Letter F is for Flash

Letter F is also for Ferb! Our learning board got a lot of Phineas and Ferb love. (1+1+1=1)

Flash coloring... lots of coloring.

I love the dot sheets for learning the shapes of letters, but Bobo doesn't like to use the dot painters very much. He used yellow and red finger paints this week to make a Flash inspired letter set.

Markers are another favorite medium. Look at that crazy hair! The best part of homeschool is getting to wear costumes and NOT brushing your hair.

Epsom salt tray for letter practice. I put all the letter activities we do each week in a fire box. We are still loving the tag system for learning phonics.

Letter F review. We didn't watch any youtube videos this week, but did enjoy some Phineas and Ferb episodes on Netflix.

Shared with Tuesday Tots.

D is for Daredevil

The usual suspects:

Sorting capital/lowercase magnets

Practice letter shape with Crayola monster flashcards

Color weekly superhero

Leapfrog flashcard D (for drum)

Play dough

Letter worksheets from Raising Rockstars

Honestly, I couldn't find much for Daredevil, so I also looked for Dash sheets from the Incredibles. There wasn't anything out there that I could find. Note to all you tech savvy mama's: Please make an Incredibles Preschool Pack! Instead, I chose to use the materials we already had on hand. We've used the DC sticker books in the past, but I found this Dinosaur sticker book to use this week. Bobo worked on the parts of T-Rex and the life cycle of a dinosaur.

We made dinosaurs out of Play-Doh and letter Ds.

We have a large collection of coloring and activity books, so I pulled out the How to Train Your Dragon one. The riddle activity was Bobo's favorite. 

We attempted to watch the Daredevil movie with Jennifer Garner (I just started watching Alias on Netflix!!!), but we couldn't get through it. We didn't even make it to Elektra's appearance.

Our favorite video of the week is "Dee Doodley Do" from the StoryBots.

Shared with TGIF.

ABC Review

In January, Bobo learned letters A, B and C. The last week of the month will be a review week. 

I set up his white board for letter recognition review.

He used his Leapfrog flashcards to help identify the beginning sounds of his figures. He did insist on putting Captain America with the Avengers instead of the letter C like I expected. He said Cap has an A on his mask, so he should go with the letter A. I couldn't argue with that logic.

A for Avengers craft

We played a game with the exercise ABC flashcards. Bobo rolled the large cloth alphabet block with the letters A, B, C and the numeral 1. He identified the symbol, then did an action associated with it.

B is for Batman craft

I finally put together some letter crafts. I want to make sure the letters are bold and easily identifiable. The cutesy ones where the letter becomes a shape, like animals, are not what I'm looking for at the moment. I think those will come later when we go through the alphabet again. 

C is for Captain America (real shield)

The C craft is missing the letter because Bobo did not want to "ruin" his "real" shield. He modeled the colors of the shield from his Captain America costume. I still haven't come up with an alternate letter C craft. Maybe he can decorate the letter C with star stickers?

C is for Captain America

Captain America and Catwoman are all I've got! Bobo said Catwoman is a villain, so we can't use her. We found the Cap in pre-writing sheets, coloring, same/different and mazes. Bobo stamped some letter Cs. He also used his Leapfrog flash cards and letter magnets.

Painting yellow cars with a Cars stencil (on yellow paper, LOL).

Bobo did great with the letter C for identification. I didn't get into the copycat sound of the letter S too much. A video we watched did talk about it. We are going through the alphabet at a leisurely pace while his interest lasts.

I didn't take many pictures this week (now several weeks ago). We did find a wonderful video for the letter C!

Sharing with Learn & Link, Preschool & Kindergarten Corner, 

B is for Batman

B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b,
B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b,
BATMAN!

Silly Putty letter B

I like introducing the letter of the week through a Youtube video. They have catchy songs that are easy to remember with the letter's sound. Then, we follow that up with the Leapfrog Tag flashcard and song. We looked through Bobo's collection of coloring books for characters who start with the letter B.

We found Batman, Black Cat, Black Widow and Ben 10. While doing this, Bobo found his DC sticker book. It has lots of fantastic learning pages that are re-usable. After a couple of times using the stickers, they've begun to lose the stickiness. I'm trying to brainstorm ways to save them, maybe laminating or contact paper.

Foam letters, Batman size sort, Pom magnet

We worked on letter direction by using the foam magnet letters. Bobo is loving the magnet board lately. He also sorted his Ben 10 confetti, which I covered with contact paper. We played basketball and bounced a ball.

Bobo is back in love with play dough! Letter B is proving to be somewhat of a challenge to write, so we did lots of writing activities.

And lots of puzzles...

I wanted to do a Bubble experiment for our science this week, but we just didn't get to it. On Sundays, I test  Bobo with a book my mom had from my preschool days. He asked to find the letter A's, too. I like adding on letters and talking about the previous lessons. I think we'll do three letters and review the fourth week.

Check out my sidebar for Superhero ABCs for all the printables we use each week. We watched Batman (1966) as our family movie of the week. This is our favorite scene of the movie.



Sharing with Learn and Link, PreK and K Corner.

Letter A books for Avengers Assemble

I've been planning on teaching the alphabet to Bobo through his favorite topic, super heroes. When I saw these books, I thought the Avengers would be a great place to begin.

We recently received this new series of books based on the television program The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. We've already seen all the episodes, so it's good review to read the books. I also had Bobo identify the letter A's as we read as he already knew the story.

Iron Man is always the Avenger Bobo chooses first. This is the story of Tony Stark as Iron Man. It has lots of action and introduces Hydra, the bad guys.

And my favorite avenger is Thor. It helps that he has the best powers on Super Hero Squad (Wii), but I also love the folk lore in his stories. I have always been an avid reader of Greek and Roman mythology. Loki is the villain of this tale.

We also read the rest of the series available. It is an enjoyable series with action and favorite characters.
Sharing with the Children's Bookshelf and Read Aloud Thursday and Read Learn Explore.

A is for Avengers Assemble

Bobo's lettter "A" learning wall. I'm playing with learning the alphabet in order. As a librarian, I have a hard time doing it any other way. Luckily the first two letters are also in his name. Anyway, A for Avengers is a perfect place to begin with interest!

Sorting capital and lowercase

Science- Alka seltzer

1/3 water + 2/3 oil + food coloring + Alka seltzer

Pre-writing letter with sensory bag

Amazing Spider-Man printing

Tag reader Letter A

Stamping- Big A vs Little a

Finger painting

All of these printables came from 1 + 1 + 1 = 1's Alphabet Printables & More page. I found the Spider-Man Letters book at the Dollar Store. We have a large collection of coloring books to pull from as well. To introduce the letter, I put on several videos from youtube. This one was Bobo's favorite.



Sharing with the Kid's Co-Op and Preschool Corner.

Tot School (Age Four)

Beginning sounds alphabet puzzle. We worked on it together practicing the sounds.

Memory match game. The illustrations in this game remind me of Sandra Boynton books.

Rhythm instruments. Bobo's been showing interest in Daddy's band practice, so this tray was a favorite.

Power Ranger Trouble. Great activity for counting and fine motor skills.

Create a snowman sticker set. The sheets came with several options and said re-usable, but I'm not sure they will come off easily. 

Letter Fish lacing. This tray was used least. Bobo used the rope for imaginative play with his figures more than anything.

Storytime has been on break for a month, so we brought home a kit for Jungle Animals from the library. The directions say to read the books, listen to the music and make a paper-chain snake.

I share with Tot School and Tuesday Tots.

Tot School: Math and Imaginative Play

Computer station

We are slowly working our way back into scheduled learning. We are still spontaneous with our play and activities in many respects, but I want to be sure we are learning the skills Bobo will need to start school and be ready to read. His fourth birthday is coming up, after all!

Educational television program

When Bobo wakes up, he has independent choice time. So far, I've given him the option of computer time, television time or V-tech Smile play time as these are things he can do on his own. He played Elmo's A to Zoo Adventure, which we checked out from the library. Some of the letter games are too challenging, at this point. He did better with the shape and color games. Bobo is a huge fan of The Magic School Bus shows, so we check out several each week. I think he's over Sesame Street at this point.

After breakfast, we head outside usually in pajamas. We have lots of active toys that I think are better suited to outdoors play like bowling, wiffle ball, frisbee and basketball. Bobo thinks they work inside as well.

Then, we work together on Tot Trays. With our trays, I'm focusing on an area of study with each one. For instance, these counting cubes are paired with dice and number puzzles and fall under the Math category. This is the first time Bobo tried any patterning, which he did without any prompting. Then, he built a transformer, lol.

Look closely. It's a robot in disguise!

Last Bobo has choice time with an emphasis on literacy. He can choose library time, book making or a book activity.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears finger puppet set.

It's definitely a work in progress, but I know Bobo appreciates it. He told me yesterday, "Mama, doing projects is my job." Of course, later on he told me, "Mama, playing video games is my job."