll need:

• A 3-ring binder
• Sheet protectors 
• Dry erase markers
• Printer paper
• Cardstock (This can come in handy when making reusable word sorts or matching activities.)
• Adhesive Velcro (You can use this when making reusable matching activities in the binder) 

Even if you decide not to go the full activity binder route, I HIGHLY recommend sheet protectors and dry erase markers so you can make worksheets reusable!

Calendar Station

I know this is very much "shadows of traditional schooling," but I really love doing calendar and morning meeting time with my littles to start off school every day! We sing a song, go over days of the week, read the date, countdown to special days, or count the days that have passed in the month so far, and then do the weather.

For a calendar station, you'll need:

• A calendar set that includes interchangeable months, days, and weather choices (The choice is really up to your preference, but I HIGHLY recommend getting your materials laminated so they last. Local teacher stores usually have deals on lamination around this time!)
• Adhesive velcro if your calendar choice does not feature pockets or magnets.
• A pointer (to make it fun!)

Writing Supplies

For early childhood education, our kiddos are really learning those fine motor skills, so sometimes their writing materials may look a bit different than older children. Because of that, you'll want to make sure to buy specific tools and paper for them. These include:

• Large grip beginner pencils
• Regular sized pencils (appropriate for Kindergarten and up to have them switch to these at times as they become more comfortable with their grips)
• Pencil sharpeners (with both sized holes)
• A big pink eraser
• Wide lined paper (PreK-Kinder) (1st-2nd)
• Wide-ruled journals and/or Wide-ruled journals with drawing space
• A lined dry-erase board (I mostly use mine to model writing, and to give them extra freehand practice.)
• Dry erase markers

Math Supplies

Most math supplies for this age basically amount to counters which you can use various cereals, snacks, puff balls, candies, or other small objects for to double as fine motor practice, but there are two items that I found that I DID need:

• Base 10 blocks
• A clear, plastic 12 inch ruler

Art Supplies

So this area will vary WIDELY by how art-inclined you are and will probably change as you find new fun projects on Pinterest throughout the year. As a baseline, though, a good range of art supplies to have on hand for littles includes:

• Washable Crayola markers
• A pack of crayons
• Multicolored Construction Paper
• Blunt-tip scissors 
• Glue sticks
• Elmer's liquid Glue
• Crayola Washable Paint
• Basic paint brushes (think dollar store)
• Tape

Organization

Last but not least, you'll go a bit less bonkers if you have a way to organize your supplies and your kids' work. Just like every homeschool environment is unique, everyone's organization is unique. These are the systems that have worked for us:

• A good lesson planner (I use this for my own organization and to keep records of what we've done)
• A binder for each kid to keep their completed work in for the year
• A plastic bin to keep their books organized
• A backpack for each kid (I still have my kids use backpacks, because it gives them responsibility to keep their items organized.)
• A folder for each kid to keep their on-going work organized
• A pencil case for each kid to keep their own supplies

Now that you know what's on my supply list at the beginning of the year, I hope it will help you as you get your own supplies together! As with all homeschool advice, remember these are just suggestions that have worked for my family on our homeschooling journey!

If you have other ideas about supplies that should be added to the list or questions please feel free to comment below or message me directly!

Thanks for reading, and happy teaching!

When Big Things Change, the Little Things Become the Big Things

Honesty time: Yesterday morning was a rough one.

I'm not talking spilling a coffee or blow-out diaper rough, I'm talking my eldest had three "talkings to" before I even swung my legs over the bed to put my feet on the floor rough.

Her fourth talking to happened in our master bathroom.

Hand on hips, I looked at this wildflower whose behavior would have made Junie B. Jones wince and asked, "What is going on today?! What is the matter!?"

Although she stifled her lip quiver, her big doe eyes started to fill as she stammered, "I'm just so worried there won't be any candy in the Easter Eggs this year!"

I melted.

It wasn't about the eggs.

It was about everything else.

Our world has completely changed in the past two weeks. Things that we didn't think were possible happened and things we kept repeating to ourselves would happen didn't. It's been a climate of uncertainty, stress, and fear.

The daily routine of families has been completely upended. Schools are closed. Distance learning has started. Parents are working from home. Some, not at all anymore. Shopping trips now feel like scrambling to get wartime rations for your troops, and every surface, every air particle, has the threat of disease.

Through it all, my family has been blessed. Our routine hasn't changed that much since we already homeschool and my husband, as a police officer, has been working relatively normal hours. We are grateful for his stable employment.

This of course, is from my perspective, that my life experience has given me.

I realized this morning, my daughter has not been given this perspective yet.

I haven't tried to hide things from her. We talk openly about the "big sickness" in the country and how the zoo, Bounce Town, Children's Museum, Art Museum, etc. are all closed. She knows gymnastics and dance are closed as well, so people can stay healthy. She now understands that her favorite playground is closed and that the Nature Center and library are also closed and suspending programs.

To me, these are just procedural closings, and I know everything will eventually reopen and be okay, and we won't have to worry as much about illness.

I started to try to look at things in her way.

Her little world has been shaken. We can no longer go to her favorite gymnastics and dance class. Her favorite museums and fun spots are closed. We have to be careful when going to the grocery store, and there is now a threat that what we need might not be there.

More recently, she figured out that the annual neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt would probably be cancelled too. I assured her that we could make our own in the yard, and she seemed happy with it on the surface, but now I know she's worried.

This is a girl with a memory that lasts longer than the shelf life of Spam. She still reminds Daddy that he blocked the car in the garage with his cruiser when we went to the hospital to have Josie and how mad she was at him. Traditions and memories mean so much to this girl.

When Big Things Change, the Little Things Become the Big Things

It wasn't about the eggs. It was about all the changes in our lives and our world that had been weighing on her heart and mind.

Reflecting on my own actions, I realized I'd become over-absorbed of keeping us in survival mode in this new dystopia that I'd been skipping out on the little things. 

I saw that I needed to stop doing this entirely. Her little things are now her big things. Whether it's those extra long morning cuddles, special walks with just her and me, or giving her more opportunities to help in the kitchen, I needed to make sure I didn't lose my focus on my most important job while the worries of the world took my attention elsewhere.

I need to make sure, especially now, that all of my children feel loved, safe, and secure. As the big things change, I need to find a way to keep the little things the same as much as possible. 

I might not always do the best job at this with my own worries going on overdrive right now, and I'm going to give myself grace on this one, but you better believe that when we do our Easter Egg Hunt, there's going to be candy in those eggs!

A "Typical" Day in the Life of a Homeschooling Family

Hey readers!

So I felt compelled to write this post to help out all the new homeschooling mamas (and dads), whether temporary or long-term, out there. With schools closing left and right, the prospect of being your child's teacher for the short-term (and perhaps long-term), can feel dizzying. Many of you were blessed with teachers who gave you a packet of paced-out assignments to do during the school shutdown and teachers that are working hard to provide quality distance learning! Honestly material gathering and pacing are THE hardest parts when first starting homeschooling, so you're in a GREAT place!

Looking at that packet could feel a bit intimidating. Maybe you've never had classroom teaching experience before, or maybe you had difficulties in school yourself and don't feel like you can do this.

Take a breath right now Mama, and repeat after me:

"I was my child's first teacher. I did it then. I CAN do it again!"

And it's completely true! You were there to offer those enriching read alouds when they were snuggled in their cozy PJs on your lap, to answer the late night questions about why the moon comes out at night, and to shriek in delight as they did their first puzzle all by themselves!

The challenge now becomes how to manage instruction time AND all the other items in the house. Now that we're in our 3rd year of homeschooling, I feel that we've hit a pretty good rhythm for our daily routine, and I wanted to share it with y'all to help ease your transition!

As a disclaimer, please note that this routine works best for my kiddos and my family. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can adjust your own routines so they work best for you! Feel free to use this as a jumping off point and tweaking it until it feels right for you!

For this schedule, kid activities will be noted in blue and "mom" activities will be noted in red.

Our Morning

Wake Up and Breakfast

• Kids wake up, get dressed for the day, Charlotte switches the laundry from the washer to the dryer and starts it, and then the kids have screen-free, free play while waiting for breakfast. 
• I dress and change the baby, empty the dishwasher from the night before, put on the coffee, and make breakfast.
• Kids eat breakfast, clean up their spots, putting dishes in the dishwasher, and are free to play outside or inside, usually about 20 minutes.
• I clean up the kitchen from breakfast, check my lesson plans, and lay out materials for the day at their places on the table.

Academics Round 1 (usually around 8:30)

• Kids come over to the table for school. We start with our morning song, calendar time, and then each child has their first morning assignments.
• Thompson, for PreK3, has a combination of his WB pages, phonics work, math, and activity binder. (He's usually done in 25 minutes).
• Charlotte, for 1st grade, has her math workbook lesson (2-4 pages), sometimes a math worksheet for the day, and occasionally I give her part of the next lesson block if I know she'll work through quickly. (She's usually done in 20-25 minutes).
• After teaching, I put the materials away and check what I need to, giving feedback. I then look up materials Charlotte will need for her next academic time and put them aside.

Free Play Time

• Kids either go outside to play or play inside (we are still doing screen-free play).
• I usually take a short 10 minute break and decompress with coffee. Then, if we need to run errands or go to practice, this is the time that is done. Also, we might get exercise in by running/biking to the park before it gets too hot or going on a walk.

Academics Round 2 (this can either happen in 2 pieces right before lunch and then during little kid nap, or only during nap time depending on the length of the lessons)

• Charlotte comes to the table to do a combination of lessons that can require more guided instruction. She will do:
• instructional reading for comprehension, 
• phonics work,
• spelling,
• and social studies, geography, or science (depending on the day)
• Whether we do this all at once or break it up, the combined time is usually between 40-50 minutes.
• I usually let Josie and Thompson play during this time, or I put on an instructional video for them to watch in the playroom (out of sight of Charlotte).
• After lessons, I put the materials back, prep for Religion, and then start lunch.

Lunch and Religion

• Kids eat lunch and then toward the end, we do our Religion Lesson for the day (usually 15-20 minutes). They then clean up their plates, put them in the dishwasher, and play about 10 minutes.
• After Religion, I clean up the materials, clean up the kitchen, put Josie down for nap, and then get Thompson down for nap, and Charlotte for rest.
• I'll tidy up a bit or do a couple items I need to get done (pay bills/write emails) for 15- 20 minutes before I get Charlotte to finish Academics Round 2

Nap for Littles/Academics Round 2 for Charlotte

• If Charlotte finishes early, she can do quiet play (puzzles, coloring, etc.) with me while waiting for brother and sister to wake up.

Afternoon TV/Warm Up from Nap

• Kids wake up from nap and are allowed to watch movies/shows on Disney Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. They usually need time to "warm up for the afternoon." (We don't use screens until after most of school is done, because they tend to have a difficult time focusing or having a positive attitude in school if they watch something first).
• I'll usually fold a load of laundry on the couch while they watch something and put it away.

Afternoon Free Play

• TV is turned off and kids have free play time.
• Depending on time, I will check the dinner menu and start prepping.

Independent Reading Time

• Later in the afternoon, Charlotte and Thompson will sit down with a pile of books and do their independent reading. I like to give them choice (hence the pile). Charlotte reads for 45 minutes and Thompson for 20-30.
• If Thompson is particularly restless, I have him tidy up the living room or playroom while sister is reading once he has finished at least 20 minutes.
• I keep my ear out for Charlotte as I cook dinner in the kitchen. If I have time, I might round up a load of laundry to put in for the night and help Thompson clean up.

Dinner

Evening Play/Winding Down/Writing

• After dinner, kids will clean up their plates, and Thompson and Charlotte find something to play with.
• I put Josie to sleep and clean up the kitchen.
• Then, if Charlotte didn't do her writing during Academics round 2, I'll call her over to do it in the evening. She'll work on writing a letter or journal prompt response. (This usually takes 10-15 minutes).
• After she's done, she gets dinner ready for the dog, and the kids can watch a little bit of TV before stories.
• I'll use that time to tidy up a bit, get trash together, and then sit down with them to watch too.

Bedtime stories and Nighttime Routine

• Kids pick stories for us to read together and then we go through nighttime routine.
• After Thompson goes to bed, Charlotte and I will read 2-3 chapters from one of her favorite chapter books together, alternating pages to read aloud. Then, she'll go to bed too.

Quick Takeaways

1. This is OUR schedule, but yours may look completely different based on your children, which again is the beauty of homeschooling!
2. Some days will be awesome, some will be frustrating.
3. On the frustrating days, take a break (which benefits both you and your child) and pick it up later in the day, or put it on the schedule for tomorrow.
4. This is an exciting time for you to learn about your child, how they learn, and to spend extra time with them!
5. Most importantly...YOU CAN DO THIS! You were your child's first teacher, and you can continue teaching now!

Happy teaching!

I Wipe the Butts: and Other Glamorous Escapades of a SAHM

I wipe the butts.
I clean the floor of pee puddles from missed targets.
I pull up the pants and change the ones that have dribbles on them.
I refill the diaper genie.
I scrub off the stray smudge.
I change the toilet paper.

I catch the vomit in my hand.
I am the human handkerchief.
I rub the sick tummies.
I pull back the long, curly, hair.
I mop up the floor and Lysol the rooms.

I make the food.
I dish it onto the plates.
I negotiate the amounts that must be consumed.
I fill the bottles.
I clean up the spilled milk.
I wipe the faces and the tiny fingers.
I collect the food gunk from the high chair.
I rinse the dishes.
I sweep the floor.

I find the piles of clothes, gather them up, and toss them into the laundry.
I fold.
I fold.
I fold.
I wonder how three tiny people can amass so much fabric.
I put away the clothes only to discover the hamper full again.

I pick up the toys.
I find them when tears well up.
I toss the McDonald's ones 3 days after the Happy Meal is eaten.
I am the keeper of Mary, the Jellyfish, and both trains.
I put them in their bins only to see them spilled again.

I break up the fights.
I listen to both sides.
I decide a verdict.
I mandate the apologies and the time outs.
I tear them off each other again.
I send them to naps.

I clean the faces.
I hose off the gunk from the hands.
I scrub the hair.
I rinse and repeat.
I towel dry.
I sop up the bath overflow.
I pick up the discarded towel and hang it up.
I brush the hair and braid it.

I ring the alarm to say day is done.
I squeeze on the jammies.
I read the stories.
I check that the closet is monster free.
I comfort the one still worried about monsters.
I pray and sing and say goodnight.

I plan the meals.
I write out the lessons.
I clean up the kitchen.
I load up the laundry.
I throw a soap pod in the dishwasher.
I turn out the light.

I wipe the butts.

I welcome the little arms that wrap around my neck.
I make eye contact to the smiles that light up.
I give hugs that melt away the worries.
I kiss the boo-boos and wipe the tears.
I hold the hands of the tiny chubby fingers whose feet are taking their first steps.

I watch the coloring.
I listen to the reading.
I marvel at the world they see.
I make the good mac and cheese and pick up the pizza on Tuesdays.
I blow the bubbles.
I bake the favorite cookies, gooey chocolate chip.

I make the voices of the book characters.
I cuddle the little bodies that snuggle close to me as they crunch the warm popcorn.
I listen to the stories.
I stroke the hair.
I compliment the good deeds.
I watch them grow.

I repeat the babble, to hear more babble
I cheer a new accomplishment.
I take the pictures of the memories we make.
I lift the chins.

I sing the Disney songs.
I find them on my phone again.
I dance in circles.

I ask "How big is Josie?"
I run with them to the park.
I hold steady the handlebars on a first bike ride.
I pack the waffles and sometimes I add the cream with sprinkles.
I push the swings.
I spot the climbers.
I lift the little one whose hands beg, "Up!"
I stroke their quiet faces as their breathing slows and they finally drift off to sleep.

I thank God for putting me into this life I live, because even though I wipe the butts, I am here to do SO MUCH MORE and be SO MUCH MORE for my littles.

5 Educational Benefits of Baking With Your Littles

Sometimes it seems that the richest learning opportunities we can offer our little ones lie right under our noses, or in this case, fill our noses with sweet smells from the kitchen. Yes, that's right, cooking and baking (because let's face it, that one's almost always more fun) are wonderful ways to offer educational opportunities for your little ones. The kitchen offers an abundance of experience for little learners that will help them in a multitude of ways. Still not convinced? Well, keep reading, because I will tell you the tips I use to maximize this activity for my littles and explain five areas of early childhood education that this activity enhances!

Tips to get started

1. Take inventory

Make sure you have all the ingredients you need beforehand, in the house. This will reduce the risk of disappointed bakers if you have to stop to go to the grocery store.

2. Schedule this During Play Time

For little learners, you should be approaching this as an enriching play activity. As such, try to do this during a time when you would otherwise allow your child to do free play during the day. 

3. Lower Those Expectations

This is NOT a time to fine tune that new tart you've been dying to try or put the finishing touches on the macaroons for an upcoming dinner party. Instead this is an exploration through guided play, so if the sprinkles are a bit overdone (which believe me they WILL be) it's perfectly okay!

1. Genre Knowledge

Every time a text serves a different purpose, or is written in a different way, we label it a genre. In school, children will need to know all kinds of genres from narratives (stories) to informational, and everything between. Recipes are actually and officially known as procedural text.

Besides ringing your hands to the ceiling as you're putting together IKEA furniture and deciphering the directions, you'll notice that there are not a plethora of times a child can be introduced to this genre in such a meaningful way, than in the kitchen. As such, take the time to point out the different textual features. Point out where the ingredients are listed and how the recipe is divided into steps. This will be done naturally as you work through the recipe and you say phrases such as, "Now we're at step 5."

2. Math Practice

Interestingly enough while completing a recipe, you are able to practice two different kinds of mathematical skills with your littles: number recognition and measurement

Number Recognition

As you're reading through the recipe with your little one, you can enhance their number recognition skills by pointing to numbers within the recipe (whether is be 3, 2, 1/2, or 1/4) and reading them together. As they get better at reading numbers, you can just point and they can start to take over. It's wonderful authentic practice!

Measurement

Whenever you're leveling off a 1/2 cup of flour, or pouring 2 Tablespoons of oil with your little one, you're actually giving them excellent hands-on experience with measurement concepts! Later on in school, they'll learn to convert cups to pints to quarts to gallons, etc. But by giving them this hands-on experience and understanding of just how much a cup is, it will help them when they are doing these measurements later.

3. Fine Motor Skills

A pinch of sugar, a dash of salt, and a heaping of fine motor skills are refined as you work through just about any recipe. Just having your little scoop out the baking powder, level it off, and turn it into the bowl engages an entire series of fine motor skills! Using a whisk, stirring with a spoon, or hand held mixer (with supervision) are also wonderful ways to give them practice. That doesn't even include the delicious wonders of placing chocolate chips on top of muffins or decorating cakes and cookies with icing and sprinkles!

4. Reading

Anytime and every time you can read aloud to your littles is a huge plus and the kitchen is just another way you can add more reading into their lives. As you work through the recipe, make sure to put your finger under the words in the text and show your child the words as you're reading them. Older children will be able to sound out familiar words or read sight words along with you. No matter the age of your child, reading aloud to them in this context is valuable, because they can understand that reading is essential throughout all areas of life.

5. Sensory

Since recipes can range anywhere from oily, to sticky, and even gritty, cooking with your littles is a great way to help them engage sensory learning too. Whether you are putting olive oil on their hands as they flatten out the fresh pizza dough, or you are having them roll peanut butter cookies into balls and then roll the ball into granulated sugar, you're giving them a variety of feelings to process from texture to temperature! All of these experiences are perfect for engaging their growing minds and their vocabulary as they will immediately want to describe what they are feeling.

But really the true treat...

is that once the cookies are done and the pizza gobbled, you'll be able to know that not only did you spend educational time with your little one, but also quality time as well. Cooking and baking aren't just wonderful ways to feed your littles' tummies, but also to feed the growing relationship you have with them. I hope with these tips that you enjoy cooking with your littles as much as I do!

10 Ways to Sneak in Letter Practice into your Bitties' Daily Routine

Hello Again Readers!

As I'm finding more and more with my own toddler, sometimes the secret to being a good parent is being a sneaky one! Whether you're folding vegetables into mac and cheese, sneaking around the corner to pounce when you think your bitty needs to use the potty, or making cleaning up toys into a game, it certainly takes tact to both interest your toddler, and to direct them to a useful activity. From the ages of 1-4, one of those useful prereading activities is working on letter recognition, or your child being able to name letters. With this age group, however, you can't just drill them with flash cards because:

1. It's not fun for them, and they lose interest.
2. It's not fun for you, because you get frustrated.
3. They're little! Flashcards shouldn't quite be busted out on the regular juuuust yet!

So, you're probably thinking, "Well Reading Specialista, how in the world am I supposed to get my kids to practice their letters?"

It's easier than you think, you just have to be a bit sneaky, and slyly tuck the activities into your child's daily routine! In this post I'll show you 10 ideas for how to include letter recognition into your bitties' routine from morning to bedtime!

**As a disclaimer, I do NOT do ALL of these activities every day, but I do get to all of them a few times within a week!**

Morning

Getting Dressed/Changing Diapers

1. Sing the ABCs

It's simple I know, but it can make a world of difference in opening the door for letter recognition. I began to realize this myself, as I started to think of all the times I changed Charlotte's diaper or her clothes during the day. Instead of looking at this as time wasted in the day, or a chore, I could use it as an opportunity to teach her the ABC song. Every time I change her diaper or her clothes, we sing the song together. When you first start, your little one will be doing a lot of listening, but then gradually, he'll start to pick it up too! To be fair, we don't limit singing this song just to diaper changing time, but we sing the ABCs in the car, during playtime, music time, and on walks, just to name a few! She's picked up the song very well, and now that she can sing her ABCs, she's more ready to apply the letter names in her letter recognition activites throughout the day.

Brushing Teeth

2. Letters in the mirror

Another spot to work on letter recognition is the bathroom mirror. Simply use a dry erase marker and write 1 or 2 letters you're working on with your child. You can change them out every morning, or every few days to surprise your child with a new letter, or you can wipe the mirror clean every night and then write the letters in front of your child so they can watch you make the letters. An example of dialogue during this activity would be:

"Hmmm, I wonder which letters are going to join you today when you brush your teeth! Let's go see! Oh look! What letter is that? You're right! It's an 'M.' Look there's big 'M' and little 'M.' Oh, I'm going to add our other letter from to the mirror now, do you remember this letter? You've got it! It's a 'B.' Here's a big 'B' and a little 'B.' Can you say good morning to our letters?"

**On a side note, your toddler will not judge you for being silly, so don't worry if this exchange feels silly at first!**

Breakfast

3. Making letters with cereal/finding letters in cereal

There are so many fun ideas to practice letter recognition with breakfast food as long as you're willing to throw out the old advice of "don't play with your food!" You can make letter shaped breakfasts for your kids! One easy way to do that is use letter cookie cutters as pancake molds or to cut letters out of pancakes once you've made them. You can also arrange cereal in the shapes of letters before dumping it in the milk. You could even go one step further and buy alphabet cereal and have your little one look for certain letters. Berries, grapes, and banana slices all can be arranged into letter shapes. You can even have your little one practice making their letters with their food! It's a fun and tasty way to keep letter recognition in your morning, and maybe it will help them eat their food too!

Morning Walk

4. Using Wreaths and Letter Monograms

If you're like me, you live in a beautiful neighborhood where people love to decorate their front doors and lawns with single monogram letters of their last names! I've found this to be a wonderful opportunity for Charlotte to practice her letter recognition, out of the alphabet sequence on our walks. Another reason monogram letters are good to practice on, is because they look a little different than typical Arial of Times New Roman Font, which they usually see. This helps children to learn letters when they look a bit different, and thus cements their recognition that much more. Initially, I do most of the work to point out the letters, but now, Charlotte is familiar with these letters and where they show up on our walk. For example, we'll round a bend, and I'll tell her "Oh we're going to be on the lookout for that letter 'H'! Can you find it!?!? That's right! What sound does 'H' make again? Mommy can't remember? That's right! It makes a Hhh Hhh sound!"

If your neighborhood doesn't have a lot of monograms, you can always go on a letter hunt using license plates. We've done that before! For example, one walk, we spent the whole time looking for the letter 'B' which was hiding on the backs of cars and trucks and on signs! It's perfectly fine to repeat the same letter over a few walks! This gives your little one extra practice in really isolating that letter and identifying it among many letters.

Reading Time

5. Include ABC Books in your little one's library

There are honestly a plethora of possibilities when it comes to ABC books and they are SUCH a useful resource for teaching letter recognition to your little ones! The best books are ones that are engaging, bright, show both uppercase and lowercase letters, and that give examples of objects or words that start with the letter featured on the page. The books pictured below are some of my absolute favorites for all of those reasons, but if your little one likes a different ABC book, go with it! Motivation is absolute key, because you want your bitty to read these books again and again and again so they can get constant exposure to these letters and start to learn them!

If you're looking for more suggestions on great ABC books, click the following link http://childrensbooksguide.com/alphabet. It's a pretty impressive list, and it will give you a great starting point!

Lunch Time

Potty Time

6. Keep 3-5 letter flashcards by the potty for your child to practice

At my house, Charlotte is currently in the process of assimilation to the

potty. I hesitate to call it potty training, because with juggling her 3 month old brother Thompson, we haven't been able to get serious yet. As of now, we're at the point where I try to get her to sit on the potty once a day, and just get her comfortable with it. As I initially spent time waiting for her to do something/anything on the potty, I started playing I spy with her with colors in the room. She quickly cemented her recognition of colors and even started to quiz me. It was then that I realized I could use this time to have her practice letters.

In her bathroom, she has 3-5 letter cards at anytime. While she's sitting on the potty, she flips through the cards at her own pace, she talks about them, and every once in a while, I'll ask her to show me a certain card. When I can tell she's just about had enough of looking at her cards, I'll just casually ask her to name the letters on the cards one by one. This is in no way a drill or mindless repetition, but it's at her pace and at her comfort level. So far, it's working well for us. She may not be potty trained, but she's learning those letters! I'll call that a silver lining!

Nap Time

Afternoon Playtime

There are countless opportunities that you can use to play with letters with your child, but here are just a few games/activities that my little one loves!

7. Letter Balloons

After her second birthday, we had balloons all over the house, because she loves them so much. After the initial thrill of batting them around wore off, they would just gathered in corners and sat. As I was about to pop them one night, I realized I could use them to help her learn her letters. I then took 3 of the balloons and wrote both uppercase and lowercase letters on them as pictured.

Now we play a variety of games with them. We'll hide the balloons and then I'll say "Go find the 'A'" balloon!" or I'll get out a laundry basket and say, "Can you put the 'B' balloon in the basket? Good job! Now go get the 'A' balloon!"

Even when we're cleaning up, I refer to the different balloons by their letter name. This way she's getting used to identifying the letters on the balloons and not their locations.

**Note: Make sure to use the same color balloon so your little one isn't confusing learning colors for learning letters!**

8. Coloring Letters

A great way to have little ones interact with letters and practice their early writing skills and coordination is by doing alphabet coloring pages. There are many books you can buy on Amazon that offer great coloring pages and activities to reinforce certain letters. I have some of these that I've bought throughout the years, but I do like using Pinterest as my main source! The reason being that I can easily print multiple pages of 1 or 2 letters for free and have her work on those letters during the week. When you're on Pinterest, simply type in "letter coloring sheets," and a ton of free pins will pop up! I really like the ones that have not just the letter to color, but also trace, and then color objects that start with the targeted letter! Again, this is just another way to expose your child to letters and get them recognizing the letters and naming them!

9. Letter puzzles

There are SO many reason why I love doing letter puzzles with Charlotte!

1. She gets to work on fine motor skills.
2. It demands that you work on letters out of sequence.
3. She's improving her muscles memory for the form of letters as she's fitting them in their spots.
4. We work on sounds of the letters as well as names, because her puzzle has objects associated with the letters.

My absolute FAVORITE brand for letter puzzles is Melissa and Doug, but there are lots of other great ones out there too. Pictured above, there's the classic peg puzzle in the right corner, a Disney version on the top left, a butterfly version where the lowercase pieces help you figure out where to put the uppercase pieces, and Charlotte's new favorite on the bottom left which talks to her when she puts the letters in (for example '"R' is for rose."). These are just a few of the many examples available, and your little ones will enjoy doing them again and again!

Dinner Time

Bath Time

10. Bubble Bath Letters on the Wall

If your toddler is anything like mine, baths don't happen without bubbles. It's pretty much just a house rule! With that said, there's no reason you can't have just as much fun with those bubbles as your little one and use them to reinforce letters one more time before bed! Simply scoop bubbles from the bath and write letters on the wall with them, and ask you child which letter you wrote. Then, your little one can have fun splashing that letter away, clearing the wall for you to write another letter. When they get really good, you can have them make the letters in bubbles and then you can try to guess which letter they wrote! This is an especially fun activity because it's kinesthetic and it's getting your child to make big movements while making the letters. Not to mention, as long as the splashing outside of the tub is kept to a minimum, the clean up is really not too bad!

Bed Time

So there you have it, up to 10 activities you can sneak into your little ones' routines to help them work on their letter recognition! As you're starting out, so as not to make it overwhelming for you or your little one, I would suggest just picking 2 activities from the list to try a day, and focus on one letter. When both you and your little one feel more comfortable with the activities you can gradually expand to do more of them in a day! As with all things on my blog, remember to keep it fun and stress free! That's the best way your little one is going to learn and the best way to guarantee that you will keep providing those quality opportunities for your bitty to practice her letters, because you won't feel overwhelmed either!

Have fun with that ABC practice, and until next time...

Yours in Literacy,

The Reading Specialista

The Books I Buy for my Little Readers

Hello Readers,

Hopefully most of you are officially on your summer break! With the kids at home full-time and vacations starting to be planned, I imagine you've already made quite a few trips to the store (or Amazon) to pick up summer supplies. From swimsuits, to bug spray, suntan lotion, and brand new flip flops, summer vacation always seems shiny and new in June! Today, I'm writing to you to give some recommendations for some new summer books you might want to buy your itty bitties along with all of their other summer fun items! I get asked all the time, "Yeah, I know you use those books for your class, but what do you buy for your own daughter?" or "What series or books do you recommend for my PreK student to read?" Well, today you're in luck, because right before the end of the school year, I went on a big Scholastic Books shopping trip, and I bought a whole bunch of books for my daughter. Today, I'm going to tell you about 5 of my favorite books/series that I bought for her, why I like them, and how you can use them to help your little readers improve their reading skills this summer!

1. Clifford Books

Appropriate for: Ages 0-8

Why I like them

Clifford books are some of my favorites to use for a variety of reasons. First of all, who doesn't love a big red dog? In my experience, I've never met or taught a child who passed up the chance to read a Clifford book in this age range. The characters are wholesome, and there are a TON of books to choose from, so once you get your kid hooked, he will be occupied with the series for quite some time!

Now for more of the technical reasons, Clifford books offer a wealth of sight words! In fact, whenever I have a student within this age range that needs to develop their sight words, I will almost always reach for a Clifford book and start doing repeated readings on them. The plots within the books also offer opportunities to practice comprehension strategies such as making predictions, connections, working on retell, and questioning all of which are appropriate for this age range! The format of the books is also very predictable. For example, almost every books starts with "Hi, I'm Emily Elizabeth, and this is my dog Clifford." Although this might drive my more cynical parents nuts, this repetition is actually great for your little ones to develop their concepts of print and to start to "read the book" themselves. You will soon find, you'll start the first page for them, and they'll finish it, because they know what is going to be said. So in short...

How you can use them

*Work on sight words (and fluency through repeated readings)
*Have your kids practice comprehension strategies such as predictions, connections, retell, and questioning
*Strengthen concepts of print by pointing to words as they are being read within these predictable books

2. BOB Books

Appropriate for: Ages 0-8 (end of 2nd grade)

Why I like them

This series of books is truly an amazing one, because it offers leveled books from emergent readers (alphabet books and prereading skills) to more advanced decodable readers (books that focus on a certain word pattern or phonics skill) including long vowels and more complex word families. You buy the series in little sets, so as you see here, I bought a Rhyming Words set and Set 1 of the Beginning Readers. I really wanted the alphabet set for my 2 year old, but Scholastic was not selling them at this time, so I make sure to visit the library frequently to check them out for Charlotte. 

As a disclaimer, do NOT let the illustrations fool you. You may think that based on the cover and illustrations that you'd rather pass, but as mentioned the books that are in the set all offer excellent practice for the skill or level that the set suggests. For example, in this book Dan's Plan, (from the rhyming words set) the rhyming pattern is the -an family. Not only is this reinforced in the story, but on the last page, it highlights all of the -an words and other useful sight words. When Charlotte is ready to read this book, not only would I read the book with her, but we'd also use that last page to go over the -an pattern, and I could easily make flashcards to practice sight words with her based on the ones they suggest at the back. Between that helpful guide and repeated readings of the story, she'd quickly learn that pattern. Before she's ready to read it independently, however, I could read it to her, and ask her to listen for the rhyming words and tell me when she hears them. There's just SO much you can do with these books, and if you'd rather forgo the cost of buying all the sets, your local library most likely has them on the shelves!

How you can use them

*Alphabet recognition practice with the alphabet set

*Phonemic awareness (understanding the sounds in our language) practice with the rhyming set

*Sight word recognition and fluency (how smoothly your child reads the book aloud) by reading the books with your little ones

*Retell practice by having your little one tell you what the story was about

3. Frog on a Log?

Appropriate for: Ages 0-8 (end of 2nd grade)

Why I like it

Frog on a Log? is truly an adorable and playful book that really highlights rhyming words and patterns for our little readers. I got interested in this book, because it was highlighted at the Scholastic Book Fair this year, and I got the chance to preview it at that time. Throughout the book, the main character, the frog, is trying to find out why he has to sit on the log. The cat informs him that he himself has to sit on a mat, and then goes on to talk about other animals and the rhyming objects they have to sit on. Beyond the amusing and bright illustrations, this book is really great for beginning readers, because it allows them to expand their vocabulary and work on rhyming words, which is a vital skill for our littlest readers! While reading this book, you can easily have your child fill in the blank for you by saying which object an animal has to sit on. Because of the illustrations in the book, your little one that's JUST starting to work on rhyming words can easily find the rhyming object from the illustration, and as they get better, they will be able to fill in the blank without looking at the pictures. It's basically an example of a playful book where you can sneak in some valuable rhyming and vocabulary practice!

How you can use them

*Have your child practice rhyming words

*Increase your child's vocabulary (some of the objects in the story are not objects they would usually see)

*Have your child work on sequencing by having your child tell the order of animals and objects in the story. (Tell me which animal they mentioned first in the story. Okay, then what? Right! What did that animal sit on?)

4. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Series

Appropriate for: Ages 0-8 (End of 2nd grade)

Why I like them

Between the adorable illustrations, the crazy events, and the lovable characters, this series really does have it all! For those of you unfamiliar with the series, basically the main character (a mouse, a cat, a pig, a dog, or a moose) is given something or taken somewhere and the rest of the story is a laughable chain of events that continue until the character is reminded of what he got in the first place and the reader is left to infer that all the events will continue happening over and over again. These books are EXCELLENT ones to use for both fluency and comprehension!

Fluency

These books are great for fluency practice, because the stories are motivating, so kids will want to read them again and again. Apart from that, each page has a limited amount of text, so it's easy for a parent and child to read every other page until the child feels confident enough to read the entire book himself. Additionally, the stories have many vital sight words in them along with words that commonly repeat within the story itself. So, by doing repeated readings, not only will they work on their first 100-200 sight words, but also, they will pick up novel words that repeat throughout the story.

Comprehension

As a reading specialist, I used many of these books within my Literacy Lab classes to help students work on a variety of comprehension strategies. My favorites to work on with these books included retell, making predictions, connections (text-to-self and text-to-text), inferences (specifically to infer character emotions), questioning, and cause and effect relationships. You can do all of these with these strategies within these stories, because the text is so brief. This means that it's up to the readers to use these strategies to expand the stories for themselves!

How you can use them

*Practice fluency skills by reading the series repeatedly and working on sight words within the story
*Practice comprehension skills such as retell, predictions, connections, inferences, questioning, and finding cause and effect relationships

5. Disney/High interest books

Appropriate for: ALL ages (it just depends on the difficulty of the books)

Why I like them

Sometimes as a parent, you really have to forgo the super-duper instructional books and just go with what your kid likes best! This is REALLY important for us to do, because even though we want to make sure we add in quality books to our children's reading, we have to also make sure our kids are enjoying what they're reading. The early years are so crucial for little ones to develop a love for reading, and what better way to do that than picking books for them that involve their deepest interest or their favorite characters! For Charlotte, she's REALLY into Finding Nemo, Mickey, and the Disney Princesses. This doesn't mean I have to get junky books with these characters, on the contrary, I made sure to buy a variety of different types of books that starred her favorite characters and also included some leveling. For example, I got her the Mickey Mouse beginning readers series, and Little Mermaid Reader (to work on fluency), a Palace Pets Search and Find book (for vocabulary development), a Finding Nemo song book (for fluency and phonemic awareness), and a Finding Nemo story book (mostly for fun!). It's important to remember that every book you get for your child does have some level of choice to it, and sometimes, it's absolutely fine for you to let them read books that aren't award winners, because they're actively developing their love of reading!

How you can use them

*Let you child pick a book with their favorite topic or characters and read it with them.

*Reread to work on fluency and talk about the book with your child to work on comprehension.

These 5 ideas should give you a great start for getting some really great high quality books for your little one to help them avoid the summer slide! Remember, as always, keep it fun! You want your little ones to not only have some extra quality reading practice, but also, and most importantly, some positive memories of reading with you which is what will really grow their own personal love of reading!

Until next time...

Yours in Literacy,

The Reading Specialista

You want to read that AGAIN??? Why rereading books is actually a good thing!

Hello Readers,

I know we've all been there before, and even I've been guilty of saying it, "You want to read that book again!?" Having fully memorized the sequence of animals that parade through Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See?, the exact costumes that appear in Minnie's Halloween Costume Contest, and all of the words in Duck and Goose Colors, I have to humbly admit, that my little girl clearly has her favorites. Even more, when she's on a favorite streak, we can read the SAME book 6-7 times in a row, and then 4-5 times more that same day. I'm here to offer all of those mommies, daddies, grandmas, and grandpas some comfort today! Besides losing your sanity temporarily from the repetition, rereading books multiple (and I mean multiple) times actually has many important benefits for your child! Here are just a few:

1. Vocabulary Development

Our little ones are constantly noticing and adding new words to their receptive (the words they understand) and productive (the words they use and say) vocabulary. For tiny itty bitties, you'll notice that their receptive vocabulary especially is vastly higher than their productive vocabulary. For example, when Charlotte and I are reading Richard Scary's Best First Book Ever (a current favorite). I am incredibly impressed by the amount of receptive vocabulary she has that the repetition of this book has built for her. I'll ask her to find the sink, piano, chalkboard, rose, paints, crayons, red, blue, and yellow, and she'll point to all of those items, but she's not ready to say them yet. She will point to the items that she does know and say them herself, and from that I can get a glimpse into her productive vocabulary.

The more often you read the same book to your child, you are actually giving them practice to develop their receptive vocabulary and also for them to start feeling comfortable enough to make a word, or words, jump from their receptive to productive vocabulary. In fact, most of the words your child learns throughout her childhood she learns implicitly (without direct instruction) and a smaller percentage, she learns explicitly (with direct instruction). This of course is not just limited to pictures, but also the text that you read as well. Also, recent studies have shown that when parents read books to their children, the books offer a higher variety of words than our usual spoken language to them does. Therefore, even though you're reading the SAME words to your child again and again from that favorite book, there's a good chance that you're offering a higher variety of words than those that you'd use in your spoken language. For example, can you imagine describing everything you see to your child with a color? Although it happens sometimes for me, it's not as consistent as most children's books! Which is why they are perfect for building vocabulary!

Ways to enhance vocabulary building:

• Point out new words in the text or pictures to your little one, and have them think about the meanings of the words. "Look the Pout, Pout fish is sad! Can you make a sad face?"
• Have them repeat words after you. "Can you say truck? Look! That's a truck. Try it, truck." (productive building)
• Ask them to find different objects and point to them in pictures. (receptive building)
• Have them count objects with you in counting books and point out the colors and have them find them in color books. (receptive and productive building)
• Act curious about words. Their own word curiosity will build off of yours! "Oh I like that word squiggly! Look, it is a squiggly line. I wonder where that word came from, but it describes that line exactly!"

2. Sight word recognition

Just as a child's spoken vocabulary can improve from rereading books, their sight word recognition can also vastly increase. Sight words are words that children can read or identify on sight and they don't need to sound them out, because they know them so well!

Once children get older (3-4),  they start to notice words in the book. To help children notice these words more readily, it's important that you underline the words with your finger as you're reading. When you're doing this, children are starting to associate the spoken words with the written ones in the book. Because you read the book so often, they then can begin to identify these words within the context of the book, and the words can easily jump into their mental sight word bank. For example, if your child loves to reread Clifford, he may start to be able to read "big red dog" by himself. (On a side note, for my parents with Kinder, 1st, and 2nd graders Clifford books are INCREDIBLE to practice sight words and many of Fry's sight words are used in the books. Whenever I tutor first graders, we ALWAYS read Clifford books for that purpose!) So by continually reading these books, and pointing to the words, you're actually offering your little one a great opportunity to unknowingly memorize their sight words! *And the best part is, it's much sneakier than making flash cards for sight word practice, because they're actually asking to reread the book! ;-)*

Ways to enhance sight word recognition

• Always point to words that you're reading as you're reading them.
• If a book has a very repetitive pattern, (such as Bear's Loose Tooth), and you've already read it a few times in a row, you can simply underline the repetitive words and have your child read them to you.
• Have your child point to words as you're reading them, or if you have a very itty bitty, you can help them point to the words, guiding their finger under the text.

3. Story sequencing and retell

Another plus to continually rereading a story is that it gives your little one an opportunity to improve their comprehension, or understanding of the story, through practiced sequencing or retell. Sequencing is basically when we ask our little ones to put the events of a story in order, and retelling is when we ask our little ones to tell us everything they remember in the story, so they are very closely related.

When you have the feeling that your little one is going to soon choose a book to be their favorite, you can start to ask them retelling and sequencing questions about the book, throughout the book. For example, after a page in a story, ask your little one, "Can you tell me what happened on this page?" When they get more "practiced" at a particular story, you can ask. "What happened on the last 2 pages?" When they've had lots of practice in the story, you can ask them to retell the entire book, "Can you tell me what happened in this story?" You can even ask them specific sequencing questions, "What happened first in the story?" or "Did we see the yellow duck or the black sheep first?" Although naysayers may say, "Well gee, that's easy, they've just memorized the story, because you read it 20 times, and now they're repeating it." Actually, much more is going on here. By having your little one repeat stories and narratives to you, they are truly building their understanding for what a narrative is (a sequence of events with a problem and solution). This will help them greatly when they get to school age or if they are already in school by helping them to understand not just what's going on in the book, but also the structure in which it needs to be described. So look at each rereading of a book as a potential practice for your little one to get ready to understand the book itself and the narrative story structure!

Ways to Enhance Sequencing and Retell

• Ask you little one sequencing and retell questions throughout the book, building on the number of pages to be sequenced or retold as they become more familiar with the book.
• Encourage them to use the words beginning, middle, end, or first, next, and last.
• When they are very familiar with a book, have them practice retelling the entire story.
• As a bonus, introduce basic story words like character, setting, and problem and solution. Their teachers will think they are super smart when these words easily fly off their tongues!

4. Concepts of Print

Another great skill for our little ones to practice while repeating a book are the concepts of print. The concepts of print are basically the little skills that all of us take for granted such as knowing where the front cover and back cover of a book are, understanding what a word is, understanding what a letter is, knowing which direction to read from line to line and page to page, understanding of punctuation, and what an author and an illustrator do. The magic of rereading a book is that the story stays the same, so you can really hone in on developing these concepts of print, because your child is familiar enough with the story to be able to attend to them.

To do this, it's important to use your finger, or your child's finger, to point out the text on each page, and to engage them in features of that text. Have them count words. Have them count letters in words. Ask them questions about the words, such as "Oh no, mommy forgot what she's supposed to do at the end of the line, where do I read now? Of course! I go to the next line and start on the left, you're so smart!" or "I finished this page! Where do I go to read more of the story? Oh the next page? Do I start on the left page or the right page? Oh of course! The left page, thank you for reminding me." If your little one isn't yet ready to answer these questions, you can have them point to where to go, or your can tell them yourself. You can also point out periods, exclamation points, questions marks, and commas, and tell them what they do. It'll help to give some variety to that story, especially after reading it for 15 times in one day! *Sometimes, patience can be bred through creativity!*

Ways to Enhance Concepts of Print

• Have your child count how many words are on a page, or how many letters are in a specific word.
• Ask your child what the first and last letters are of a specific word.
• Hand your child a book upside-down and ask you to fix it, so you can read it.
• Ask your child where to read next in a book when you finish a line or a page.
• Ask you little one to show you where the front and back covers are.

5. Learning to independently "read" a book

You'll soon notice that after about 20-30 times of reading a book and practicing all of the items listed above, your little one will start to do something extraordinary, they will start to "read" the book to themselves. Now, I do put read in quotation marks, because essentially, they have just memorized the story, and they are now reciting it, but for them, it makes them feel like a reader! At times too, you'll notice that they'll make up words to fill in the gaps of those they haven't memorized, and most times those words sound like the missing ones too. I was in complete awe when Charlotte "read" Brown Bear, Brown Bear for the first time, and I will still remember her version of "what do you see" which was more akin to "whaddaya ya," and it makes me smile, but for me, in that little moment, my little one was a reader, because she understood that this book made the story, and she was telling it to herself.

So the next time you're about to say to your itty bitty, "You want to read Oh the Things you Can Think AGAIN!?" Just remember that it's repetitive to you, because you've read it and understood it completely each of the 9 times before, but the 10th time MAY just be what your little one needs to develop understanding of that mystery word, trace the text with her fingers, or finally be able to retell the beginning, middle, and end of the story! So take a breath, smile, and open that book again for a 10th time in a row! :)

Until next time...

Yours in Literacy,

The Reading Specialista