Ender has been learning about the musical alphabet for the past week. I made 8 sets of musical alphabet cards (A-G) about 2 years ago to supplement a few of my music students and the cards have become one of my most used games since they are so versatile and open ended.
I made the font big enough on the cards so that there were 4 letters on one page, and 3 letters and a blank space on the second page. I printed each set on a different color of cardstock (to help young children see each group of A-G as it’s own set) and laminated all the cards including the blank cards. I specifically chose to use the uppercase letters for these cards as a prequel to later music theory when we write major keys and chords using uppercase letters and minor keys and chords using lowercase letters.
I’ll be listing the games in sequence over the next few weeks as Ender learns the steps. The work should be used in this order and repeated until mastery is shown before moving to the next extension. The first few periods are easy and will be mastered after 2 or 3 times, but later steps can take up to several weeks for mastery. These games are intended for students who already know letters A-G (meaning they can identify them on sight and out of order) and have a fair understanding of what before and after mean. Many 3-year-olds are ready for this kind of work, but some are not. None of these activities are part of any Montessori album I’ve seen, but we include the cards on Ender’s Montessori shelves as a choice during his work period.
Part One
First, we work on identifying the letters. I lay out one set of alphabet cards in a row, in alphabetical order. I ask Ender to say them with me, starting on A. If your child hesitates anywhere, repeat the process as many times as it takes for them to know the letters in order with confidence.
After going through the letter names I hand Ender his own set of alphabet cards (different color) and ask him to line his cards up with mine- A under A, B under B, etc. After he has completed this portion I ask the question, “Do you know what happens after we get to G in the musical alphabet?” And his now-programmed response is, “we start all over again!” So we start with my letter A and say the musical alphabet through to G, then immediately start with his letter A and say the musical alphabet through to G again.
For the next step, I pick up both sets of alphabet cards and put one aside. I ask him to close his eyes and I mix the remaining set so that the letters are out of order. I lay them out in a row as if they are in order. When I ask him to open his eyes I ask him if he sees that cards are out of order. Ender says yes and I ask him to put them back in order from me, starting with A on the left. If he gets stuck anywhere, let’s say on finding the letter that comes after D, I will say, “A, B, C, D . . . what comes next?” to help him see that a problem solving strategy here would be to use the letters he already has in order to help him solve the problem. When he has successfully put them back in order, we cheer and say the letters in order aloud again, starting with A.
For the last step in this period, I lay the cards out in alphabetical order and again ask him to close his eyes. I remove one letter card, replace it with the blank card and turn that letter card face down. I ask Ender to open his eyes and I tell him, “one of the letters is missing. Do you see where the empty card is?” I ask him to tell me which letter is missing. If this is difficult I will again use the problem solving strategy of saying “A, B, C . . .” and tapering off just before the missing letter so that he realizes that the letters surrounding the blank card give him a clue as to what might be missing. If he answers incorrectly, I’ll say, “hmmm… I think I see that letter over here, so it can’t be that one . . .” and pretend that I’m thinking really hard about this problem too.
Once he comes up with the correct answer I show him the letter card that is turned face down, and SURPRISE! He’s correct!
Go visit Jen for more Quick Takes!
~1~
Ezra went for his 2 year well-child visit yesterday and we found out he has grown FOUR INCHES in 6 months. He’s closing in on his brother again! Ender needs to hit his next growth spurt or they’ll be in the same size clothes for awhile! The only concerns for Ezra are the trouble he’s had with congestion this year and his speech. He has gained some vocabulary over the last 6 months (I’d estimate he has between 30-50 words), but his speech is unintelligible to most people outside the family and some things we consider “words” are really just a sound we associate with a word. For example, until very recently he said “muh” for “milk” but because he used the same sound to mean the same thing every time we treated it like a word. (He now says mick for milk) His receptive language is excellent, so he’s not behind necessarily- just on the lower end of average. We will go back in 6 month for a re-check on his speech, but as long as he keeps acquiring language between now and then he should stay in the normal range.
~2~
After the doctor’s appointment yesterday we stopped in at one of my favorite thrift stores and walked out 2 vintage sheets and 2 very cool baskets richer. If you’re looking for storage for your Montessori materials or fabric or *whatever*, this is the way to acquire your baskets and trays!
~3~
I’m still working on the table tent- it has to be finished by tomorrow for the party, so guess what I’ll be doing this afternoon during naps and tonight after the boys go to bed? I thought I’d mostly finish it last night, but I spent most of the time messing with tension and all that in order to sew on the canvas. Thank goodness my mom doesn’t care if I call her after 10 p.m. (as long as it’s a sewing question!) So the tension is sorted out and the doors are sewn on- only the back and sides to attach, serging the seams (naptime portion of the sewing) and the hemming, which will take the evening.
~4~
Our new family game? Speed coloring. We all use the same piece of paper and take turns saying “fast” or “slow” and we all scribble fast or slow. There is a lot of color switching between speed changes, and it’s important to Ezra that we all use his new favorite medium: crayons. We haven’t ventured into markers with him yet, but he will LOVE them!
~5~
Today is a very special day. I’m getting a new stove! I hear that I’m getting one that actually has the same temperature in the back half as the front half so I don’t have to constantly rotate whatever I’m baking. And most importantly? Knobs on the top of the stove where little hands can’t get to them. Ezra figured out how to get through the knob lock a long time ago, so I’m very excited to not have to gate off the kitchen any longer.
(And in just a few weeks I’m getting a new dishwasher too. I can hardly contain my excitement!!!)
~6~
Ender has been working on learning the letters of the musical alphabet this week and we’ve been playing a lot of games with those letters. I’ll share some of our games on Monday!
~7~
I think I have a good handle on how I want preschool to look- taking some from Project Based Learning, keeping much of what has already been working for us with Montessori, and adding a few workbook pages in since that’s one of the things that Ender really likes. Our day will be set up on trays and in baskets in a traditional Montessori fashion, though there will be some things included that are not Montessori. The first part of our morning will be for this work and the second part of the morning will be for Ender to pursue whatever project he’d like to work on or for good old play time. I’m almost organized to start, so we’ll get back to a daily work period either this Monday or the next.
Want to meet my little friend from over the holiday weekend?
There she is- what a gorgeous purple sock. This is the Claudia Hand Painted Yarn I received for my birthday- 100% Merino Wool, fingerweight in Thistle. I cast on on June 29 and after the inch or so of k2 p2 ribbing it sat until Thursday when we started all the running. We were in the car so often over the weekend that I just left my knitting bag in there so I wouldn’t have to remember to bring it all the time. Imagine how much more sewing I’d get done if I could take my machine in the car!
Ender, announced yesterday at 9:30 a.m. that it was lunch time, despite having eaten breakfast only an hour earlier. I told him we would have a snack in awhile but it wouldn’t be lunch until later. He says, “but it is lunch time. Why else would I have this straw if it wasn’t lunch time?” Why else, indeed.
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A few nights ago I heard the usual “thump, thump, thump” that means Ender is hustling to the bathroom. He always calls for us if he needs help, but at least he’s starting to get used to the idea that he’s able to go on his own at night! Well, then I heard another thump, and more and then running back and forth in the tiny bathroom, so Superman went in to investigate. He came back in DYING laughing!
He found out that Ender had run out of toilet paper and when he got the new toilet paper he couldn’t figure out how to put it on the roll. In all the fumbling around Ender had dropped the new roll into the toilet, fished it out and dropped it in the trashcan, and was using a bath towel to clean up the mess from the floor when Superman walked in. Awesome. At least he was cleaning up after himself!
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Whenever Ezra is mad at me, he calls for everyone else to help him. “Daddeeee!” “Meeee-Meeee!” (Grandma) “Bop!” (Grandpa- we call him Pop, but Ezra calls him bop). Of course, I’m the only adult at home usually so no one else comes to his aid. He always looks so disappointed in them!
We’ve been doing an awful lot of corn shucking around here- we’ve been having corn on the cob for dinner more often than not lately and Ender loves to help. I know, I know- not strictly Montessori, but definitely practical life!
First, you have to get all the “green stuff” off:
Then you have to get “all those tiny little hairs!”
Can you tell that Ender leans toward the perfectionist side? He was determined to get every single bit off of the corn!
Happy birthday to our sweet Ezra. Ask him how old he is and he’ll say ”dooh!” (two!) with so much excitement he nearly falls over. The child can hardly contain himself! Ask him what he’s having for his birthday and he’ll say, “CARS!” so happy he starts to dance. The boy *loves* cars.
The party isn’t til Saturday, but today is the big day.
Happy birthday, little boy. We can’t call you baby any longer!
Visit Jen for more Quick Takes!
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My wonderful son Ezra has been getting up at 5:30 a.m. ALL WEEK LONG and waking several times at night. No apparent reason- he’s happy upon waking and doesn’t seem to need anything. But at 5:30 he is up for the day. The very long day.
~2~
There has been a lot of train building going on around here. The formations change almost hourly and both boys have their own ideas about how things should look. It’s been quite the exercise in sharing and teamwork!
~3~
I’m starting to read more about Reggio Emilia and project-based learning. If you want a place to get started Camp Creek is amazing. I’ve been reading there all week long along with otherReggio blogs. I’m going to have to go back and revise my Educational Influences post from last week!
~4~
We’ve had some hard news about Superman’s job. The short story is that the new contract is changing from 6 days with 10-12 hour days to 7 days with 12 hour days. Anyone who refuses will have their contracts pulled. On top of that this fall is his senior year and to graduate he’s taking 5 classes fall semester and 6 classes spring semester. He was having a hard time with getting his coursework done since they went to the mandatory 6 days a few months back, so now it will be nearly impossible. So we’re praying and Superman is looking for a new job.
~5~
Ender started his first project- animals. We have had plans to go to the zoo this morning all week long and when I reminded him of that last night he asked if he could take a clipboard and paper. I told him that was fine and he ran to pack it- he said he wants to write something down at he zoo. I’m curious to see what it is! I’m sure that will be the subject of a post to come.
~6~
The boys watched the movie Ice Age for the first time this week. Ezra is obsessed with Scrat. He laughs hysterically every time that little rat/squirrel comes on the screen and he gestures frantically and cries “Cur! Cur!” (squirrel! squirrel!) and then laughs again. He thinks real squirrels are hilarious too.
~7~
I’ll be offline much of the weekend working on projects, cooking and eating good food, and trying to convince Ender that fireworks are pretty to watch. We’ll see if this is the year he can handle the noise.
Ezra turns two very soon and I need to finish his gifts- pieces have been cut, but I really need to get sewing! The canvas is for a tent that will fit over our dining table, and the Cars fabric and red fleece are for a much-longed-for Cars blankie.
The other project for the weekend is re-organizing our poor living room shelves. In the last several weeks they’ve become stacks upon stacks, and something must be done.
I should probably do something about my sewing desk too . . .
Adding to the 2009 fiction list:
1. Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Cary
2. Kushiel’s Avatar by Jacqueline Cary
3. The Virgin’s Lover by Philippa Gregory
4. Undone by Rachel Caine
5. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
And the new additions:
6. Wideacre by Philippa Gregory
7. The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
I wouldn’t recommend Wideacre to anyone, although I’ve enjoyed all the other books by Philippa Gregory that I’ve read. This was my guilt book that I mentioned a few weeks ago. I have this horrible habit of finishing terrible books. Why do I waste my own reading time like that??? The Tale of Desperaux, on the other hand, was a great little read. Ender kept looking over at it on my night stand and asking if it was for him. I told him we would read it together someday.
I’m in the middle of Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey and up next after that is probably The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory- the new historical about Mary Queen of Scots. On my nightstand in waiting? Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier, Kushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline Carey and more Little House books.
In other reading news, Superman has been listening to some Agatha Christie in the truck while driving around for work. He’s not really a “mystery” kind of guy, but he’s taking a detective fiction class for an elective over the summer and what’s a detective fiction class without Agatha Christie?
Ender and Ezra have been listening to picture book after picture book the last few weeks as part of the summer reading program at our local library. For every 20 books they listen to they receive a free paperback from the library and they can each earn up to 5 paperbacks. When we go into the library I usually tell Ender he can pick 10 books (we check out 20 picture books at a time), and as we look through the shelves I guide his choices a bit, but for the most part let him pick what he likes. The last trip to the library resulted in a bag full of holiday themed books, so I’ve been getting a “Christmas in June” feel.
In non-fiction news, I’m still savoring A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, and reading through stacks of education books.
Go visit Jen at Conversion Diary to read more Quick Takes.
My mind has been taken up with planning this week - changes we need to make around our home to accomodate schooling, organizational tips, and how to keep track of the things we learn when we aren’t using many workbooks or “trackable” activities. My Seven Quick Takes are 7 things that have been hanging around in my head this week. Some are older posts that I had bookmarked for a time like this, but wow- excellent stuff!
~1~
Got boys? Read this: Homeschooling Boys.
~2~
Jennifer’s Learning Room and the Q&A that follows. A warning before you click over- the pictures are gorgeous, and I’m in awe of Jennifer’s organizational abilities. These pictures could be on the cover of Organize Magazine.
~3~
I’ve been recording our days in a simple composition notebook for awhile now, but I’m highly inspired by this journal at Camp Creek and another one at By Sun and Candlelight- I need to add pictures to our education journals to keep a more accurate record. So many of the things we do each day are lengthy to describe and adding pictures would be just the thing.
~4~
An article I stumbled across this week that reminds me why we choose this lifestyle: Nurturing Genius. I am a steward of my children and their potential.
~5~
I have long loved Dawn’s excellent collection of monthly themes that make a wonderful starting place for our homeschool plans. I think it’s important that schooling revolves around the changing of the seasons just as our adult lives do.
~6~
I marked this post by Jess at Color Me Orange quite awhile ago, but the pictures have stayed in the back of my mind. I’m certain that her great system of monthly boxes will help me to stay focused. One thing I know about myself- if I have to collect items from all about the house every day for our work time I just won’t do it. If I get everything together in a pretty box at the beginning of the unit we’ll be just fine. I feel a box-making project coming on!
~7~
I love Dawn’s Seasonal Planners too. I pretty much heart every single organizational thing that Dawn comes up with.
