I don't believe I ever read this book as a child but I bought my 3 year old her own copy and I was so excited to dive in and learn and play with this book, together! So, if you aren't aware from previous posts, Ellie is not learning her alphabet traditionally. But we are homeschoolers, right? And that's the beauty of homeschool, to do things in a way that you research and know to be more successful and at the pace of your child. Ellie is learning her alphabet phonetically, first. In August this year, she will be doing the curriculum, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." My sister homeschools her kids and has done this with all four of them and all four children were able to read thoroughly and completely by themselves by age four. I hope the same will be for Ellie, not because I'm rushing her, but because learning the alphabet phonetically is actually factually proven to be the most successful and logical way to learn to read. After the phonetics are taught and the curriculum is finished, then you teach the ABC song and all the stuff we did growing up in public school. So when reading this book, I didn't call it the "ABC" bunny, I called it the "Ah, Buh, Cuh" Bunny. Seems so silly, I know, but it is wildly successful and logical and proven so. And, we read the book this way too speaking each letter phonetically.
Our bible verse for the week with this book was Psalm 96:12 - "Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them, let all the trees of the forest sing for joy."In the book, there in the first page, is sheet music with lyrics and notes for the "ABC Song!" This book has it's own song! Precious. Sadly, I was gifted with no musical talents and so while I own a piano, I cannot play. My mom, sister, and brother in law and their kids can play and so they use my piano for recitals when visiting. I will get Ellie in piano lessons in a couple of years. I can play "Hot Cross Buns..." Haha!! Anyway, because I sadly cannot properly play my own piano, I "youtube-d" this song for us to listen to and dance to. So cute.
We got into the kitchen one morning and made bunny pancakes. We used a mix of coconut flour and almond flour so they look a little different than you may be used to, haha! We used a slice of banana for the bunny tail! That was the first thing Ellie ate! She loves making pancakes into fun shapes and characters. She got to practice her measuring, counting, and kitchen skills.
Ellie has a bunny hood blanket which she enjoyed wearing for the story time at breakfast after bible time.
On a nature walk...because, ummm, hello gorgeous 60-73 degree weather days here in South Carolina this week!!...we were playing at the dock on the lake, messing around in the dirt, and playing with rocks and sticks. We found a stick that looked like a "Yuh" (Y), and then we decided to make Ellie's name together using sticks and a rock! We formed each letter and sounded each out phonetically.
Games!!! We played some games because learning through playing and movement is the best! Scientifically proven.
I made up one game I called, "Hop to it!" I printed and laminated the 26 letters of the alphabet in uppercase. I later did the same in lower case as well. I laid out 9 letters at a time in the den well spaced. Ellie began the game by choosing a letter to start on, then, as I would call out a phonetic letter, Ellie would hop to it like a bunny! She LOVEDDDDD this! She also wanted to run, skip, hop on one foot, and chomp like an alligator to the letters. We rotated through all 26 letters. I also let her "teach mommy" by telling me which letter to hop to. Then we also did a round of doing it together and racing to the letter I called out. Sometimes she needed a little help because she IS learning the letters and this was a fun, non-stressful way to learn by playing. I tell her, "It's ok if you don't know, I can help you, and then you will know!" She likes this boost of confidence and that it's okay to make mistakes. And the playfulness of it keeps her interested and excited!
Another game we played actually came from our "Homegrown Preschooler: A Year of Playing Skillfully" curriculum. ABC action cards. We played these last week together actually so it was easy to slip this game in before dinner. I lay out 26 cards each with a letter on one side with an action that begins with that letter. What a great way to play, move, and learn. We played the game only one time last week, and immediately she could pick up a card this week and TELL ME what the card said because she could remember the letter and the action because she was playing, and not sitting and having information crammed in her head like in public school settings. I was really impressed. So, if you don't use the aforementioned curriculum, I'm sure you can easily sit down and type up and come up with your own ABC action cards, cut them out and laminate them and play the game.
For another game, we played, pin the tail on the bunny. I printed out and laminated an outline of a bunny. I put a piece of thick tape on a flat round button, spun Ellie around and around, then with her eyes closed, I had her stick the button tail to the bunny's bottom. This was hilarious. This is also excellent for vestibular development.
While not healthy, for lunch one day, we totally had to get Ellie the alphabet "Spaghetti O's," and I'm so glad I did because it was such a fun time for her to pick out letters she saw on her spoon and in her bowl while she ate.
One night at bath, Ellie had an alphabet bath! She has magnetic foam alphabet toys which we played with in the tub. We called out the phonetic when she plucked one from the bubbles. Bath time is always fun around here and these letters just add to the fun and our theme! Perfect!
Ellie has a magnet board which she can write on and she has alphabet magnets. We played with them on the board. I let her move them around and discover with them, talk about them, and discuss them. Exploration is so key to education and learning!
We made a storm in a jar to go along with the storm in the story! A science experiment. So fun! We put cool water 3/4 full in a glass jar, topped off the water with white foam shaving cream, then using blue food dye (for rain - but could use any color of course) Ellie dripped the "rain" through the clouds and watched it "rain" in the jar!
Go along books read this week:
