Preschool: What's On The Shelves

Here's some pictures from some of the language activities when we were studying the letter "S".

Itsy Bitsy Spider flannel board story

from KidSoup

Itsy Bitsy Spider sequence cards
from KidSoup

Spelling snowman

from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Dry Erase S

from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Ss Coloring pages - Snowman one from

Confessions of a Homeschooler and

black and white one from KidSoup

I love it when they work together . . .

Overheard today from two preschoolers:

Princess: Mrs. F, how do you write a letter "d"?

Super: I know - I'll get the sandpaper letters for you, Princess.

(He went over and got the sandpaper letters and brought it over to the second table. They spread out the letters.)

Super: Here is the letter "d" Princess. See, it is a circle and a line. The circle is in the front.

Princess: Thanks, Super!

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I love it when they work together, and I love it when they spontaneously think to use works.

Made me smile today.

It seems that everyone in the Montessori blog world is talking alphabet . . .

I recently made a change to how I had been doing the letters. I had originally been using the ideas/order that is presented at My Montessori Journey. The problem was that I was ALSO introducing a letter of the week (starting with "a" at the beginning of the year), and it was generally different than the ones we were working on with the Red/Yellow/Blue scheme. It was just getting too confusing.

So I've made a decision - we are going to drop the Red/Yellow/Blue scheme. I understand that presenting the letters to the children in the order that they are in the alphabet probably really isn't the best way to introduce them. But it is the way that is working best for these children this year.

I am, however, using similar resources found at My Montessori Journey (particularly from KidSoup) combined with ideas that were contained in the language album from the Montessori Online Training Course that I am taking - particularly the idea of Sound Boxes, although I keep all the items for the Sound Boxes on my newly named Letter Shelf. (What DID we do all day is taking the course too, so that is why some of our resources look similar.)

Here is my new Letter Shelf:

The top of the Letter Shelf -
number of the month, shape of the month

and letter of the week.

Picture of the whole Letter Shelf

Cards that go with our Alphabet Song.
(on the first shelf) See next photo for more explanation.

We sing our Alphabet Song (not the traditional one. The tune is "Twinkle Twinkle" and it starts with the letter sound, then letter name, and then the object presented. So for A, it is a (as in in appple), A (as in ate), Apple, buh, B, ball. kuh, C, cat, duh, D, dog. )

For the current letter of the week:

We learn the sign language sign for that letter and a sign language word that starts with that letter.

We do the letter of the week with the Leap Frog Fridge Magnets and sing along.

We review our letter of the week poster and letter of the week words from KidsSoup.

These sheets are on the Writing Shelf for the letter of the week.

Find the Letter learning page from KidsSoup

Write/Trace the letter from KidsSoup

Trace words that start with that letter from KidSoup

There is also a letter coloring sheet on the Art Shelf for the letter of the week.

Letter Coloring Sheet from KidsSoup
(3rd sheet on the right on the blue shelf)

There is also a sandpaper letter by the sand tray at the Sensory Table for the letter of the week and there is a cookie cutter out at the play-doh table for letter of the week. I got the letter and number cookie cutters from Michael's. It came in a big container with all the letters and numbers. LOVE IT.

For the rest of these activities, I have two letters out - the letter for current week, and the letter for the previous week. These are held in the Letter Shelf.

Alphabet flashcards that show the capital and lowercase letters together (on the 2nd shelf. The Flashcards came from the dollar section at Target last fall.)

"Objects" from Learning Resources Alphabet Center

(On the 2nd shelf - these objects are in a plastic card file box)

Letter Cards from KidsSoup

(bottom shelf - in right blue container)

Inside of Little Letter Book

Outside of Little Letter Books - Little Letter books from KidsSoup

(on bottom shelf - left blue container)

The pictures in the Letter Cards are the same pictures that appear in the Little Letter Books.

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So far, LOVING the new system. The children are really learning the letter sounds and they enjoy doing many of the activities.

Tuesday: Montessori - Language

I am slowly but surely adding to my language area, but one of the first things that I bought when I decided to use a Montessori-based curriculum was the sandpaper letters. We use them every day. We use them during circle time to talk about our letter of the month, but then they are used to draw letters in the sand, or to create a letter out of clay, or to match up with other versions of letters we have in the classroom. Sometimes a child will use the sandpaper letters instead of the moveable alphabet to create words.

The younger children are especially drawn to the sensorial aspect of the sandpaper letters. Often, the youngest children in the classroom will just sit on the floor and rub their fingers over the letters.

I bought my version of the sandpaper letters years ago from someone who handmade them. It is a nice set, but since they made of sandpaper glued onto matboard, they are beginning to show signs of wear and use. They are also on the smaller side. I would like to add another set next year, and this time, I plan on ordering them. But for those of you who want a set for one child, or light use, there is a small, reasonably priced set available through Lakeshore Learning.