Teaching the Alphabet to Miss M

Last year I shared some reading readiness tips that I used with my son when he was two.  Now my daughter is a month away from turning two, and she's also on a journey toward learning to read.  Sadly, I have less time to devote to teaching her, but she's still progressing nicely and knows more than 50% of the alphabet.  Here are some of the tools I've used with her that I didn't have when her big brother was two:

·      Our new favorite book: Learn with Humphrey ABC by Sally Hunter.  It's from the UK, but I'm hopeful that you all will be able to find it locally.  The illustrations are just adorable!

·      LeapFrog magnetic alphabet for the fridge (I like these because they are too big for kids to swallow!) I picked up two sets at garage sales last summer for about a dollar or two each.  They came with an attachment that says the name of the letter and it's sound, but it's annoying.  I put that part up and we just enjoy the letters.  

Here are a few suggestions of ways you can use the letters to help you teach your child:

•  You can display several letters at a time to introduce them rather than overwhelm with all 26.
• Or just have up the letters that they haven’t learned yet. We did this for a while and I encouraged big brother to teach his little sister the letters whenever they were hanging out in the kitchen.  Not sure how effective it was, but they had fun.
• Use the letter to attach something to the fridge that starts with that letter.  Right now we have Christmas photos with the letter that corresponds to the family’s last name holding the photo in place.   (That's more of an activity for big brother, but both kids get something out of it.)

·      Melissa & Doug train alphabet puzzle- very cool; it’s 10 feet long!  

·      Foam letters in the bathtub- they stick nicely to the tub sides, but do clutter up the bathroom.

·      LeapFrog laptop.  I'm sorry to say that my daughter learned most of her letters from this.  You can personalize it so the laptop will say the child’s name, sing a song with your child’s name in it, and include brief emails from family members.  (My son also has one, but at age 4 he gets bored with it faster than she does.)  It's perfect for teaching letter names and their sounds.  I got one for each of our kids as a way to keep them busy at the rehearsal for my sister's wedding.  It's a nice item to pull out when I need them to stay busy, but it is a noise making toy so I don't leave it out all of the time.

It also comes  in green and white for boys.

Besides the gadgets, books, etc...we are also singing the ABC song at various times through out the day, and taking the time to point out letters where we see them.  I was impressed a couple of months back when my daughter noticed the contrails of two jets in the sky.  She shouted out, "X!" and pointed up.  Sure enough, there was a perfect X.  My kids are often reminding me that kids are smarter than we think they are!

For my next post, I will share a road map of the kindergarten reading program I used with my son.  It' works!!  Forgive me if it takes a while to get it posted, but I promise to share the strategies so you can use them too.  

Christmas Gift Review

Thinking back on this year's Christmas...it was interesting to me how some gifts were an immediate hit and others have taken time to connect with.  I thought I'd share a bit about the toys that were an instant hit with the kids.  The common theme with all of them was that they didn't need an adult to help them understand the toy.  It was instantly understandable to them.  

Our gift to K was a new train table. (We bought it at Costco.)  It required a lot of work to put together, about two hours, but worth the effort. He plays with it morning, noon & night!  Last night at 9:30, I found him in his room with a little lamp on happily pushing the trains around the track!

Our gift to M was a Fisher Price (FP) kitchen.  (Ordered on-line from Fisher Price) It was very easy to assemble and has been by far the favorite toy this year.  She also got a FP tea set from her grandparents and that has been well loved also.  We've had lots of tea parties; I love it!!

My sister- Katie- got each of the kids flashlights, and they love them! She bought them at Target, but the photo I "borrowed" from Amazon.  K's is a Lightning McQueen flashlight, and M has Disney princesses on hers.  Need a quick fix to keep the kids content for a while?  Give them each a flashlight!  I've tucked theirs away in the kitchen cupboard for times when they are bored and I need them to play while making a meal.    

Hooded towels and a new doll were also favorites of Miss M. The towel was from Grandma (purchased from Avon), the doll (by North American Bear Company) was from Aunt Kendra (purchased on Amazon).  We have finally found a name for her new doll: Asia!  So sweet.

What toys or gifts have your kids enjoyed this year?  

Product Review: Scribble & Write

I have ideas all the time that I'd like to post about, but so little time to actually sit down and blog about them.  Since I have a few moments, I'll share a quick thought...for Christmas we got our son a LeapFrog Scribble and Write.  It has been a really cool toy.  He's learning how to write letters, draw shapes, and follow directions.  It also reinforces the sounds the letters make so it's sort of a learning to read tool also. I tend to put it out of reach and then pull it out when I need K to keep himself busy for a bit.  He's always glad to play with it.  We recently went on a car trip and the Scribble & Write kept him entertained for a long time.  Then his sister got a hold of it and doodled all over it for a long time.  She's only 14 months, but likes to do whatever big brother is doing.  Anyway, wanted to share with all my mom friends that this is definitely a toy worth buying, and runs just under $20 at Wal-mart or on Amazon.

Product Review: Parents Brand Toys

I really like the Parents brand toys; they are durable, clever, and entertaining.  We have a play cellphone, the Bee Bop Band, and the stacking buckets.  The cellphone can be a bit annoying because it makes sounds and plays music, "Please hit a different button!!".  But, it's so handy to have in the car, or at the store, or restaurant.  It keeps K entertained and is small enough to tote around.  You can also record your voice on it, and leave a message for your child.  That's K's favorite feature of his cell phone.

A great toy to keep kids busy when you're out and about.

The Bee Bop Band includes a clear plastic drum that holds the rest of the instruments.  It's so cute how everything is shaped to look like a bug of some sort.  They've also managed to incorporate the letters ABC into the toys.  This is a toy that I like to put away for a while and then reintroduce when we're in the mood to be goofy and musical.  We turn up the music and play along.  The drum tends to be the favorite, but also can be a trouble maker as the sticks are sometimes turned into mock weapons.  (Boys will be boys!)

Bee Bop Band, fun when you're in the mood to be loud and crazy.  Hide it if you want quiet!

I've saved the best for last; the stacking buckets are very cool.  Once the tower is built, it's about three feet tall.  Kids young and old enjoy playing with these.  Company always finds them fascinating and asks where we got them.  I purchased them, in January, for about $20 on Amazon.   Color sorting, identifying biggest to smallest, problem solving, cooperation, and sharing are some of the things K has learned from this toy.  Plus there are a number of ways you can build the tower or multiple towers.  Of the three Parents toys we have, I'd highly recommend the buckets.

A favorite toy at our house.  Worth buying.

Post Script: Wouldn't you know it, Amazon is out of stock!  I checked Target.com also with no luck.  My Google searches were fruitless.  I'm sorry that they don't seem to be available anymore.  However, if you find them at a garage sale or on Ebay, get them!  I found three alternatives on Amazon that you may like since the Parents stacking buckets are mysteriously not available: Nest & Stack Buckets by iPlay for about $15, or Toysmith Battat Sort & Stack Toy  for under $13.  An almost identical set to the Battat one is Megco's Carry Along Stacking Cups and Sorter Bucket for around $20.   We don't own any of these, but they look similar to our buckets and also have an added feature of a lid for the biggest bucket with cut outs to slip shapes, like stars and squares, into.  So they are stacking and sorting toys all in one.  The main attraction though is being able to build a tall tower, and all three brands seem to stack up to about three feet.  That's what makes them so much fun for kids, I think, and therefore worth purchasing.  If you own any of these brands, please give me some feed back.  Thanks!

Product Review: Little Tikes Shopping Cart

K loves his Little Tikes shopping cart.

Last year, K's grandparents got him a Little Tikes shopping cart for his 2nd birthday.  Next month we'll be celebrating his 3rd birthday.  So we've had the cart for almost a year, and he still plays with it almost daily.  He'll pile his favorite toys of the day in it and haul them around.  Lately, he's taken to flipping it over and using the red sloping part as a slide for his little trains.  However, the best entertainment with the shopping cart is playing chase.  One person pushes the cart, usually K.  The other person, most likely Mommy or Daddy, chases him and tries to throw a ball into the cart while running behind him.  It's very entertaining for everybody.  The cart is in great condition, nothing broken or falling apart.  It comes in a few different colors, but we went with gender neutral colors since K will eventually have a little sister.  It sells for around $27 on Amazon.  In my opinion, it's a toy worth buying.