Letter of the Week Totschool Series: E and F

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 E and F.

Please click here for A and B.

Please click here for C and D.  

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 5: Letter E

Books of the Week:

We began our preparations for potty training as soon as our little Queen B turned 18 months of age. We bought the book Everybody Poos to introduce her to the concept of pooping in the potty. Everybody Poos (British version) or Everybody Poops (US version) is written and illustrated by Taro Gomi, famous Japanese children book illustrator, and writer.

Do you know that Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss is composed only of 50 different words? These 50 words are: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, and lastly, you. Dr.Seuss, truly, has a magical way with words so it is no wonder our little Queen B enjoys having this book read aloud to her.

Arts and Crafts:

While preparing for our Elephant craft, I realized that there is no gray-coloured art paper readily available in the market so we made do with a lilac-colored specialty paper.

Practical Life Skill and Fine Motor Skills:

Peeling an egg is a practical life skill that toddlers can do. It helps develop their fine motor skills. Afterward, the egg will serve as a nutritious snack. For additional learning and fun, you can try painting or draw on the eggs first.

Week 6: Letter F

Books of the Week:

You’re All My Favorites is written by Sam McBratney who also authored the well-loved and international best-seller book Guess How Much I Love You. You’re All My Favorites is a nice story to dispel any rivalry between siblings. While Friends by Rob Lewis tells us that persons who don’t share our interests can still be our friends.

Arts and Crafts:

  

I never imagined that foxes can be cute until I had a baby and got exposed to various adorable fox crafts. Here is the one we made for our little Queen B’s ABC Book.

Finger painting is an easy activity to do with toddlers. With the right preparations, mess associated with it can be tremendously lessened. You can even make your own edible finger paint. 

According to Kids Learning HQ, the following are some of the benefits of finger painting for kids:

• Kids learn how colors work, especially mixing primary colors
• Good for Sensory Integration
• Senses of hearing, touching, smelling and tasting are used
• Improves fine motor developmental, strengthens finger and hand muscles
• Focus on process not finished product
• Therapeutic-express feelings without words
• Promotes social skills-sharing paint pots, taking turns, working together are all a good social experience
• Stimulates creativity and imagination
• If the finger painting is done on the floor kids use balance, large muscle control, and spatial awareness
• Develops communication and language skills when done as a group activity
• Learn about color, shape and spatial relationships

 

And speaking of finger painting, since the choices for vegetables and fruits that start with the letter F are quite limited, we decided to make fava beans for our ABC Book.

Gross Motor Skills/Fine Motor Skills/STEM activity:

I enjoy making toys for my little Queen B. This magnetic fishing set was made with art papers cut into fish shapes, paper clips taped on the fish cut-outs, a pencil as the fishing rod, string, and a magnet as bait. Hmmm, I foresee a redo of this “toy” in the near future.

Music:

Using another printable from www.picklebums.com, my little Queen B and I enjoyed singing Five Green and Speckled Frogs all week long.

Others:

Despite living far away from J’s side of the family, I want our little Queen B to be familiar with her dad’s relatives so I made this Family Book for her. My side of the family, of course, is also featured in the book. 

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