Day 5: The Letter A

After an extra long weekend we are finally back to school. I've been a little nervous about actually starting the alphabet, but I realized today I have nothing to be nervous about:

1. My little guy loves to learn.  He thinks school is the best part of his day.
2. He started calling me teacher when I pull the basket of school supplies out.
3. There are so many resources available online and through the library.  Plenty to do and learn.

Here's what we did for the letter A:

Intro:  We added a card with a capital A and lowercase a to our poster. I had him say the name and I introduced the short a sound (as in apple).

Theme Words:  I have 3x5 cards with a few words that are in a lot of our stories this week.  Apple, Alligator, Astronaut, Acrobat, Ambulance, Alphabet, Animal.  I read them to him and showed him they each started with a.

Read:

(Borrowed from Grandma's Library)

Coloring Sheet: Alligator Aa Coloring Page

Song/Poem:  The Letter A

(Borrowed from Grandma's Library)

Math: Practiced our one-to-one counting with chocolate chips.

Bible Story: Adam & Eve

(from the Gospel Art Picture Kit)

We went a little bit longer than an hour since we were trying to do two day's worth of work in one.  J was a little disappointed we weren't going to watch a movie as part of school, but he got over it quickly when he saw the chocolate chips for Math.

Day 4: Alphabet Introduction

We were both restless today so we kept it extra short.  I'm not sure if we are just sick of the routine or it is something else.  I have wondered since the beginning if a whole week of intro wasn't a bit much.

Movie:

(from Netflix DVD service)

Read:

(from our bookshelf)

Activity: Today we went fishing.  I took the letters I made yesterday and slid some paper clips on them.  We placed a string from the end of our yardstick and put a magnet on the end.  J sat on the edge of the couch and fished for each letter.  When he caught one he told me its name.

This was by far my most favorite movie and my little guy thought the activity was the best.  Timing wise we spent exactly one hour which is my goal time.

Cost:  Nothing.  We had everything laying about the house.

Day 3: Alphabet Introduction

We mixed the order up a little today so I could prepare for the activity.  It worked out really well.

Movie:

(from Netflix streaming)

Read:

(from our bookshelf)

Sing: Standard Alphabet Song - He got it perfectly.

Activity:  Alphabet Scavenger Hunt - I cut 2" squares of paper and wrote a different letter of the alphabet on each square.  Then, I placed them around the kitchen next to items that began with that letter.  My little guy searched for all the letters.  When he found one he named the letter and I told him the name of the object.  To check if he had all the cards he put them in order on the kitchen table.  He really liked this activity.

Read:

(from our bookshelf)

Coloring Sheet:  Calvin Alphabet (this one is for my hubby, he loves Calvin and Hobbes)

Cost:  A few pennies for paper and ink.

Day 2: Alphabet Introduction

My little guy hauled out my basket of school supplies and insisted we started RIGHT NOW.  I love that he is so excited and willing to learn, it makes my job much easier.  Here's what we did today:

Read:

(from our bookshelf)

Sing: Standard Alphabet Song - He was very careful on the parts he struggled with yesterday.  Listening very closely to what I was saying.

Activity:  We cut out the alphabet letters that we colored yesterday and pasted them on his Alphabet Poster.  I asked him what each letter was as he handled them.  Our poster will be used the rest of the school year.

Read:

(from our bookshelf)

Movie w/Treat:

(from the City Library)

We love Signing Time at our house and I feel it is really a great fit in our little homeschool.  The first four volumes are well worn parts of our household and the other DVD's are on the short list for Christmas presents.

Still took closer to an hour and a half.  Maybe that's just a good amount of time for us.

Cost:  $1.00 for the video rental.  All the supplies for the poster were things we had on hand.

Day 1: Alphabet Introduction

Intro: Talked a little about the Alphabet, Upper and Lower case letters.

Read:

 

(from our bookshelf)

Coloring Sheet: Alphabet Capital Letters

Sing:  Standard Alphabet song (had to correct:  hikk lmnop slur...)

Read:

 

(from the City Library)

Activity:  Using a set of alphabet magnets we had already laying about the house, J picked out each letter in order, named it, and placed it on the fridge.  He used his coloring sheet for help.

Movie w/Treat: 

 

(from Netflix streaming)

This first day went surprisingly well.  He was very attentive and we had a lot of fun together.  The whole plan took a lot longer than my scheduled 1 hour.  The movie in itself was 35 min. and he became very focused on the coloring page trying to stay in the lines and choosing a different color for each letter.

I'm really excited to see how the rest of the week works out, although five days of alphabet intro does seem like a lot.

Cost:  Pennies to print the coloring page.  Everything else was something we already have.