Don’t get too excited…I am posting because I need your help!
This baby is not really on the “done” side of things. It is most certainly a work in progress and I like stopping in the middle to hear from you guys. You all are a lot smarter than me so I wanted to show you what I had so far {a couple of freebies} and then ask what you would change or add.
This is what we do in our everyday professional lives. We talk to each other. We gather ideas from each other to help each other better our teaching. If you aren’t doing that, then may I suggest you make that a goal for your up-coming school year. If you don’t have a team to bounce ideas off of, get on blogs! There is so much collaboration happening!
I have parents ask me all the time, “What do I need to be working on with my child?”. They all want their kids to be prepared! Most of the time, I just answer with ,”Read to them, practice counting, and letter sounds”. I think that oral fluency has been lost on some parents because they are so worried about their child coming to Kindergarten behind.
I created this because people want something they can “have”. Telling parents to practice letters and numbers is a bit arbitrary. Us teachers have a whole bag of tricks that we can pull from. I created this with parents in mind. It could also be used in a 4-5 year old pre-school classroom. These are skills that we like for students to have been introduced to {different than mastered} when they come to Kindergarten.
Here are some previews of what I have so far:
Color practice pages: For all of the colors, the student has to pick the three objects and color the pictures that match the color. They leave the one picture that isn’t purple {in this case, the lion} blank.
Alphabet practice pages: For all letters A-Z students color or circle the pictures that match the beginning sound.
Number Practice: I wanted to do a lot more with these, but I tried to keep it simple. I have a hard time with that sometimes 🙂
I am also going to add some name writing practice, fine motor ideas, and sight word practice activities. For the practice pages, you have to sit down with your child and/or student and talk them through it. Use counters or objects around your house when you are talking about numbers. When driving in the car, have your child find objects that start with a certain letter or play an old fashion game of “I Spy”. Find ways to integrate learning in to their everyday lives.
Now, here is your turn to put forth some ideas for what you might like to see in this unit before it gets posted. Leave a comment and enter for a chance to win the final product!
Your stuff is all really cute. I teach first but there’s a ton of stuff I can use in your store!
I didn’t even think about it being an RTI type of tool. You could use this in first with your kiddos that are needing some extra practice for sure 🙂
This looks great! Maybe you can add some basic counting/adding practice? Love it!! 🙂
Will do! Thank you!
I always love some sort of name activity – maybe rainbow write their name or write each letter in a box, cut and mix-up, then fix it up and glue it on a paper.
Thanks!
Connie
Cute idea! I will add it!
I would really like to see something that has them talking about the difference betweena letter,number and words and maybe having to count them.
Excellent idea!
Hi! I love this idea! So many parents ask for ideas and many kids need the extra practice! Maybe add shapes? Also, I like the last paragraph you wrote about being involved with the kids as they learn. Maybe a “tips for parents” sheet with a list of ideas like “I Spy”, using pennies/counters, finding things that start with… Can’t wait to see the finished product:)
A tip sheet for parents is a great idea…thanks!
I absolutely love your emphasis on colors…that is exactly what we teach at the beginning 🙂
Shapes would be one idea.
Name activities that focus on letters in students names and recognizing name.
This looks great! How about some phonological awareness stuff? Parents don’t think about oral language word play until it is too late (8+.) Like a few pages where the parent & kid work together on things like segmenting, blending, identifying initial sounds/final sounds, counting words in a given sentence, counting syllables, etc…
Just a thought!
~Andi
Maybe include a place to practice writing their first name correctly (capital letter followed by lowercase letters)? I’m amazed each year when I get ones that still write in all uppercase letters, even after attending Pre-K. I like the idea of a “tip sheet” as mentioned above. Maybe on that sheet include some tips for helping beginning readers (i.e. letting them sound out a word before correcting them immediately). Cute idea! Would be great to give to Pre-K parents to practice over the summer!
Super cute!!! Handwriting practice pages to work on letter formation. That is always something that needs extra attention with my students because many of them have not picked up a pencil before coming to kindergarten.
I am excited about your new product!
I really like the idea of parents and kids working together!! I love all the ideas that people shared. Maybe some rhyming activities. Thanks!
I love this pack! I think I would add something with name recognition
This is fantastic! I second the name practice page.
I love that you are making this packet. I will be teaching K EIP next year. This will be an awesome RTI resource. I spend a good bit of time on names at the beginning of each year. So, maybe some activities on each child’s name. Rhyming?
I really like this packet. I agree with the name practice pages and some phonological awareness things.
How about some patterning?
Maybe adding shapes (basic 5- square, circle, triangle, rectangle, hexagon)
This looks awesome. I plan on getting this pack for sure.
I love your creations. I have bought many of your items and they are great for my kinders!
Can you add items where they circle or make an X on the item that is different in a group of four? That really helps with visual discrimination.
Maybe you can add some visual discrimination. They have to mark the different item in a row of four items.
Fine motor things. Kids are so involved with tv and video games that is becoming a lost pr forgotten skill.
ALL of these ideas are great; we DO make a great team when we work together!! I especially like the idea that the parents can “HAVE” something to work with their munchkin; this is wonderful. I second (or fifth, whatev) the idea of ‘name’ activities. Unless that could be a whole ‘nother packet… you did say you wanted to keep it simple. Keep up the great work!
I would like to see an option with D’Nealian font because we teach that style of handwriting at our school 🙂
This is looking fantastic! I agree with many of the other suggestions. I would like to see a name activity, shapes and handwriting. Thanks for creating such great products.
~Laura
how about rhyming? (it’s one of the things we assess in the fall)
thanks!
I love this packet. The only thing I would add is a version in Spanish, I have lots of parents that are Spanish speaking.
I LOVE this! I totally agree that parents need something to take home. This makes it very clear. Good job! 🙂
A suggestion: Maybe add some typically well-known nursery rhymes that parents can practice reciting with the child. Once the rhyme is well known, they can practice pointing to each word. (Works on Concept of Word, huuuuge for Kindergarten!) Keep up the good work!!