On-the-Go-Learning

Make up silly songs to easy, well-known tunes. For example, Tow, tow, tow my car, gently down the street, Sadly, sadly, sadly, This is not a treat! Or Jump, jump, jump my boy, jump high and low right now, faster, faster, faster This is kind of neat!

Make up silly rhymes to easy, well-known rhymes. For example, Three brown dogs, three brown, dogs, hear how they bark, hear how they bark, they all make such a frightful noise, woke all the neighbors in the early light, have your ever woke to such a noise,  three brown dogs, three brown dogs.

I just made these things up right now as I was typing. You can make a game of it by alternating lines- you do a line and let your child make up a line- the goofier the better!

Nature Explorers

This past Terrific Tuesday we met in the sweltering heat to read stories about nature and then go exploring. We read these books...

We collected treasures in nature and looked at all the colors. The kids got to take home a picture of themselves and a frame to decorate at home with their treasures.

Some other fun and easy ideas: Take masking tape or duct tape and make a bracelet out of it with the sticky part facing out. While you are out exploring, stick your treasures to your bracelet!

Cut out contact paper and have sticky side up. Add your treasures to the paper and then with another piece of contact paper, cover them.

And another easy-peasy idea, of course, is crayon rubbings! Take off the wrapper on a crayon and with a piece of paper, make bark, leaves, etc. rubbings.

Pink is Perfect!

There are a lot of 'pink' books if your little one loves pink:

Rhyming to Read

Our Rhyming to Read program is short and sweet- 1/2 hr. covering 2 nursery rhymes. Today, we did 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (Once I Caught a Fish Alive) and Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary.

According to the Mother Goose Club: http://www.mothergooseclub.com/ (check out this site for videos, printables and more!)
Research has shown that familiarity with Mother Goose and other nursery rhymes helps children to develop pre-reading skills, the first step in becoming successful readers. How do nursery rhymes help? As children hear, sing or read nursery rhymes, they develop "phonemic awareness" or the ability to detect the individual sounds that make up words, a crucial first step in learning to read. Nursery rhymes, especially Mother Goose rhymes, also introduce children to new vocabulary which increases comprehension and benefits learning in all subjects. The delight children experience as they engage in rhyme activities fosters an enduring enthusiasm for books and reading.

Best-selling author Mem Fox says “The importance of getting rhymes and songs into children’s heads can’t be over estimated”. “Rhymers will be readers: It’s that simple. Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know 8 nursery rhymes by heart by the time they are 4 years old, they are usually amongst the best readers by the time they are 8”.
(Mem Fox, Reading Magic. Mariner Books 2001)

Cool Tips at Born Learning

• When cooking, encourage your child to help. For example, if a recipe calls for 3 eggs, ask her to get 3 eggs from the fridge. She’ll feel like she’s helping and counting will help develop her math skills.
• Turn chores like laundry into learning activities. Ask your child to identify colors, help you separate lights and darks, or count the number of socks. These activities will help build math and cooperation skills.
• Turn an errand into a fun learning game that helps your child make sense of the surrounding world. If your child likes trucks, look for trucks as you drive and see who can yell "truck" first.

On-the-Go-Learning

Here is another great site with ideas for OTGL!

http://www.bornlearning.org/default.aspx?id=3

Born Learning has great ideas and tips for On-the-Go-Learning- checkout the link above for activities when doing laundry, at meals and at bedtime.

Chalk by Bill Thompson

This is a great book to make come alive! By using simple props to match the story, you can really have fun!


Here's a picture of some of the things I used.

I used an umbrella and squirted the audience with water for the rain. I made a bag that looked like the one in the book- black with yellow stars and moons. Inside, of course, is 'magic' chalk. Then there's the sun, the butterflies and the dinosaur! I drew each one like the kids in the book and then I used the props to make the drawings "come alive". I made a sun out of poster board. Butterflies- last time I used a great big butterfly, but that was hanging from the ceiling today....

So, I improvised and made a bunch of small ones with our Ellison die-cut and threw them in the air. Then for the best part- the dinosaur! We have a huge t-rex puppet and I like to chase the kids!

Love this book! I think it is a lot of fun to do with a group!

Let's Go to the Park!

We are going to begin with two new songs from the Tumble Tots-We All Clap Hands Together and Tumble Tots Rock. Then we will use our imaginations while we read stories about being at the park! We will stretch tall, tall, tall with our stretching rhyme...

Stretching

When I stretch up, I feel so tall. (Reach high.)

When I bend down, I feel so small. (Bend over.)

Taller, Taller, Taller, Taller. (Reach up high.)

Smaller, Smaller, Smaller, Smaller.

(Get low on the floor.)

Into a tiny ball.



And we will head to the park for some fun!

Toddler Fingerplays and Action Rhymes

Here is a great link to a file from the Center of Early Literacy Learning that describes how to use rhymes, fingerplays, songs and activities in your everyday lives to help your child develop early literacy skills!

http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/cellpract_parent/toddler/collections/CELL_Todd_Rhy_Sound_Aware.pdf

Babies & Books

When you hold your baby close and snuggle together with a book, your baby enjoys hearing your voice and feeling your touch and this positive experience of feeling loved and secure helps build your baby's love of reading!

Talk to your baby all day long. Tell them that you are doing the laundry or washing the dishes or making dinner. Describe the weather outside, talk to them as if they understand perfectly what you are saying (of course, don't wait for a response!). Ask questions- they will notice the rising intonation.  By simply listening, your child learns words, ideas and how language works. They also learn the patterns of communication and conversation.
Moo, quack, meow and bark! Encourage your baby to mimic you and mimic them when they make sounds. These are baby's first steps in developing speech.

Sing, repeat, sing, repeat, sing....there can never be enough singing :)

All these things help your baby develop early literacy skills!

Every Moment is a Teachable Moment- On-the-Go Learning

I love learning that is initiated by a child's own natural curiosity. On-the-go learning or real-life learning leaves a far more permanent mark than rote learning- learning through mere memorization than connection to a meaning. Embracing and acting on the idea that each moment is a teachable moment, in my humble opinion, create the moments that make a long-lasting impact on a child.


Print Awareness is one of the pieces in the early literacy puzzle. Print Awareness is noticing that printed words are all around us. It starts when children realize that print has meaning - people don't just look at pictures, they read text. This helps children understand that the print they see consists of words - the same words we speak and hear.

So, an example of using an "on-the-go learning" activity would be to use what is called “environmental print” to help your child develop print awareness. Using exit signs, stop signs, advertisements, menus, and other print in your environment is a simple and easy way to develop print awareness throughout your normal everyday activities. Point out the apples at the grocery store and ask your child what kind of fruit it is. Then point out the sign that has 'apples' on it- a is for apple- spell it, sound it out.