It's summer time but the kids still long for study time! Well then, ibigay ang hilig hehehe :)
I purchased some Jolly Phonics materials during last year's Manila International Book Fair but we haven't actively used them. Sure - the Jolly Phonics songs were on repeat since September of 2016 and we had fun singing to it with the matching actions suggested by the book. But the "big" book was kept away for a while; bacause personally, I felt it was really a bit too early to focus on teaching how to read at only 2.5 years old. Add to that the fact that Z was still "coloring-averse", if there ever was such a term. She learned the basic phonics sounds, though, so I guess that's a great start! :)
Today we tried to do some sheets from the big Jolly Phonics book. It's good that the publisher allows personal reproduction (of some sections) so we photocopied a few Jolly Phonics sound sheets for today's activity. If you look at a single sheet, it looks quite basic but that's exactly what we need right now. Of course, it depends on us how we will maximize the use of the sound sheets. I think it works great whether we use it in its simplicity or complement it with other homeschooling tools/activities.
Here are a couple of sheets to show you what it's like:
At the side it shows Upper- and Lower-case "s". Inside the box we see the hand action of weaving into an "s". On the main part there's an image of a snake curled into the letter, and some tracing practice below.
On the preceding page are some helpful bits on teaching the letter sound. It has a storyline you can share with the child and reinforces the action and letter formation. For advanced toddlers, you can use the blending instruction. And for those looking for something extra, they have the extension activities.
There's also the 'further phonics' box which is actually a teaching note for teachers. It helps ensure that we are teaching the correct phonics sound.
At only 3 years old and 3 months, I don't want to complicate our homeschooling life. Just something that will be educational & fun. Nothing too heavy, or pushy. Light & engaging activities and tools are what we prefer for this particular season of homeschooling. So we just reviewed the letter sound and had fun singing the song with the matching snake movement of our hand.
Tune: The Farmer in the Dell
The snake is in the grass
The snake is in the grass
/sss/! /sss/!
The snake is in the grass
Action: Weave your hand in an 's' shape, like a snake, and say ssssss.
And then I asked if she wished to color the snake. Totally okay if she did not want to, but I was surprised that not only did she agree, she also had a 'vision' of how she wanted it to look. A rainbow snake!
I love how she uses her imagination! I'm also just too glad to see her working on patterns, color/art appreciation and the simple act of practicing how to hold a pen...or a crayon in this instance. As for me? I'm happy I got to "let go" a bit on this one. It's tempting to dictate how the output should look like but I guess there is value in allowing her to work on colors pleasing to her. Ditto on not forcing her to color within the lines and not encouraging the opposite as well. ---> I don't mean for this to be controversial, just that my daughter is not yet physically ready for that, so I don't force the issue :) Although, it's quite tempting talaga hehe..
The kids ended their morning play with... more play! They had a "Guess the Letter" contest facilitated by their Angkong, using the Jumbo Bananagrams. And later on, continued with D as the teacher and Z as the student.
If you look close enough, Z's picture is blurred because she kept jumping up and down all throughout the game! Very clearly, these kids don't have energy gap! Hahaha... :)
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