Alphabet Pasta Sensory Box

I filled one of the workboxes with alphabet shaped pasta and added some wooden letter string beads. I added the laminated flip book of letters & words that we created to use with "Teach Your Child to Read in 10 Minutes a Day" and instructed Mya to pick out 3 words from the list that she can already read.

She had to find the letters from the word, put them in the correct order with the letter beads on the string, one word at a time, and finish by saying the word out loud.

She really seemed to enjoy this activity, and even chose to spell the last word with the tiny pasta letters!

Play Dough Alphabet Activity

I had printed and laminated the alphabet stencils from Shirley Erwee's "ABC Fun & 1-2-3" a long while back, and was reminded of them today as I was looking for ideas for Mya's workboxes! We have used them with "Teach Your Child to Read in 10 Minutes a Day" to introduce letters, and have traced them with our fingers as a reminder how to properly write a letter. Now, we will use them with playdough for a fine motor activity!

It's simple enough. We make our own play dough - Dad even got in on the fun this time! Mya asked him to help her make it and, of course, he couldn't resist. Here is our favourite play dough recipe: Best Ever No-Cook Play Dough.

For the alphabet play dough activity, the child makes play dough snakes and forms the letters right on top of the cards. If she finishes with the letters that we have already learned quickly, then I will just give her free time with the play dough until I am ready for her to move onto the next box.

I am so glad I was reminded of them before I printed new ones. There are many free printables out there. Just search "Play Dough Alphabet Printables" if you need some!

Teach Your Child To Read In Just 10 Minutes A Day

I found this book on kindle and bought it on a whim. It is an easy read, and so easy to understand and implement. I had decided to do a letter a week (or so) and it fit right in!

Sidney suggests teaching the letters in a specific order so that your child feels the accomplishment of reading quickly. For example, the first letters you learn are "U" and "P", and then you can already read up and pup. I copied that order, implemented his ideas, and off we went!

I decided to center our weeks, for now, around each letter. I am using the Little Footprints on our Land curriculum, which is based on African children's stories, so I just pick a story that best fits that letter and we're set for the week. After I choose from Little Footprints what activities I would like to do, I just add in whatever activities that sound fun to us that I can find based on that letter.

I also created a little laminated flip books of letters & words, so that Mya can master the sounds of the letters and sounding out each subsequent word. I typed them all in MS Word and printed, cut and laminated them. Then I used a 2 hole punch to punch holes in them and added rings. We try to practice every day. There are so many cards that in the end we will have 3 of these books, as the pile of them is too thick for the rings.