Teaching Letters... a beginners assistant.

Your little baby is finally interested in learning letters... you're so excited because you've dreamt about reading books together since before they were born. There's just one problem...

You have NO idea how to teach letters!

No worries. I've got you. Today we start a series on learning letters and reading.

Ok. Great Jen, but where do I start?

At the beginning, of course. ;)

First lets chat about the single most unknown reality for teaching kids to read.

Teaching them the names of the letter (aka, the alphabet) is literally useless to reading. It will be helpful when spelling tricky words later or when spelling a word that someone is dictating (meaning that they say, how Do you spell antidisestabishmentarianism? and you spell it out for them to write as you go). But for now?? Leave it behind.

What really helps?

Learning the SOUNDS the letters make. Think about this. When you sound out a word, you use the sounds each letter makes. Some are convenient and sound similar to their name... K, D, P. But what about W? How many times have I, as a preschool teacher, had to break a kid of thinking that W makes the 'd' sound? TOO many. And mostly from those moms who assure me he knows ALL his letters. But I digress.

Lets have a mini lesson, shall we? 

Letter sounds for the teacher or parent unsure of how to teach them. 

Now that you know what sounds each letter makes... you can teach your child. So you sit down to start and ask yourself 'But isn't 26 letters a little overwhelming?'

Indeed it is!
The reading program I use, The California Phonetic Reading Program, breaks down the alphabet into the order they are used in the reading materials. So as children are learning the alphabet, they are also learning to build words and read.
They don't have to learn ALL the letter sounds to start reading.

So what order ARE we teaching these letter sounds?
Set 1. c m s t r a
(this is what almost every Montessori school will teach first, as you can build several words with just these few letters)
Set 2. h p f n b
Set 3. l j d v g
Set 4. w x e y k
Set 5. i z o u

Did you notice that most of the vowels are at the end? That's on purpose beause as you add consonants, your child can spell SO many simple words with just 'a' in the middle. While they are still learning letter sounds, it's important to set them up for success by letting them REALLY build on their ability to hear the letter sounds. Keeping the middle letter the same for SO long (a), they can really learn to hear all the different sounds our letters make.

Students in my class get to take home word lists as they master word building and reading those words. They get to 'read' these lists to mom and dad and everyone gets to celebrate their accomplishment. They will take home 7 (seven) of these lists before they get to the letter 'e', which is the second vowel.

I have purchased materials on Etsy and requested that these letter groups be followed. That's how committed I am to adhering to these letter groupings.

Now you have a better understanding of where to start. Whatever materials you decide on, break them up into smaller letter groups and don't be afraid to ask for a customized product if you're purchasing from a small business instead of a box set. If you do go with a box set, just be sure you can break them up.

And really, even if you don't use the order I have listed, thats ok. The REAL take away is letter SOUNDS instead of letter 'names' and breaking the alphabet down into smaller, more manageable groups, so that no one (mom included) gets frustrated or overwhelmed when it's time to practice letters or reading.

Learning to read should be fun. For both of you.
Be sure to check back for further lessons on Teaching Letters and Reading.

ING
!jen

Turning 'toys' into shelf work.

Making Work for the Shelf

(how to turn any TOY into a job)

I'm often faced with teachers who say "that's just a toy, it shouldn't be on the shelf." To them I reply "that's just your lack of creativity talking, watch." Then I show said teacher exactly what my kids are getting from that "toy" on the shelf.

So this is a little intro to making any toy into a job for the shelf of your classroom, wether that classroom is in a center based program or your own home, the principles are the same.

I once took over a classroom in a performing arts school and though the owner knew a little about Montessori philosophy the teacher I took over from, did not. The result was a slew of 'materials' that were just toys being rotated every few weeks with no real intention behind what was chosen, when it was rotated or how it was displayed. So I became unexpectedly adept at turning "toys" into jobs. 

The classroom had a pretend stove and fridge in the dramatic play corner. I broke them up. Turned the stove into a practical life shelf. And the fridge became our sensorial (on the left side) and beginning math shelf (on the right side). I spent a few hours cleaning out all the fake food that was shoved in and on every shelf. Step 1 was to organize the food and decide who much was actually being used. I tried several different variations before making a final decision. I had to weed out what they weren't using and categorize what they were so they could actually play with all the pieces... novel idea!

Next we were on to the "toys". The first step there was 'purpose'. Determining a purpose (or lesson) for each material. Most "toys" can be very versatile.

Like the plastic keys in 5 colors could be a color sorting work but the keys also varied in size (and shape)... a size (or shape) sorting job, or I could place keys in various patterns, take pictures, laminate the pictures and then we have a patterning work. Once choices are made as to the purpose of the material, setting up the tray and placing it on the right shelf are much easier. I decided to make the keys into a color sorting job (sensorial shelf), as a few of my kids were pretty little. I left the rings out... again, little hands got frustrated with the intricate task of placing keys on the rings and snapping the rings closed. Then I put all the keys into a bucket on a tray, with color labels. Labels get placed on the rug and keys sorted under them. After this job rotated out and back in, I changed it's purpose. You may ask "weren't they confused by the change in lesson?" NOPE. With the job being off the shelf completely for a time, it was easy to reintroduce. Additionally, if kids are using it in the old way, it was ok. As long as they are being respectful with the materials... I'm pretty flexible on HOW they use them.

Another example.

I currently have a magnetic doll set. Now some teachers, even Montessori ones, would take that nicely separated tray that 'Melissa and Doug' sell their magnetic doll in and place it right on the shelf. Which is fine. It allows for creativity and maybe even teamwork if you have the set with a boy and a girl in it. However, it could be so much more. A matching work: take pictures of predetermined clothing combinations and have students try to match the outfits you made. A sequencing work: laying out 'bottoms' from shortest to tallest or laying out tops, least colors to most colors. A patterning work: lay all clothes out in predetermined patterns (take pictures before hand) or let students make their own patterns (top, pants, shoe, top, pants, shoe or shoe, skirt, shoe skirt). Also don't be afraid to eliminate a few pieces, especially for younger children. Like for my son  (2), I'd only put out the clothing pieces he needed to do the job, no distractions and less pieces to loose.

We do similar things, now that we're homeschooling, with our play kitchen. Right now it has a 'pizza serving' work and 'ice cream serving' as part of our serving others/ manners curriculum and 'cooking utensils' as part of our creativity curriculum. These rotate as we find new things on sale or at goodwill.

What areas of your playroom or classroom could use a sprucing? Go shopping at places like Ross or Goodwill to find great deals on "toys" that you can turn into a fun new job.

If you have a material in mind but need a bit of inspiration as to how to put it on the shelf, please email me. I LOVE getting inspired by what others are doing and offering a bit of that inspiration back.

 ING
!jen