Learning all the letter sounds might seem like a monumental task to young children. The more opportunities we can give them to connect letters and their sounds, the better. Also, if we can provide fun, engaging letter/sound matching games and activities, we are doing them a world of good. We can do our best to…
Introducing Your Preschooler to Addition and Subtraction
Many parents feel rather confident in teaching their child early mathematics skills such as the basics of number recognition, one to one correspondence in counting, sorting activities, and knowledge of shapes. But…what about addition and subtraction? I once taught with a teacher who frequently complained about the difficulties of addition and subtraction for her third…
What is Phonological Awareness?
Phonological awareness is the detection and manipulation of sounds within an alphabet language. It involves having a thorough understanding of how oral language can be represented via written language and how those sounds and word are organized. Phonological awareness includes breaking down spoken language into smaller components, such as sentences into words, words into syllables,…
Squirt the Letter!
Squirt the Letters! Letter Identification Game for Preschoolers My husband is going to laugh when he reads this post. There is a very funny story associated with this game, and let me just say that I, Mom, am at the butt of the joke…of course (and as usual)…while my son thinks that he is the most…
Color Pattern Cards
Patterns are all around us. Simple rhythms in music, for example, or the patterning in manicured landscaping, or tiling on the floor. More complex patterns can be found in a child’s kaleidoscope or the ornate organization of decorative bricks on a building, or the intricate and delicate threading of a spider’s web. Patterns can be…
Tips for Choosing Out Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Tips for Choosing Out Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers One day while checking out books at the library, it seemed like every time I took a book out of the bottom basket in the stroller, two more appeared in its place…and before I knew it William, Corinne and I had checked out 38 books (only…
The Dirt on Dirt: How Getting Dirty Makes for Heathy Kids
In many households, dirt is a four letter word, one that must never be uttered and certainly playing in dirt is an urge that must never be acted upon. However there is a secret to share about dirt, a very dirty secret…playing in dirt and mud is healthy for you!…and how appropriate, since every kid…
Six Shape Activities That Involve Movement
Geometry is only one of the six primary strands of math that is considered foundational to later mathematical learning. (The others are number sense, arithmetic operations, algebra, measurement and data analysis and probability, but I’ll save those for future posts). Basic geometric principles connect directly to other mathematical concepts and skills, such as naming, constructing,…