Letter ‘a’ Sound Activities

We've started our letter sound of the week activities a few weeks ago. Vito is 18 months and based on my observation, he is ready to learn letter sounds as he started to say a few words and can mimic letter sounds as I say it to him. 

This letter of the week curriculum is basically not new.  There are a lot of variations out there on teaching one letter a week.  However, I have come up with my own activities and method of implementing it.   I have used this curriculum with Mavi and it has worked for us so I am using it again with Vito.  The order of the letter sound that I am going to introduce to Vito by default is from a to z (with emphasis on the small letter) but of course it may change as we progress depending on his needs, interest and availability of materials.

For those who are new to this, the basic idea is to focus on only one letter sound at a time (a week or more). Instead of having a specific theme that corresponds to a letter sound, we will try to use all the objects in our Letter Sound Basket in our activities to add variety. I also added tray works that introduce basic concepts like colours, shapes and numbers.

Okay some of you might ask me how we do this? Well on a daily basis here’s our schedule we work most of these in the morning, after reading books.  One to two activities a day for about 15 minutes in the morning and if he’s into it in the afternoon, then we do another one.  Afternoon activities are sometimes skipped, as he prefers playing with big brother. What is mostly achieved in the afternoon is reading books as we do it all together, while cuddling in bed.

*** I added links to all the materials we are using here so you will have an idea where to get it.  They are affiliate links, no extra cost on you if you decide to purchase them. ***

Letter ‘a’ sound basket.  Contains the objects we used and the letters.  In here you see an ambulance, alligator, apples, big letter A from Munchkins, magnetic letter A/a from Melissa & Doug (this was Mavi’s and an all time favourite!) and my homemade sandpaper letter.

Letter ‘a’ craft.  I made a small letter a on a piece of cardstock and have Vito stamp it with Do-a-Dot markers.  Once dry, I cut it out and form it into an apple.  I pinned this in our learning wall.  By the way, these markers are really really good! We’ve used them in so many ways and they were still Mavi’s! Can you believe that?? It lasted for so many years without drying!

Note:  Vito enjoyed this activity so much.  He can stamp more letter a’s than I could have imagine LOLApple 1:1 correspondence.  Using the IKEA Ice Tray and Learning Resource Fruit Counters, this 1:1 correspondence teaches little ones basic math concept.  I count as Vito places a green apple in the moulder.  

Note:  This is one activity that stayed in the shelf for two weeks. Vito loves putting the apples into the moulder and putting them back again in the container.  Sometimes he would spill them and put them back again. We do this activity almost every day to introduce counting.

Alligator peg board.  Because alligator have sharp teeth, we use this FantaColor peg board to practice fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination.  Can Vito really insert the pegs in the hole? Well it is a hit or miss! And that’s what’s good about it, he keeps on trying :D  Our version is the portable one that comes with a bag and with different peg sizes.  I chose this so both Vito and Mavi can use it.  The alligator is from Schleich (oh he loves this!).

Note:  As mentioned, this activity is a hit or miss. There were times he loves doing this because he can easily pin the pegs… but he gets impatient and lose interest when he can’t pin them in the hole.

Circle shape sorter.  The shape for this week is circle, since it is the closest shape to an apple.  We used our Playskool Shape Sorter  (this was Mavi’s) and we only use the circle shape. As I mentioned previously, one at a time.  So here, just the circle shape so he can easily identify which hole and will not be overwhelmed. 

Note: This technique has worked with Mavi and it worked with Vito as well. 

Gluing circles.  I’m hitting three birds in one stone here, sensorial activity while learning the circle and red colour.  We did this a couple of times, first using liquid glue and the other glue stick.  He doesn’t like both LOL But he loves putting the cut-out circle shapes in the big circle. 

Note: While doing this activity, I would say “this is a circle”, “let’s stick the red circles in the big circle”.  Mention the key words like “circle”, “red”, “stick” or “glue”. As mentioned, Vito doesn’t like the feel of blue or something sticky. But that’s okay, Mavi was like that too.  It’s part of learning right?

Eating apples.  Of course, snacks include apples!

Note: What could say? He loves eating!

Green and red colour. I’ve been introducing colours since Vito turned 1, and even though we still work on our red basket, I still include colour sorting in our weekly activities so he can differentiate the two colours.  Here I used craft pompoms to be sorted out. He doesn’t sort, I do most of it.  I’ll try first, showing what to do and let him try a few. 

Note:  Again, hit or miss here.  There were times he’s doing it right, and sometimes he randomly puts them anywhere.  He loves our green and red apples the best though :D

Ambulance prints.  Vito loves paints and we do painting as much as possible.  We are using Giotto Bebe fingerpaints, which I totally love because it doesn’t have a smell! And I love how creamy the paints are. 

Note: Another favourite in the house!  He can do this for around 30 minutes uninterrupted. But be sure to keep an eye on the kids. Even if the paints used is non-toxic and washable, these still are not edible!

Recommended books that will go along with it:

• My ‘a’ Sound Box
• Are you an Ant?
• Baby Alligator
• How to make an apple pie and travel the world.

Now, see them all in action!

Don’t forget to pin this for later!

The Montessori Multiplication Board

Spring break has given us enough time to work on our multiplication.  The next thing we did after introducing multiplication using counters was doing the arithmetic using multiplication bead board. 

To know more about these materials and how to use it, here are some resources I collected for you:

• How to use the multiplication bead board (video)
• Multiplication Bead Board Presentation
• Multiplication Bead Board Worksheets
• DIY Multiplication Bead Board

I made multiplication strips for Mavi to work on.  This is similar to the one mentioned in my resources except that I edited the fonts to fit my paper size.

I followed the presentation based on the Info Montessori and demonstrated it on Mavi.  When it’s his time to do the work,  Mavi chose the table of 6 (his age!).  He loved putting the beads in the hole, though at times, it slips through his fingers as they seem to be tiny.  How I wish the beads were a bit bigger!  As he worked on the table, I told him to mark the last count of the beads so he wouldn’t need to count from 1 again. Say, he’s currently at 6 x 4 = 24. So that’s 24 beads already. Moving to 6 x 5, he doesn’t have to count all over again from the first bead.  All he has to do is add 6 to the last count or mark, that is 24.  Bless his heart, he was counting from 1 everytime he moves on to the next multiplier LOL. 

                      

Again, I pointed out that multiplication is adding similar numbers.  So adding a multiplicand to the last count is a much faster way of doing it.

Now, for the work strips, I printed them out and glue them on a yellow cardstock.  Mavi loved how beautiful they turned out.  As an extension, I also showed Mavi how the table of 6 works when laid out using the decanomial beads.   The laying out of beads was a hit! Mavi was hooked.  Too bad though, we didn’t get to finish the work because Vito was already awake and wants attention.  (PS. We don’t do bead works whenever Vito’s around. He still mouths objects)   

Making Montessori Ours has this amazing printable Multiplication Materials Package made out for you. I suggest you check her out as well!

Don’t forget to pin this for later! You don’t want to miss this!

And that’s about it! How wonderful this method of learning is! So hands-on and visual!  We will work on the rest of the multiplication table both in bead board and decanomial beads one at a time. Anyway, this is just to expose Mavi to multiplication.  Once we’re done with all the tables, we’ll start division and it’s going to be even more exciting!

Want to see what other’s are doing?  Check out my Pinterest board for other Math ideas!

Language Materials for 6yrs Old

** Contain affiliate links **

This an update of Mavi’s language materials.  I try my best to spend at least 20 minutes on Mavi (one-on-one) whenever I need to discuss a new subject.  After which, he works independently using the worksheets.

These are the language materials I picked for him to use at home.

First Language Lessons (Vol1)

This was the first book I got for Mavi.  I love the depth of the book and I must say a good book to introduce grammar to a child. The only setback is that it is repetitive. Noun is discussed in almost half of the book. I have to skip a few chapters because of that.  But somehow, it worked for Mavi.  We have not opened this book for ages, yet he still remembers what is a noun, a proper noun and a common noun.  He can still memorize the poems in the book!  The memorization work here is amazing! 

Success with Grammar by Scholastic

Simplicity at its best! I like how straightforward this book is (brief description) and has lots of great activities afterwards (sheets).  My son loves the outlined pictures because he can colour them :)  Hopefully we can move on to Grade 2 before next school year.

Reading Comprehension by Scholastic

This is important to me.  Mavi is a good reader and it would be put to waste if I will not help him comprehend and understand what he is reading.  We barely used this book as of the moment as we’ve been busy for the past weeks.  We usually do this before bedtime.  We read the story and do the activity the next day.

Homemade Montessori Grammar Symbols

I seldom use this as Mavi is not fond of using them.  I only get to use the symbols (for now) whenever I needed to introduce a new topic.

Jolly Phonics Grammar 1

I use this mainly for spelling, as English spelling in UK and Ireland is different in the US. This is the standard curriculum used in Britain and Ireland.

So how we schedule our grammar/language lessons?

As I said, about 20 minutes a day afterschool if I need to discuss a new topic. But for independent work no time limits, as long as he finishes his tasks before bedtime :D 

You can also purchases these at Amazon, but if it is not available in your area, I prefer Book Depository because of its free shipping.  They have the same rate anyway.

More language activities here:

The Plant Kingdom

Presenting to you Plant Kingdom printable material.  We used this recently in our Plant Kingdom nature study.  This is perfect for grade-schoolers who want to learn and understand all about the world of plants and how they are classified.