Letter of the Week Totschool Series: G, H, and I

There are 26 letters in the alphabet. These letters made up the words we read, speak, and hear. But do you know that you and your kids can actually have 26 weeks of arts, crafts, exploration, activities, and, most important of all, fun with the 26 letters of the alphabet?

Come and join me and my little Queen B in discovering how fantastic the letters of the alphabet could be as I share to you our Letter of the Week Totschooling Series. Today, I’m sharing what we have done for Letters G, H, and I.

But before we proceed, some reminders are in order. We officially started our Totschool when our little Queen B was only 18 months of age so our activities were what I deemed appropriate for her age and skills set. Since every child learns and develops at their own pace, your kid may or may not be capable of doing the same activities. Likewise, your little tyke may also be capable of doing so much more. So it is your job, parents, and caretakers, to continuously observe and take note of your children’s skills and interests so you can adjust the activities to their level. Of course, every now and then, let us challenge them into doing something advance. As I continuously experience, they might just surprise you.

Also, in our case, we have done the Letter of the Week Totschooling Series without expecting that my little Queen B will learn the alphabet. Up to this day, she can’t recognize a single letter which is totally fine with me. So our activities are also not geared towards the memorization of the letters. 

Week 7: Letter G

Books of the Week:

We love our G books! We have two Margaret Wise-Brown books; the classic favorite Good Night Moon and Good Night Bunny which is a good book to let our children practice their counting skills. Hmmm, my little Queen B is now enjoying counting. Maybe it’s time to bring out this book again.

My little Queen B loves the Curious George series as she shares as her nickname the name of the titular character George. Also, any kid can relate with George with his curiosity that most of the time creates trouble. Well, there are many lessons that can be learned from his adventures.

It was only recently that I was able to find a copy of Guess How Much I Love You from the nearest Booksale. Back then, what we had is Guess How Much I Love You in the Summer. I am hoping to see the other books in this series in our next book buying trip.

My little Queen B sneaked in Yaya Niya, Nanay Ko (one of her favorites as I have shared in this post) in our books of the weeks, in case you are wondering.

Arts and Crafts:

Sadly, there were no more giraffes in Manila Zoo which we visited last summer but someday, we’ll take our little Queen B to see real and alive giraffes. To make our giraffe craft, I cut out a capital letter G from a yellow art paper. I also did the mouth, antlers, and eyes while my little Queen B glued the spots.

We finger-painted a bunch of grapes in our ABC Book for our fruit or vegetable that starts with the letter G.

Our little Queen B is still not allowed to have gum balls. Actually, we are limiting her exposure to candies. We are more lenient with chocolates, though (Hey, chocolates are healthier especially the dark ones which my little Queen B likes too). But we can still make a gumball craft. I printed a picture of a gumball machine then George glued the gumballs (art paper cut-outs) on it.

Practical Life Skill:

Whether you have a pocket garden like ours or a big backyard, gardening provides many benefits to the whole family. Even toddlers can help out in the garden. They can help in watering the plants or pulling out the weeds.

Others:

Grapes are one of those fruits that are usually a no-no for small kids because of its choking risk. But our children can still enjoy them by cutting them in quarters. When I first served grapes to George during our G week, she didn’t even like them. It was almost the end of the week when she gobbled them like there is no tomorrow. What brought this change? She saw her cousin Aki eating them. As I continually discover, my little Queen B eats much better when around other people. Most of the time, the struggle is real when making her eat when it is just us. 

Week 8: Letter H

Books of the Week:

Hogwood Steps Out by Howard Mansfield is a nice story written from a pig named Hogwood’s perspective. The Happy Penguin tells the story of a penguin celebrating his birthday. While Ang Dalawang Haring Siga shows how a conflict can be avoided if one do not let his pride get in the way. The Cat in the Hat and The Very Hungry Caterpillar were repeat books of the weeks’ feature as we also read them during our C week.

Arts and Crafts:

Admittedly, I did the majority of the procedures needed for our horse craft. My little Queen B’s only job is to glue, with my guidance, the cut-outs and googly eyes on our ABC Book.

Like with our horse crafts, our hat and honeydew painting were mostly done by me. To compensate, while painting I explain to my little Queen B what I’m doing like the colors I’m using and the characteristics of the objects I’m painting.

I actually made the hat but I let my little Queen B decorate it with washi tapes and color pens.

Gross Motor Skills:

The moment we saw the rocking horse in a nearby mall, we knew we wanted it for our little Queen B. It was such a blessing that it was on sale that day so we immediately bought it as our first birthday gift for our baby. This toy lets toddlers practice their gross motor skills as they need to use their leg and core muscles.

Week 9: Letter I

Books of the Week:

Saying I Love You is part of four books set that was gifted to our little Queen B on her first birthday. This book shows that one way to give appreciation to our friends, siblings, parents, and of course, God is to say I Love You to them. Another gift from her first birthday is our Guess How Much I Love You Colors book. Nowadays, George can already sort objects by their colors though she still can’t identify and say the proper name of the color. Singing and acting out I’m a Little Teapot several times a night during our I week make it a music and gross motor skill activity too.

Arts and Crafts:

 

George kept saying it is a snake so I have to repeatedly tell her that it’s an Iguana. She didn’t have any trouble recognizing the ice cream, though.

Sensory Activity:

George absolutely loves this sensory activity. The afternoon before, she and her cousin Aki went around our village to gather various flowers and leaves. I, then, place what they gathered in a small tub with water. As a tip, fill the container halfway with water first since the flowers tend to float. When the flowers froze on their place in ice, fill up the container with water so the flowers will be inside the resulting ice block.

My little Queen B had fun touching the ice block as long as she can. She also used spoons to “dig” the flowers out. For older kids, this activity is a nice way to introduce the concept of changes in the state of matter.

Music:

After making this spider craft (we made two so we’ll each have one), my little Queen B and I train our vocal chords with the singing of Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Others:

I don’t have a picture but we also had ice cream during our I week. 

I hope our activities and adventures inspire you to do something similar with your kids. Let us make their first learning experiences fun so they will continue to enjoy learning as they grow up. Stay tuned for more. Have a nice day!

#xoxo 

Lady