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Teaching letter recognition to children – The Traveling closet

by Mary Ann on June 6, 2011

Esther and her "textured" letter

Open the Closet doors! Inside are a number of activities, projects, toys, supplies, books and ideas for all the ages of children that you are working with. That is learning magic!

I do not have quite that same opportunity with the Traveling Closet. I choose a topic and then create projects, get books, and have supplies for that one topic for the ages that I will be working with. Last week that posed some unique problems for me.

I had chosen to teach letter recognition to the children. That is defiantly a pre-school/kindergarten age topic. I usually work with a 1 year old, a 3 year old and a 5 year old. Sometimes I have another 3 and 5year old. This is a perfect topic for them. All of my books and ideas were geared for those ages. Then at the last minute I discovered that I was going to have a 10 year old, a 7 ½ year old, another 5 year old and a special needs 4 year old who is also blind. Hmmmmmm. What to do about that?

Marilyn helping Mary, who just wanted to be with us and watch

It was too late to change the topic so how could I create some interest for the older two children so they wouldn’t be left out. I just didn’t have time or resources on hand to do anything special for the 4 year old. I was sad about that. Here’s how the day went.

I pulled out all the books and asked the children what they had in common. There were lots of answers especially from the older two: they all have pages, they all have pictures, they all are books, they all can be read, etc. It took them a while to figure out they were all about the alphabet.

Jack, grandma, and Esther

Next we played a letter recognition game.I had prepared a set of letter cards, two cards for each letter. That made 52 cards. We used the cards to play Memory. We had a lot of fun and the 10 year old, Christopher, loved this letter recognition game. Towards the end we all just quit taking turns and began hunting for matches as a group. After all 52 cards is a lot of cards. That was it for the Christopher. I didn’t really have anything else that would interest him. He did play an alphabet matching game on Maggie’s Ipad. Ahhh the lure of technology!

I had a huge pile of coloring pages in my Closet from past activities. I found a picture for each letter of the alphabet: crocodile, nest, fish and so forth. We laid out the letter cards showing the full alphabet, in random order. Then I would turn over a picture and we took turns deciding what the picture was, what sound the word made and then finding the correct letter. When we were done with that game everyone got to choose a picture to color. Only the 7 ½ year old and two 5 year olds were into that project. The others looked at books and watched the Christopher play alphabet matching games on the Ipad. By the way, we did have an older girl, Annie aged 13 and an older boy, Jason aged 15 there also. Annie came in and took all our pictures. Yeaaa Annie. Jason read. He was reading Pride and Prejudice. We had a nice conversation about my favorite book, Great Expectations.

I took some heavy paper and drew each persons name on it, making the first letter of the name a large block letter. Then we filled them in with beans to make a textured letter. The lure of the glue was strong and all the younger children did this project except for Christopher.

Jack's "textured" letter

This project actually calls for making balls of tissue paper, which I didn’t have on hand. Tissue paper would work better, not so heavy to hang up! (See directions below)

Our Alphabet creation

Next we did a craft with pipe cleaners. I had taken four sheets of black construction paper and taped them together to make one large sheet. Then I gave the children a package of pipe cleaners to form into the letters of the alphabet. The 7 ½ year old and the 5 year olds were the most excited about that project and stayed the whole time to finish it. However, the smaller children got excited when it was hung up and they could point out the letters. This was a fun way to teach children letters.

As usual I had letter recognition work sheets. Worksheets are Maggie’s favorite and this time was no exception. The other 5 year old and the 7½ year old each did one. Everyone likes playing school. : )

Thanks to Annie, 13, for taking our pictures

Here are some additional letter recognition activities, ideas and web sites for fun letter recognition ideas.

Alphabet Drawings – A really fun way to use Alphabet letters in a craft is to make people, animals, and creatures out of the letter shapes. Little kids think that this is hilarious. For example, the letter ‘D’ can be made into a ‘Dog’, a letter ‘B’ can be made into a ‘Butterfly’. Of course, they will need help with the craft because they don’t have the drawing skills yet, but they will still learn more about the letter and the sound that it makes. This is a fun way to teach a child the alphabet. See the Curious George book below. It has some good examples of what I am talking about.

Beginning spelling game for older kids – A great idea for older kids is to use caps, buttons, or cardboard again and put letters on all of them. Then the older kids can put the letters together to make words. This is a great way to learn how to spell and read. Or…you can make a Hangman game by using magnets and a baking pan. You can paint a hangman game on the metal…this would make a great travel alphabet game for kids.

The two ideas above came from http://bit.ly/knwmm7 This site has a ton of alphabet craft ideas.

A good source for alphabet letter printables – http://bit.ly/mEk2jS

A good source for alphabet letter printables and alphabet coloring sheets – http://bit.ly/dp4G45

Textured letters

Textured Letters – Decorating a letter with bright colors can help your child to remember it. Choose a letter. Draw it’s shape on a piece of card stock or cardboard. The larger the better. Scrunch up some brightly colored tissue paper into small balls. Cover one side of the card stock with children’s glue and stick on the tissue paper balls. Let the card dry, then punch a hole in the top, thread it with a string and hang it in your child’s bedroom.

Writing tray – Put a layer of rice in a cookie sheet. Good for spelling practice or picture-drawing or practicing ABC’s.

Make letters out of play dough – Write a letter of the alphabet on each index card. Cover each index

Play dough letters

card with clear contact paper. Show the child how to roll out “snakes” with the play dough. Use these to make the letter or number shapes on the cards.

Alphabet Match – With this activity, your child matches up the lower case letters written on the clothes pins to the uppercase letters written on the cardboard circle, by clipping the clothespin in the appropriate spot. I loved this game and will make it for another time. Jack will LOVE it.

The Alphabet Matching game

The four letter recognition activities above came from http://bit.ly/m1ng97

Books I used –

Curious George Learns the Alphabet by H. A. Rey This is a darling book with wonderful drawings of the letters. Would go perfect with the Alphabet Drawings activity above.

The Bird Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert

Rainbow Fish A,B,C by Marcus Pfister

The Frog Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta

From Anne to Zach by Mary Jane Martin. Maggie LOVED this book!

Do Your ABC’s, Little Brown Bear all about playing the alphabet game all day long. Read the book and then play the game with your child.

Wonderful pictures and so interesting!

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Teaching children the history of trains

by Melissa Draper on June 3, 2011

Learning all about trains: Sarah, Brittni and Pat

Melissa Draper

“I thought I would share something we’re going to try and do for a bit this next week with our Family Structured Learning Time. We are taking a little 2 day vacation and later this summer a week long vacation and each one involves riding trains, the latter being a steam engine, so….I went to the library and checked out some books on trains in general which would give me an idea about the history of trains: the transcontinental railroad (we aren’t far from Promentory, Utah where the meeting of the rails took place), a railroad mogul’s biography, etc.

I downloaded a cutout paper train from Dover’s free children’s sampler (Free coloring pages). I have several coloring pages that have to do with trains. We have some train toys…Here’s the cool part: I have plans to make and use a steam engine toy with my girls.

This involves fire, cutting tin cans and metal tubing, etc, so I’m not going to just turn them loose with it, but I will have the materials in the Closet with the instructions and we will build it together. (Definitely a reason to keep yourself engaged with what they are doing, right!)”

Brittni and the steam engine

Doesn’t this sound like a fun summer activity for kids? I loved it. You can come up with great inspirational ideas when you take a look at vacations and outings that your family is planning. That is why a Master Inspire Plan can be so helpful. Read on.

“We left in the morning for Heber Valley. In the car for the 2 1/2 hour drive were a bunch of books on trains from the library, as well as some educational handouts I had printed about the mine in Park City Park City History, which is where we planned to spend the night and part of the next day.

Thomas the Train - now this is a famous train!

After grabbing lunch we went to the Heber Valley Railroad and picked up our tickets to ride Thomas the Tank Engine. Before our ride, we looked at one of the old engines and some of the rail cars. We also went inside the railroad station and looked at the original building where tickets were bought and sold and trains were boarded and loaded. Because it was “A Day Out With Thomas the Tank Engine” there were several activities for the children: singing and dancing activities, playing with Thomas trains, a hay bale maze, and so forth. Our 4 year old had the most fun looking at the original trains and the station. This event is geared to younger kids, so our 11 year old wasn’t thrilled with all of the activities, but she looked at a lot of what was going on and the trains, grounds, people, etc.

We got on board one of Heber Valley’s coaches and got to enjoy a 30 minute ride into Heber Valley. We saw how the railroad tracks and the roads intersect and that the cars have to wait for the trains at most of the crossings. Their are steam engines and diesel engines at Heber Valley and my girls are already a little familiar with the differences: steam engines burn coal or wood to make steam to run and diesels burn diesel (like trucks and tractors) to run.

Brittni found learning about trains really fun!

After our train ride and a few more pictures, we headed to Park City and we walked up the old Main Street before dinner. There we passed the Mine Museum that we had planned to see and a restaurant that had just caught fire. We also popped into a jewelry store that was giving away free rocks for the kids and got to see some amazing geodes full of amethyst crystals. We had yummy dinner and then went to our hotel to swim.

We are going to do one or more of the steam experiments I found during the next few weeks to further our study of trains, steam, etc. and then we’ll be off to Durango, Colorado to ride the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad!

That trip leads to a discussion on the different types of gauges, the economic importance of railroads, mining, logging, etc. and the history of the west.”

I have to tell you that while the Draper’s were in Park City both girls, the dad and mom all became ill. So their plans were derailed and they headed home. But they know where the mine museum is and plan to head back that way and have an adventure all about minerals, rocks and mining. They learned a great deal about the history of trains and they are looking to continue the adventure.

When you are making your summer plans think about how you can really make the experiences meaningful for your children. If you are going to an amusement park look up the history of amusement parks. Where did they begin? What are the most famous parks and rides? If you are going camping learn about John Muir the famous naturalist. Make a nature journal. There are so many fun ways to lead our children on learning adventures if we follow Rule 5 and do a little planning ahead.

For those of you who may need a little help in the planning department take a look at A Dozen Weeks of Summer FUN package and pick up your FREE Summer Gift.

Have a SPLENDID and love of learning summer. : )

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A Dozen Weeks of Summer FUN activities!

by Mary Ann on June 2, 2011

Lets have a love of learning summer

Dear Readers,

I am excited to share a tremendous summer package with you called a Dozen Weeks of FUN. I know what it’s like to be a busy parent and yet want to give your children a wonderful summer with fun activities, excitement and learning.

So I have picked some “summer fun” topics that I think your children will love. I have done all the work for you with summer family activity ideas, summer craft ideas, ideas for learning projects, books to read, recipes, as well as further sites to refer to. So if you just haven’t gotten your Closet off the ground yet or feel like you aren’t ready to inspire then this is for you!

“A Dozen Weeks of Fun” will give you everything you need to spice up your children’s summer. You will find tons of fun summer ideas for your kids in this package. I’ll even let you test drive the first week FREE. Keep reading!

If you are a family that schools during the traditional nine months and then takes the summers off your children will be geared up for non-academics. This is a perfect program to help you do that with fun summer crafts and game ideas while actually helping them learn something new, yes, even in the summer.

If you are a family that schools year around you might be in a rut and ready for something new. So let’s shake things up!

A Dozen Weeks of FUN will provide you with a new PDF each week for 12 weeks with everything you need for a week’s activities and projects. The PDF will come to your email inbox.

When you purchase a Dozen Weeks of FUN you will receive Two FREE Bonus Gifts, “Filling your Closet on a Dime Without a lot of Time” and “Finding Sparks and Great Ideas”. Both are designed to help you become a master inspirer.

What is the cost of this awesome summer offer? $34.95. That is just $2.91 per week. What else can you do this summer that will bring so much fun, excitement and learning to your family for just $2.91 per week.

Why not take the first week’s topic for a test drive? The first installment of the Dozen Weeks of FUN is yours as a FREE GIFT NOW to help get your summer off to a roaring start. Are you ready to make this summer fun filled for your kids? Find the first weeks program free at A Dozen Weeks of Summer. I know you are going to love it!

Happy Inspiring!

The Dozen Weeks of Fun topics:

1. Spring Cleaning: The Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice

2. Old Times, Fun Times

3. Magnify It

4. Build It

5. Money, Money, Money

6. All Sorts of Art

7. Party Around the World

8. Star Gazing and Cloud Watching

9. The Performing Arts

10. Summer Camp at Home

11. The Games of Summer

12. Make Way for Autumn (or how to plan for another school year)

You can buy this fun package here, Summer fun package with activities, crafts and ideas

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How can parents find time to read and learn

by Mary Ann on June 1, 2011

“I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth
. . .therefore, First, set in order thy house” Doctrine and Covenants 93:43

I read this verse of scripture on the program at church and it struck me in a new way. On this day I first saw the words “First, set in order thy house”.

It brought to my mind another verse of scripture. “For now we see through a glass darkly”. 1 Cor. 14:12

Seeing through a glass darkly is an apt analogy when we are thinking in terms of sharing knowledge with our children. If the windows to our home are dark then we can not see out clearly. Everything that we do see will be dimmed by our own darkness. We will not be able to give any more light to our families than we ourselves possess. We have to be enlightened first and then we can share with our children.

Make time for reading daily

I have been thinking in terms of the classics and our spiritual cannon. If we are totally unfamiliar with them then we cannot call them to mind when a quote or thought from them might enlighten a child, illuminate a teaching, open a new learning adventure or ease a soul. These quotes and teachings won’t be in us, our house is empty and our windows are dark. As parents we want to be able to do and say the right thing when it is needed so that we can give more to our children but if our own house is dark there is nothing to give.

Reading the classics and our spiritual cannon is like washing our own windows and filling our house with light. As we enlighten ourselves we see more clearly. We can see our children and their needs more clearly.

So how do busy parents find the time for self education and reflection? I have some ideas that have helped me.

1. Decide that you want a superb education. Make a personal commitment to it so that when it is difficult you can and will follow through.

2. Have one book available all the time. When I had children I packed one in the diaper bag. Later I had a small bag by the front door with a book, pencil and paper in it. I could grab and go at a moments notice. Declare your intention by being prepared.

3. Have a second book, which you will read more often, available in your home so that when the rare moment occurs, you can read.

4. Give up perfection. I know that having quiet, focusing on one book fully and taking notes is the best way to digest a book. Your season for that will come but may not be now. Be content with reading while nursing, cooking, waiting for the washer to fill, waiting at red lights, snatching a paragraph or two while managing a toddler at the doctors office and while grabbing your 30 seconds of private time on the toilet. (Hmmmmm, if you can get it)

5. Plan ahead to talk about something from your reading at dinner. Throw out a thought and see who responds. Let the conversation flow. You can even do this with a 3 year old. “Jenny, what would you do if someone wanted you to be mean to someone else.” (Maybe you have been reading Lord of the Flies) You and your spouse can have a discussion which the children may join. If not they will hear what you are learning.

6. Call a friend on the phone and share an aha. They do not have to have read the book. The best way to learn is to share what you have just read and discovered.

7. Try to give yourself 10 minutes before sleep to read a few paragraphs. It can sometimes give you great thoughts and ideas upon waking.

8. Have a pad and pen by your bed. When you wake up sit on the edge of the bed quietly for just a couple of minutes and ask your brain what it came up with in the night. See what ideas might flow out and write them down. If the baby is crying take the pad and pen with you. While changing a diaper or nursing ask your brain what it has come up with in the night and then write it down.

9. Try picking a book with your spouse and structuring a time to read to each other for 10 or 15 minutes everyday. Remember to structure the time and then hold it sacred. That is when things really happen. For Don and I it is in the evening. It can happen anytime between 9pm and midnight. That is the best we can do but we almost always do it even if it is only one paragraph or verse of scripture. Don’t worry that it can take months to finish a book. You will finish!

10. Cast out discouragement because you cannot read and study for long periods of dedicated time. Everything has a season. Your current season is parenting. Your children are the rocks. They go in the jar first. Housekeeping, preparing food, work and all the rest are the small gravel that we sift in after the rocks. Church, community duties, etc. are the sand which come next. Reading and learning are the water. There is always room for the water when we put the rocks in first. Remember everything has a season and be content with your season.