Preschool Workboxes

I am thrilled with our new workbox system!  Here is what we have in our 

preschool workboxes today!

These Magnetic Color Cubes are great for attention to detail.  Plus, I love the printables made for these found here.

 

Lacing is always fun and helps with fine motor skills needed for writing.

I LOVE the Dick and Jane book because I grew up reading them! They are very helpful when wanting to reinforce sight words because they are so repetitive.  

This Shamrock file folder game really aids in CVC word families and decoding skills.

The simple game really boosted her confidence and she was so proud to know she was adding:)

Here is a picture she drew of some boots from the Kumon Drawing book.  After drawing, she really wanted to write about the picture by herself.  I did help with the spelling, but I do feel a little sad (and happy) to see her independence developing.

 She really enjoyed her butterfly craft with crumpled up tissue paper.  

 She liked making the cherrio bracelet and especially enjoyed eating it!

 She played with her Geo Safari talking Microscope.

Reading with Ruby Week #1

 I am starting a new series of posts that will be called "Reading with Ruby."  I have the privilege of helping my good friend's daughter learn to how read.  She is 5 1/2 and has shown all of the reading readiness signs needed to move forward.  She is:
*Familiar with print and books
* Recognizes most letters  (upper and lower case)
*Phonemically aware- knows the sounds that most letters make.  Leapfrog Letter Factory is GREAT for this!
*She is wanting to learn how to read.

I will be providing her with very specific and targeted instruction.  The instruction will consist of a balanced mixture of sight words and phonics.  She will be meeting with me two days a week for a few hours a day.  Although this time is structured and scheduled, it will still maintain flexibility to her needs and hopefully tons of FUN!!

Here is a look at week #1 activities:

First, I started with an informal assessment of letter recognition and letter sounds.  This assessment allowed me to target her instruction by recognizing her strengths and weaknesses.  You can get this assessment here.

I also gave her a sight word assessment which I made.  Although she only knew a couple of sight words, it gave me a good idea of where to start.

Then, I introduced Ruby to 6 sight words: look, see, funny, come, is, big. 

                                          

Next, we verbally reviewed all sounds that letters make.  I do this regularly with Audrey and Sophia.  The A says..ahh, the B says...b and so forth.  Again, I am a strong believer in the Leapfrog Talking Letters video!!  My video came with some flashcards or you can download some great homemade ones here.

Sight Word Songs: We sang our sight words to the tune of BINGO.  

There was a sight word for the day and funny was our sight word. 

 F-U-N-N-Y, F-U-N-N-Y, F-U-N-N-Y and funny was our sight word. 

I made some color by number sight word printables, which available to download.  

Ruby on the left, Audrey on the right.

Phonics: Ruby worked on the letters she missed on the informal assessment by playing starfall.com 

 Phonics: The girls took turns sounding out a 3-letter word and matching the picture with this file folder game.

Sight Words: We also worked on making our sight words with play-doh.  Since Ruby was having a little difficulty forming some of the letters, I lightly traced the letters on the table with a pencil.  It was easy to clean off and helped her with the correct formation of letters.  This was the girls favorite activity...and so easy!

Phonics: Word Slides  These are such wonderful resources because they are FUN to use and really reinforce the CVC patterns needed for emergent readers.

We started our Very Hungry Sight Word Caterpillar

Sight Word Tracing: look, see, funny, come, big, is (left)

Sight Word Practice: link here for printables.  (right)

I put these in sheet protectors so I could use them over and over again.  It just provides a little extra practice when introducing sight words.

Phonics: I had Ruby read the first book in the Bob Book Level 1 series: Mat.  She was able to decode most of the words and I could see her confidence building!  On Friday, we used the first book in series with our leapfrog frig magnets to find the 3 letter words (sat, mat, etc.)

I also had the girls take turns writing a letter from their sight words on the whiteboard.  For example, if the sight word is "funny," Ruby will write the f, Audrey will write the u and so forth.

The final result:)

I had the girls work on some beginning sounds worksheet found at Confessions of a Homeschooler.

The girls took turns reading a simple High Frequency Reader: School

 Ruby's mom, Brooke, will be working with her at home as well.  This week she will work on reading the first 3 books in the Bob Book series, practicing the 6 sight words for the week and reviewing letters sounds.

How I kept the little tot busy:)

Coloring

Farm Sound Puzzle

Chunky Puzzle

Peg Stackers

Sight Word Practice-You can
never start too early:)  Just kidding
She wanted to point to the words too:)

  

Linked up at Homeschool Creations, No Time For Flashcards, for more word play: 1+1+1=1

The Sight Word Caterpillar

This is a sight word caterpillar that I made for a little girl who I am teaching to read.  The caterpillar is VERY hungry and the more sight words he learns the BIGGER he grows!!  This goes great with our current caterpillar/butterfly study.

We have now included our sight word caterpillar into our Ready2Read units!

Butterfly Garden #2 with Printables

Here is an update on the progress of our caterpillars:

Growing bigger and bigger!

 We decided to look closely at the caterpillars and draw what we saw.  I even learned that it is NOT called caterpillar poo-poo, but "frass" is the official name!  Audrey drew what she saw in the jar and I labeled it for her.

 The girls LOVE looking at the caterpillars each morning.

 The other morning Audrey ran into her bedroom and came out with her video camera and cell phone!  Too cute:)

  

I LOVE this photo because it shows that some of the caterpillars have formed their chrysalis and a couple are still busy munching away at the food! 

Now THAT is incredible!! 

You can order your own butterfly garden on amazon here.  They are around $14 right now, which is a great price!

Here are a list of great resources to use with your butterfly garden:
Color the Caterpillar
Dot to Dot for the Very Hungry Caterpillar
Caterpillar Emergent Reader
Pre-Primer Sight Words for the Hungry Caterpillar
Story Props for Reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar
This and That also had some awesome resources!