This week in language arts, we start a new theme called Down On The Farm, where we will focus on farm animals and the products we can get from them. We also are introducing a new vowel sound this week, and here to help us with that is our lovely friend Octavia Octopus.
Unfortunately, Octavia tends to be cranky when she goes to the office. But instead of fussing (like Baby Iggy), she likes to vent her frustrations by tattling and making the short /o/ sound when she does.
I've posted the video below, and you can also access it (along with Toucan Sam and Baby Iggy) on the Video Shorts page above.
There are some fun ways that you can practice coins with your child at home. Give one of these a try this week:
--Coin Sort--Lots of families keep a money jar where they collect their coins. If you have one, take it to the middle of the floor or table and...dump it!!! Ask your child to sort the coins (i.e. find all of the dimes, or find all of the five cent coins). When the coins are all sorted, you could make patterns with them while naming each coin.
--Coin Bingo--make a simple grid on paper. You child can scoop up a handful of different coins and place one coin in each space. As you pull out a coin, your child removes it from the bingo board. After she gets "bingo", have her name each coin that she removed.
--20 Cents or Less Store--For fun money-counting practice, ask your child to "pay" for their snack, toys or tv time. For example, if your child asks for a cookie, you could say, "Okay, that will be eight cents please!" Help your child pick out the amount you request from your money container and "pay" you. For the truly ambitious, set up a play store with paper price tags and have a ball "shopping" with your child.
There are tons of other games you can invent that are related to coin identification and money counting. Just keep it fun, and keep them learning this important life skill.
Have a great week,