Writing Practice

Creative Writing

Just a few days ago, I re-discovered my creative writing folder from my childhood and I LOVED this:

Rebus books that use pictures in place of words are usually for beginners to focus on a minimal amount of words on each page and use pictures as well as words within the print so that a beginner can see that words and pictures BOTH communicate meaning. That is one reason why I loved this creative “stamp story” (as I call it) because I was trying to tell a story using the stamp characters I had.

This would be such a fun writing activity for you to work on with your little one! If your little one is not yet “writing” – allow them to dictate the story to you and help you “write” when they can. You can substitute stamps with whatever you have in your house…..stickers, pictures (cut up double of family members and pets), magazine cut outs, etc.

This activity has so many possibilities that I would love for you to SHARE what you and your little one come up with on The Mommy Teacher Facebook Page

September 29, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

What’s Missing?

Children can be really good at “rote” memory – they can sing their ABC’s all day, but that doesn’t always mean that they know their alphabet inside and out.

It is also very common for a little one to mistake a letter for a number or a number for a letter.

So, I made these ABC and 123 sentence strips using di-cut letters (hand-written looks just as good) so that I can help my little ones use their ABC skills to figure out which letter OR number is missing from the alphabet/counting order.

This is an activity that you want your little one using their problem solving skills to figure out. So, don’t fuss if they sing their ABC’s to get to the letter in order to figure it out (that is a resource for them). This is good practice for your little one to start recognizing letters and numbers with increasing observation.

I have made another FREEBIE for you, a printable for your little ones to practice as well. It is a fill in the blank of upper and lower case letters and one fill in the blank of counting. These are activity sheets with only ONE letter/number missing at a time. But I will make two letter, and three letter missing fill in the blanks soon. So, for now, start with the freebies below and see how well your little one can fill in those blanks! 🙂

ABC fill in the blank

123 fill in the blank

September 13, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

Simple Number Search Round 2

The other day I posted a template of the numbers 1-5 so that your little one could carefully concentrate on, and color, one number at a time. Well, I wasn’t lying when I told ya I’d post numbers 6-9 soon, and I even threw in “0” just because I love ya!

So, here are the simple number search “puzzles”:

Simple Number Search 6-9,0

If you didn’t get a chance to read the first Number Search Post for a little more explanation and directions- click HERE

And just a reminder….the “answer sheet” will look something like this:

September 8, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

Magna Doodles of Fun

I usually like to write about activities that you can make using household materials and if household materials are only part of the material list then I usually like to suggest very cost-efficient means of getting the materials you need, but I LOVE writing tools like this one from lakeshore learning:

The magna doodle is $8.95….it’s the practice cards that get pricey, but there are so many different skill sets that you can accomodate to your little learner and just buy the practice cards that would be great skills for your little one to work on. And you don’t HAVE to buy the practice cards, you could always print activity sheets similar to the ones you like onto laminate paper and rig them onto the magna doodle 🙂

HERE is where you can purchase the lakeshore magna doodles and alphabet practice cards; simply search the site for the other skill set practice cards.

August 19, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

Pencil Grip

I don’t know if I have ever gone over one of the most important lessons on handwriting that you can have with your little one, but if I have, here is a refresher…
Teaching your little one the proper pencil grip is so important for their writing development. Using the tripod grasp must be learned and practiced over and over before the fine motor skills and coordination are developed and it becomes habitual. So, because I don’t need to reinvent the wheel, I am going to point you to simple resources where you can read about AND watch a little instructional video on HOW to teach your little one to hold a pencil properly. Let me know how it goes 🙂

1. READ THIS ARTICLE by clicking here

2. Watch this video:

August 8, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments