The Trouble with "G"

Our letters this week were "G" and "H". Luckily, I went into it knowing that N didn't know her "G" sound. After reviewing some pictures with her, where only one sound was different (gown, down), I learned that she didn't have a clue that the /d/ and /g/ sounds were different! So, thanks to the help of a friend of a friend, we got started teaching the /g/ sound. I used a tongue depressor and held down her tongue as she tried to make the /d/ sound. After lots of giggles and then refusals to try, she was successful 3 times. And now she knows that the sounds are different. She doesn't like the tongue depressor method, so I hope that it serves as the needed impetus to get the /g/ sound going. After working on the /g/ sound, we did the "G" and "H" cut and paste pages from Homeschool Creations. N is getting the hang of them and seems to really enjoy them!

We read Elephants, a book that is in a series I just discovered at our library. The series, Animals I See at the Zoo, has very basic facts, in large print on one side of the page, with a large picture of the animal on the opposite side. They are perfect for toddlers/preschoolers! After reading the book, we talked about what elephants can do with their trunks, comparing it to what we do with our noses. Then N put colored, cut, and put together and elephant puzzle. She needed more guidance with it than I had expected, but did a pretty good job. Our last elephant activity was making and reading an Elephant mini-book.

Our math for the week was the Shape Book. When I put it together, I left out the cylinder and the cube. Even with those out, I figured that we'd get through maybe 5 shapes before N lost interest. Nope. We made it the entire way through. And she could have kept going. I'm amazed at her current interest in "making" books!

I introduced new words this week: cat, sad, bat, has, want. We're going to focus on the short /a/ words for a while. I put in want to show that there are exceptions to rules. We'll see if she gets it or if she gets confused. This first day with the words I got out the needed magnetic letters and she made the words with letters, then "read" them with her finger underneath.

And this week, we started Calendar. N LOVES it! We do it first thing after breakfast, even though school isn't until later. N counts the days already on our calendar, then chooses which comes next (I only give her 2 or 3 options). Then she changes our Today Is: sign. After that she checks the weather, and fills in the appropriate pictures on our weather chart that I laminated. Then we go over our schedule for the day. Our final activity is a mini-devotional. N chooses a picture from the Gospel Art Book, and I tell her the story that goes along with it. Usually, when the first story is done, she wants more. I know it won't last, but so far, it's great!