In a previous post, I shared six activities to build letter knowledge. We have been working with Mon Cœur’s name regularly for over six months now.
We’ve used name strips, environmental print (fancy for letters found all around – in magazines, on signs, on billboards, in books, etc), and songs to learn the spelling of her name. She’s used magnetic letters, tiles, stamps, and stickers to build her name.
Recently, very recently, MC has shown interest in writing, and I actually caught her making a pretty well formed E on various papers and “notes.” The other day, while I worked on the computer, she wanted to sit next to me and “work” too, writing her name.
To most, these marks may seem like nothing. Some scribbly letters and all out of order, different sizes, and overlapping. When I saw MC doing this, I couldn’t help but feeling pride for her and her efforts. This is an amazing step towards writing and literacy.
Sometimes it seems like I am repeating an activity over and over and over, with no immediate results to show… That can be discouraging, I know because I have felt this, too. The more I do activities and the more I repeat activities or themes, the more it builds the connections in their brains, the confidence in the information they are learning, and the relationships with those who are working with them. Autumn Vandiver shares the importance of repetition in a child’s world with Happy Tot Shelf.
I continue to encourage and organize activities that revisit the same information with MC, and I love when I get little glimpses into her understanding and application of that information.
Other little successes have been hearing MC selectively and spontaneously use French when speaking to me, counting, or pointing out features in a picture.
We will begin an activity in English, and MC will begin counting in French. The other day we had been working in shapes, and I continued the theme with an activity from one of her maternelle workbooks. As she was looking for les ronds (circles) and when I asked her in French where she saw circles, she circled the tree and said “l’arbre.” She continues to sprinkle her French words here and there, and I take each one as a little victory.
What successes do you celebrate with your child?
mamansmonde.wordpress.com 