Parents often ask what they can do with their children at home to practice
what they are learning or working on in school. The following suggestions
are specific to what we are doing in the classroom at this time:
Language Arts:
-letter recognition (capitol and lower case)
-if children know mos letters by sight, help them associate the letters with
the sounds they make and see if children can come up with words that begin
with the letters (we have begun with the letter Mm, and the next three
letters we will focus on will be Aa, Pp, and Ss)
-encourage your child to practice writing his/her name, especially using a
capital letter at the beginning and then ALL lower case letters.
- make flashcards with their new sight words each week
- create a special shoe-box to keep the Treasure's stories we send home after
each unit. Have them read the stories to you and/or a sibling. This will
build their confidence in reading.
-drawing is an excellent precusor to writing so have them draw and label
pictures about their experiences. We are working on defining the shape of a
person in the classroom (neck, two lines for arms/legs, fingers)
Math:
-reinforce the sequence of the days of the week and months of the year; help
your child associate certain months with certain holidays or other special
times; help familiarize them with the meaning of "yesterday" and "tomorrow"
-number recognition and matching to sets of objects, as well as writing
numbers
-sorting by different attributes (color,shape, size)
-recognizing and extending patterns
Strengthening Fine Motor Coordination:
-cutting with scissors
-using tweezers to pick up small objects
-lacing cards and stringing beads
-squeezing a "squishy ball"
-kneeding dough, clay and playdough
Social Skills/Behavior:
-emphasize manners by saying, "please", "thank-you", and "excuse me" and
waiting their turn to speak and listening to others.
-arrange playdates with other children to foster social skills such as taking
turns and playing cooperatively.
We will be sending home another Home School Connection this week about
families. Have Fun!
