When I was little I loved mad libs because creative writing was a favorite past time of mine and madlibs allowed me to play around with silly writing topics and ideas that were fun to read to others. They were great for learning parts of speech as well.
But today, I want to encourage you to get your little one to “write” stories, letters, or poems by filling in the blanks of incomplete sentences in their own way.
My sister shared the following poem that my brother completed years ago before mad libs even existed. It is different from a mad lib because you don’t choose the words beforehand; you fill in the blanks of incomplete thoughts which is more age appropriate for little ones.
Here are a couple Fun with writing templates for you; made by me:
I have been waiting and waiting for the chance to write to you about an extremely cool teaching tool for literacy that is one of my new “favorite things!” The Bookworm is a switch-adapted device by AbleNet that is used to turn nearly any book into an interactive listening book. It conveniently hooks onto the back cover of any book and is easy to use once it is set up.
When I first received the Bookworm in the packaging I was intimidated at how high-tech it looked, but after watching the tutorial video, it made all too much sense. It is so practical (and fun!) to record each page while using the corresponding stickers provided with the Bookworm materials.
Sean Patrick listens to mommy singing ABC's in "The GunnyWolf"
Children learn and practice so many skills by spending time alone with a book that has the print recorded. Of course you want to model reading these books first, but then your little one will know how to follow along and can process so much this way. I had a listening center in my classroom and now I have one in my home thanks to the Bookworm! Here’s an idea of SOME of the skills your little one COULD be practicing with a bookworm:
~Demonstrating understanding of book and print concepts
~Following along with print and a story line being read aloud
~Processing information read orally
~Building oral vocabulary
~Developing Reading Comprehension
In addition to the educational aspect I have some “happy mommy” bonus features:
You can plug in some headphones and occupy your little one at church, in the car, in waiting rooms, and other places when or if you want to “keep the peace.” I have been recording ABC books, Number books, Color Naming Books, Rhyming Books, and Shape Books because that is the oral vocabulary I am currently working on with my son, but you might want to record books that focus more on reading comprehension….you decide! 🙂
Grandparents pay tons of money to personalize and record their voices on just one book, but now you can maximize the effect with an instrument that has the memory to record several books.
If you think this device is cool, you have got to check out the AbleNet online store! They have SO many resources that accommodate to so many learning styles. I am glad I found out about AbleNet!
My friend came in town this weekend and we had a good mommy chat about what a typical day looks like for each of us stay-at-home moms, and even what our day looks like when our husbands get home. It got me thinking…most of us just kinda fly by the seat of our pants when it comes to our agenda for each day. If we don’t have a doctor’s appointment, a trip to the gym, or something penciled in, then we are kind of aimless with our kids. We cross our fingers and hope that they will play independently most of the day leaving us room to tick off some “to do’s” from our checklists.
You may remember the post For Parents Who Like Routine and Sanity – well, today is a SIMPLE way to follow a daily agenda. I have been making a mini “schedule” for Sean Patrick for some time now and I wanted to share it with all my mommy teachers out there who might find it useful.
In my classroom I had a time-segmented schedule similar to the example in For Parents Who Like Routine And Sanity but here, at home, I have a list of things on our “agenda” for the day, and I have no expectations for the duration of any one activity, but I PLAN activities ONCE a week that I will do every day for the whole week. I will repeat the activities every day so my little one will really have time to process and practice everything he is learning.
Here is an OVERVIEW of all the things that Sean Patrick and I try to accomplish each given day in which I “plan” mini activities for (specific activities not included):
Here is a simple daily agenda from my Notes on my iphone to have at my fingertips all day.
A schedule seems rigid for a young one at home, but some form of routine is so nice in order for your day to be predictable and intentional; making room for tons of learning opportunities.
I am NOT fancy; simple is more doable for everyone 🙂
Here is a SIMPLE activity to practice counting, comparing, and using a chart/table to record information.
You may notice that I went with “take one” here haha. I have a reason for that, I am not trying to impress film-makers or people who give presentations regularly. I am a mommy teacher myself and I am just sharing ideas from one mom to another and I want it to be as authentic as possible 🙂
However, I did forget to mention one thing in the video! If your little one doesn’t know which number is greater or smaller then there are ways to help them figure this out….turn the activity into another teachable moment:
Show your little one a number line and explain that one is the smallest number amount and the amount grows as the numbers get higher. Show your little one using skittles or something they would rather have the greater number of. So, would you rather have 1 skittle or 2 skittles….probably the pile with MORE skittles! And then explain that 12 skittles is more than 11 skittles. I will write a post soon about how to teach more or less so that your little one will gain experience with comparing quantities 🙂
Cootie was one of my favorite games as a kid and is now one of James’ favorite too! By rolling the die, you get to add different body parts to your cootie bug! Whoever builds his/her bug first, wins! Though Cootie is the original, there are a series of Cootie Games for your little one to play, including Don’t Break the Ice, Ants in the Pants, and Don’t Spill the Beans! These games go for as low as $3.99! Collect them all!!!
Pre-School Learning Skills
Counting (Cootie)
Body parts (Cootie)
Fine motor skills (All games)
Hand-Eye coordination (Ants in the Pants)
Balance (Don’t Spill the Beans, Don’t Break the Ice)
Spacial/Structural Awareness (Don’t Break the Ice)
Taking turns (All games)
Imaginary play (ditch the rules and let them play!)
