Letter of the Week Totschool Series: A and B

There are 26 letters in the alphabet. These letters made up the words we read, speak, and hear. But, do you know that your kids (and you) 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. For this series’ first installment, I’m sharing what we have done for Letters A and B.

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 (please read my post about it here). So our activities are also not geared towards the memorization of the letters.

Week 1: Letter A

Arts and Crafts:

We made an alligator out of letter A. In my little Queen B’s ABC Book, I draw an outline of the letter A. Then, I cut a green art paper into smaller pieces. I also made some teeth out of a bond paper. For its eye, I made use of googly eyes. Then I let my little Queen B paste all of it on the outline. Of course, I guided her on where to place each piece. This also doubles as a Fine Motor Skill Activity.

I love handprints art activities! This was our first one. I place some non-toxic red tempera paint on my little Queen B’s hand and press it on our ABC book. Viola! It’s an apple. I added the small branch and leaf.

Gross Motor Skill:

It has been so long since I made a paper airplane that I actually have to search it on the web. With the paper airplane built, I flew it and asked my little Queen B to get it once it landed (For older kids, you can challenge them to catch it in midair.) and give it back to me. I sent the paper airplane to various locations around our home for variety and a little challenge. I also asked her to throw it back to me. Of course, it didn’t fly very far.

Music:

We listened to 2 songs that started with letter A; the Apple Song and the Ants Go Marching Song. Thank goodness for Youtube because my preschool songs repertoire is very, very limited.

Book/s of the Week:

Back then, this was our only book that contains a word that starts with letter A in the title. Since then, I have become more active in collecting good picture books for our little Queen B.

Others:

Since avocado was still in the season back then, I prepared mashed avocado with condensed milk, a traditional Filipino dessert. Our little Queen B loves it!

We also did try to do a sorting activity using 5 apple shapes cut out from a red art paper and another 5 apple shapes cut out from a green art paper. Since George didn’t understand the mechanics of the activity, I avoided similar activities for a while. Actually, it was only recently that she can successfully sort objects based on their colors.

Week 2: Letter B

Arts and Crafts:

I bought this packet of butterfly stickers which I asked my little Queen B to stick to the outline of the letter B I drew on her ABC Book. Another alternative to this is to make a butterfly out of letter B like the picture below.

Using the edge of a paper plate, we made a banana. Again, I cut out small pieces of yellow art paper which George glued on the banana shape. This also doubles as a Fine Motor Skill activity.

Using yellow buttons which were leftovers from our DIY Teddy Bear giveaways for our little Queen B’s first birthday, we made a small letter b image.

Books of the Week:

Since B week, we read all our books of the week for at least 5 consecutive nights. Like other toddlers, George doesn’t like staying in one place while I’m reading aloud. I have learned that to keep reading fun, I should never force her to pay attention.  I just continue reading aloud while she roamed around our room in search of interesting things. (The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs book was an additional book for our books of the week.)

I hope our activities and adventures inspire you to do something similar with your kids.  Stay tuned for the other letters. Happy learning!

#xoxo