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Kindergarten Readiness Activities

4/6/2023

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Did you know that the Lane Public Library in Hamilton has some phenomenal kindergarten readiness activities you can use while visiting the library? All activities must stay in the library, but this is a wonderful way to practice various kindergarten skills including rhyming words, number recognition, and letter/sound recognition. They even include ideas for at home activities to try! Ms. Serenity says that her daughter Sienna loves these activities. I am including a few pictures from one of their visits to the library so you can see them for yourself. If you get a chance, check them out! :) 
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Sight Word Practice

9/15/2022

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Hello TK Families!
We will be working on sight words at school throughout most of the year in TK. We will be doing monthly sight words for the months of September, October, November, January, February, March, April, and May. You can help your child master these words by working on them together at home. Our goal is for children to be able to read the words when they see them. Here are some ideas for how you could practice these words together at home:
  • Point them out in books you are reading together. Pick one or two words at a time to see if your child can find them in the book while you are reading.
  • Write them in shaving cream! Have your child say the letters while writing them and then say the word.
  • Build them with pipe cleaners! Your child can spell and read them while building each word.
  • Make them out of playdough
  • Write them outside with chalk
  • Write them in sand, salt, or sugar
  • Stamp them
  • Write the sight words on pieces of paper and tape them around the room/house. Call out a word and have your child run & touch that word.
  • Write the sight words on pieces of paper and hide them around the room/house. Have your child search for the words and read them when he finds them.
  • Go on a scavenger hunt for sight words! See if your child can find each word somewhere in the house or in a book.
  • Rainbow writing - write the sight words in different colors. First, write it in red. Then, write on top of that word in orange. See how many colors you can use!
  • Paper Plate Toss - Write the words on paper plates. Use them like frisbees to throw after reading the word. You could also add in a target to throw them at.
  • Flashlight Words - Tape the words to the wall or ceiling and turn off the lights. Have your child use a flashlight to find the words and read them.
  • Go Fish - Make 2 sets of sight word cards and pay Go Fish
  • Write them using stencils
  • Stepping Stones - Place the words on the floor to form a path. Have your child step on them to cross the stream. Your child should read each one as he steps on it.
  • Build them with Wiki Sticks
  • Tic-Tac-Toe - Write the words on a tic-tac-toe board. Take turns reading them. If read correctly, place an X or O in the box until someone wins.
  • Make them with Scrabble tiles
  • Word-O - Played just like BINGO. Fill in the spaces with the sight words. Call out the words and mark the spaces.
  • Spell them with magnetic letters
  • Search for the words in a newspaper or magazine and highlight them
  • Word Jump - Write the sight words in chalk outside. Call out a word. Have your child jump to the word.
  • Write them with finger paint
  • SNAP - Write sight words on flash cards or popsicle sticks. Put the words into a jar. Also, you write the word SNAP on a few flash cards and put them in to the jar. The kids can play in partners or in a groups of 3 or 4 with siblings. They take turns pulling a card out of the jar. If they can say the word on the card automatically with no struggle, they get to keep the card. If they struggle, they have to put it back. If they pull out one of the cards that says SNAP, they have to put all of the card they’ve drawn back. The first person to 5 cards (or 10) wins! 
  • Write them with sticks in the sand or dirt
  • Stair Chase -  Place two sight word cards on each stair. Let them pick one sight word on the way up, saying the word an
  • Build them with popsicle sticks
  • Coin Toss - Put words on the floor. Children take turns tossing a coin onto a word and saying the word. If they read the word correctly, they keep the coin. The first person to collect a designated amount of money is the winner.
  • Beat the Clock - See how many times your child can write a word in one minute. Or see how many flash cards your child can read in one minute.
  • Memory - Create two sets of word cards. Place the word cards face down. Have your child turn over two cards, trying to make a match. Continue until all of the words are matched. 
  • Who Has More? Flash word cards to your child. If they read the word within 10 seconds, they get to keep the card. If not, you keep the card. If the child has more cards than you at the end, they win. (You can modify the time based on your child's ability. Try to shorten it as your child becomes more familiar with the words.)
  • Who Am I? - Lay out the word cards. Then give the child clues to what the selected word is. For example, if the word was “red,” you could say – I rhyme with bed. I have three letters. I end with the letter D. Have the child locate the word.
  • Word of the Day - Tape one or two words written on an index card next to the front door, as EVERYONE in the family leaves or enters the house…..ask them to touch the word and yell it out.
  • Eat the Words - Write this month's sight words in whipped cream or frosting, eat one word treat a day (after reading it of course).
  • Spell them with alphabet shaped pasta
  • Bath Time - Write words in the bath tub with bath crayons
  • Note of the Day - Each day write your child a short note (1-3 sentences).  Include the words they are practicing.  Ask them to circle those words in crayon
  • Use alphabet cookie cutters and playdough to spell out words
  • Put letters onto a set of legos and build the words
  • Catch - Use a sharpie to write each word from your child's current set on different parts of a beach ball.  Toss the ball back and forth, yelling out the words that face up each time.
  • Roll the Die - Create a set of die (large size) with a word on each face.  Roll and read.

​Have fun! :)
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Ways to Practice Letters with Your Child

1/25/2022

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Hello Preschool Families!

Letter recognition is a big preschool skill, especially if your child will be going onto Kindergarten next school year. I wanted to provide some ideas of different ways that you can practice letter identification together at home. That way, you're not always doing the same thing each time. Hopefully this will help to make it more fun and engaging for both you and your child.
  • Reading -- this is such a simple way to practice! Many families read stories together before bed. During this time, you can point out the letter of the week and see if your child can find it on the page! You can also talk about what sound it makes. See if your child can produce the sound on the next page with the letter. 
  • Playdough -- make the letters out of playdough! Hands-on activities are a great way for preschoolers to learn. This will feel like play and your child might not even notice that he is learning. You can do this to practice the letter of the week, letters we have already learned in class, or to practice with the letters in your child's name.
  • Shaving Cream -- write the letters in shaving cream! This is another fun hands-on activity for your child to practice the letter of the week or letters in her name. One advantage to shaving cream is that it is basically soap. So, when your child is done writing, you can have her use the remaining shaving cream to clean off the table!
  • Pipe Cleaners -- make the letters out of pipe cleaners! You will likely have to help your child bend and manipulate the pipe cleaners in order to form the letters. If you want, you can even string some beads onto the pipe cleaners before bending them. This would add another fine motor element to the activity. This is another one that can also be used to practice your child's name.
  • Rainbow Writing -- grab some markers, crayons, paint, or colored pencils and have your child write the letter in each color of the rainbow! This will give your child practice writing the letter multiple times and he will be able to use many pretty colors in the process. Again, try this with your child's name as another way to practice name writing/identifying letters in his name.
  • Alphabet Stamps -- if you have some alphabet stamps at home (or are able to purchase some), use these to practice letter identification. Your child could stamp the letter of the week, letters in her name, or simply stamp the letters in ABC order on a page. This activity also doubles as fine motor practice.
  • Letter Collage -- use magazines or newspapers. Have your child find and cut out the letter of the week. Then, paste these letters on a paper to create a collage. Not only will this help your child with recognizing letters, but it is also great emergent reading practice!
  • ABC Cookies -- use alphabet cookie cutters to when baking cookies! Practice saying the letter names as you cut out cookies together. If you decorate the cookies after, you can see what letters your child is able to name again. You could also do this while eating them.
  • Become the Letters -- try to make the letter of the week using your bodies. You can work together with your child to build the letter. Maybe you can even get the whole family involved! If your child is active, this might be a great way to practice.
  • Letter Hunt -- see if your child can find the letter of the week while out and about. Maybe this could be in the car, while walking through the neighborhood, at the store, or out at a restaurant. See how many letters your child can find! Get the whole family involved. See who can find the most of that letter. If your child knows more letters, maybe see if she can find all of the letters of the alphabet in order. Turn it into a game to see which member of the family can find them first!
  • Alphabet Puzzles -- doing an alphabet puzzle together can be a time to review letters with your child. Talk about the letters as you find them. Ask your child to bring you a certain letter. Use the letters to spell your child's name. Talk about names in your family that start with each letter. Talk about the sounds the letters maker. See if your child can tell you some of the sounds.
  • Letter Magnets -- use magnets to practice letter recognition! See if your child can find his letter (the first letter in his name) or other meaningful letters to him. Practice spelling your child's name with the magnets. Review the letter sounds together. Make silly "words." Try to read the "word" your child spells (which will likely be random letters strung together). 
  • Legos -- write upper and lowercase letters on legos using a permanent marker. Have your child match the letters, sticking them together to form a match. For instance, your child should put the "A" block with the "a" block and the "B" block with the "b" block. This is another way you can sneak fine motor practice into your letter recognition practice, all while playing! If your child isn't ready for matching lowercase letters yet, modify the activity. Write uppercase letters on the legos. So, there should be two blocks with "A", two with "B", two with "C", and so on. Have your child match the same letters together.
  • Printable Block Letters -- you can print off these block letters at home to practice each letter as we learn it (found here: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/printable-block-letters-150-ways-fill) and have your child fill them with various objects. The website lists many ideas, but some include: stickers, buttons, coins, candy, feathers, kidney beans, pasta, etc. You can even fill it with something that starts with that letter! You can turn it into a craft and have your child glue the objects down. Or, you can keep reusing the paper with different objects over and over again. If you don't have a way to print these letters, you could also draw your own on a piece of paper.
  • Do-A-Dot Letters -- if you have Do-a-dot or bingo markers, you can print off these free Do-A-Dot letter patterns (http://totschool.shannons.org/do-a-dot-upper-case-letter-worksheets/). Your child can practice stamping the Do-A-Dot markers on each dot to form the letter. See if your child can name the letter when finished and/or produce the letter sound.
  • ABC Mat -- if you have an ABC mat (giant foam puzzle pieces), you can use this in a variety of ways to practice letter identification. Build it to a form a road and have your child name the letters as he drives cars on it. You can put it an ABC order or in a random order, depending on what level your child is at. To make it more challenging, you can use lowercase magnetic letters (or write lowercase letters on pieces of paper) and place them in a toy dump truck. Have your child drive around the ABC mat road and match the lowercase letters  in the truck to the uppercase letters on the mat. (Side note: This mat usually has numbers with it as well, so you could also use a similar activity to practice number identification, or matching quantities to the number). 
  • Alphabet Maze -- create an alphabet maze for your child. Write letters on post-it notes or pieces of paper and place around the house to create a maze. Have your child sing the ABC's to find which way to go to get through the maze correctly (meaning your child will move from A to B to C and so on).
  • Squirt the Letter -- if it warm outside, use water bottles or water guns to squirt the letter on the pavement. After making some letters, you can even let your child squirt you (or allow your children to squirt each other) to cool off. 
  • Sticker & Paper Towel Tube Letter Match -- if you have an empty paper towel roll, write letters on it using a marker. Then, give your child letter stickers (or, you can use circle label stickers and write the letters on them). Have your child match the stickers to the letters on the tube.
  • ABC Cup Hunt Game -- write letters on paper cups. Hide a small toy or object under one of the cups when your child is not looking. Have your child guess what cup the item is under. Your child must say the name of the letter in order to guess. Take turns hiding and guessing. 
  • Musical Alphabet -- kind of like musical chairs, but with letters. Set out letters and have your child walk around them. When the music stops, your child should stop on a letter. See if she can identify the letter she stops on. If she can, take it a step further and see if she can produce the letter sound.
  • Chalk -- use chalk on the pavement outside to practice writing different letters. These can be done with the letter of the week, letters we have already learned, or letters in your child's name. 
  • Teachers Pay Teachers -- you can also find other activities on Teachers Pay Teachers that you can print and do together at home. Simply search "letters" or "letter recognition" and click "Preschool" or "Kindergarten." You can also check the box for "Free" so that you don't have to pay for activities. You will need to create an account, but it will save all of your downloads on your account for future use. Link: www.teacherspayteachers.com 

There are countless ways that you can practice letter and sound recognition with your child! I hope that you will find some of these ideas helpful and enjoyable. Have fun learning!

Blessings,
​Ms. Barker
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Rhyming

1/25/2022

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Hello Preschool Families!

I wanted to write a post about rhyming. This is an important pre-reading skill for preschoolers to master. Being able to rhyme, will help your child become a stronger reader because he will be able to more easily notice the sounds in words.

While doing assessments the past couple of weeks, I noticed that many of the preschoolers this year struggle with rhyming. Therefore, I wanted to provide you with some ideas/resources to help you practice rhyming words together at home.

Here are some websites you can visit the provide both ideas and resources for teaching rhyming to your child. They include suggested books to read together and downloadable resources that you can use to practice this skill with your child.
  • https://pridereadingprogram.com/how-to-teach-rhyming/
  • https://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/teach-rhyming/
  • https://www.themeasuredmom.com/teach-your-child-to-rhyme/

Also, you can check out Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) and find even more printable resources that you can use with your child. Some are free, some cost a little money. I will provide some of my favorites (free and non-free) that you can choose to download and use at home.
FREE:
  • Ice Cream Cone Rhyming: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Double-Dip-Rhymes-397754
  • Rhyming Concentration Game:    https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Concentration-Cards-282368
  • Christmas Tree Puzzle Rhyming: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Around-the-Christmas-Tree-Puzzles-2904231
  • A Tisket, A Tasket Rhyming Game: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Game-FREE-1727607
  • Rhyming Bingo: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Bingo-230140
  • Easter Egg Rhyme Puzzles: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Easter-Eggcellent-Rhymes-FREEBIE-628864
  • Rhyming Word Puzzles: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Word-Puzzle-Freebie-2713460
  • Rhyming Word Mats: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Mats-780130
  • Whack-a-Rhyme Game: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Whack-A-Rhyme-251061​
​ NON-FREE:
  • Easter Egg Rhyme Puzzles: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyme-Easter-Egg-Matching-616030
  • Candy Corn Rhyme Puzzles: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyme-Candy-Corn-Rhyme-Matching-348786
  • Rhyming Picture Cards: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Picture-Cards-90-Cards-1593751
  • Does it Rhyme?: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Sort-A-rhyming-activity-for-beginning-rhymers-1998649
  • Clip the Rhyming Frogs: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyme-Clip-the-Frog-Rhyming-Game-225781
  • Rhyming Lotto: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Activity-Matching-Game-Rhyming-Game-for-Preschool-and-Kindergarten-2134672
  • I Have, Who Has Game: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/I-Have-Who-Has-Rhyming-Words-with-Pictures-1336717
  • Rhyming Games: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Games-1444375
  • Apple Rhymes: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Rhymes-1391207
  • Mitten Rhymes: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyme-Mitten-Match-420947
  • What Doesn't Belong? Rhyming: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-Doesnt-Belong-Rhyming-1353148
  • Rhyming Clip Cards: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhyming-Activity-for-Kids-Interactive-CVC-Rhyming-Words-Clip-Cards-1044108

I hope you will find some of these ideas helpful for you and your child! Thank you so much for all you do at home to help your child continue to learn and grow at school and in life. 

Blessings,
Ms. Barker
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    Author

    I'm Mrs. Soldner, the early childhood teacher and director at Immanuel Lutheran School. I have been teaching preschool since 2016 and have been teaching here at Immanuel since 2018.

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