Letter Recognition

A masih dalam proses mengenali huruf. Ini aktiviti mudah yang kami buat minggu lepas. Saya pilih huruf P, W, K, dan H. Tuliskan beberapa perkataan yang bermula dengan huruf-huruf tadi dan minta A padankan perkataan dengan huruf mula.

Dan sekarang, saya cuba perkenalkan A dengan level seterusnya dalam literacy iaitu MOVABLE ALPHABETS; sounding out the letters. This is when the mind is ready but the hands are not. Saya cuba buat perlahan-lahan dan tidak memaksa dia. Biasanya saya akan minta dia pilih perkataan dulu untuk saya, saya bunyikan dan keluarkan letters untuk disusun. Kemudian dia akan menyusul. Ini kononnya senarai barang untuk dibeli di Giant :) A nak beli meja! :D

Ibu pun seronok main ni! Hurufnya warna-warni :)

What we did today..

Alhamdulillah, I'm grateful to Allah for what we have done today. Abdullah was happy and I was happy too.

It's water play time. I gave Abdullah a brush and a bucket and he can paint the wall! He's always so excited about this and imagine that he's a workman who's working hard to finish up building a house or something.

I took the chance to 'paint' some letters and we worked on some letters recognition; both Arabic and the ABC.

And, he just couldn't stop himself from bringing the joy to the next level :

He learned a few things that float on the water and those that don't. 

This is another activity that he did today which was new to him; one of the Montessori approach to developing child's language - the mystery bag. 

You will need a bag and a few different but familiar objects around the house and put them inside the bag. Ask your child to put her hand into the bag and describes what she can feel without actually saying the name of the object. You try and guess the name. After a while, change places with each other. This game helps your child to increase vocabularies and and also train the sense of touch.

I do think this game is nice because it is so fun to hear what your child is going to say to describe the objects. I can't help myself from giggling each time he described them. But masha Allah he impressed me. I'm looking forward to play this game again tomorrow.

We played some more fishing game with the alphabets of 'r', 'm', 'j', 't', 'l' and 'k'.

Alhamdulillah for all of this. A soon-to-be-4-year-old boy is so full with energy. I think well-planned activities can help to reduce the mess and chaos that he's capable to create :D

New Space

Alhamdulillah I managed to create a special space to accommodate Abdullah's stuffs; his toys and books. This room used to be our library area where hundreds of Islamic books were here, so it took a few weeks to accomplish as we had to take all the books upstairs to the TV area (so now no more TV). I had to settle down with both before I can be happy to proceed with our homeschooling projects.

So, there are reasons on why I chose some particular ways to arrange the books and toys. I was very much inspired by the Mostessori approach and I thought they have a nice view on this part. So let see how it goes.

Before this, I used to store the toys in one huge container. And you can imagine how it would be when Abdullah is trying to find his small favorite truck or tool (or whatever it is), and the living room floor is likely to be scattered with toys! What Montessori suggests is to place toys with many pieces in appropriate containers, such as plastic boxes or small baskets. Avoid putting out too many toys and books at one time. Divide toys into three or more sets : favorites, which are kept out on the shelves continually, and two or more sets that are rotated in and out of the closet every month or so. Store them on low shelves so they are accessible to your child. Small containers are great to store toys with lots of pieces and enable your child to tidy up herself. And so far, this works great with Abdullah and he found it  easier for him to tidy up his toys from a small container rather than a huge one (he used to complaint he is so tired that he can't tidy up his scattering toys when we used the huge container). So I  love this small container idea! 

I used them to store his wooden train set, small trucks, hardware tools, fruits and his puzzles.

As for his favorite machines, I display them orderly on low shelf. It somehow make your child appreciate his toys more. Abdullah willingly put his machines (or even the small containers) back on shelf after use because it shows his sense of belonging and love of his toys. Even I became to appreciate and respect more of his stuffs. And they are also unlikely to break as they would be in the chaotic jumble of the huge container.

Last but not least; the books! I don't just arrange them this way so that they will look nice. I made the front cover of each book is visible except for thick books which Abdullah can recognize which book is it. It's nearly impossible for children to choose books when they can only see the spine. I used to stack up Abdullah's books in the living room which is the worst way to store children's books because they tend to end up in a heap on the floor more often than not as they hunt for the cover of the book they have in mind. This one works great too! It is easy to find a book and easy to put it back too. Now I spend less time to tidy up the living room alhamdulillah :)

My son is totally in love with his new space and eager to start learning alhamdulillah! And I'm a happy mom too hehe :)

Treasure Basket

Okay, this one is for your little baby to play. Once your baby is able to sit and hold things, she can definitely start to explore things and try to make sense everything around her. Get a low basket or box (well I'm not using a low one but I made it low for her :)) and fill it with lots of interesting household objects or things from nature. You can put almost anything inside but make sure it is safe for your baby and large enough not to be swallowed and also free from sharp edges. Because they will probably be mouthed by your young eager explorer.

A treasure basket should create a sense of wonder, surprise and discovery. Gather things which has distinctly different characteristics; shape, color, weight, texture and smell. Infants and toddlers use all of their senses. To them, everything is new and exciting discovery. The treasure basket can entertain young children for long periods of time. With infants, keep in mind that it is very stimulating, so is best offered when your baby is rested and alert. When she is first exploring the basket it is best not to say a word -  just select an object, carefully examine it, and put it back in the basket. Your baby might reach for it as soon you put it down. 

Your baby will use all of her senses during this time; tasting, looking, hearing, touching, exploring and smelling.

Older toddlers might enjoy the treasure basket too - just keep introducing new objects.

Mashaa Allah she is really exploring. Enjoy, Umamah! :)

The Sound Game

Like I've promised before, I will write about the sound game which is one of the Montessori approach to literacy for children.

I've been playing this game with Abdullah for a few weeks. And sometimes we didn't even follow exactly the directions but still I can see that my son is progressing bit by bit. Mashaa Allah you just keep playing playing and playing this game whenever and wherever you want and gradually you can see that your child is actually acquiring something subhanallah. You barely need anything to play the game! Just play, laugh and have fun!

The book (Montessori Read & Write) suggests that you can start playing the game from the age of 2 and a half on. I simply think because at this age a child already has an ample developing vocabulary which he manages to speak in sentences of three to four words or maybe more. Even if your child is older than 2 and a half when you start, you should still begin with level 1 and move her at her own pace through the different levels of the game.

This game will help to make your child aware of the sounds that can make up words. Play it as often as you can; it is one of the most important ways of preparing her for both writing and reading. Make sure you say the sounds correctly!

There are six levels to the game (although we used to play level 1 to level 3 randomly). I'll start with level 1.

What you will need

Gather together a few objects which your child can name and put them on a table in front of you. In the beginning, avoid objects that start with similar sounds, such as 'p' and 'b' , 'v' and 'w'.

Purpose

To help your child to hear individual sounds at the beginning of words.

How to Play

Choose one of the objects, for a example a pen, and hold it out to show it to your child.

'I spy with my little eye something in my hand beginning with 'p'.'

Your child will say 'pen'. Confirm that she is right. Yes, 'p' for pen. Change the object and change the place where it can be found to keep the game interesting.

She will quickly grasp the rules of the game and happily tell you the names of the objects you are asking for. You will probably need to play this stage of the game for several weeks (or maybe more) before she actually makes the connection between the sound that you say and the sound at the beginning of the object you have chosen. When she appears to be beginning to listen to the sounds, you can move on to level 2.

p/s : at first I felt like my son will never make the connection between those sounds but alhamdulillah he's getting it. for instance, if I asked him to tell me the words that start with the sound 'beh' (b) and nothing popped up at that time, he will just say 'bekasut' or whatever appeared to be in front of him and he just add the sound 'beh' at the front LOL! For me, it's a sign that he can connect the sounds because on the early days we played the game and I asked him to tell me words that start with 'keh' (k) for example, he will say 'gigi' 'buku' 'atuk' etc which is incorrect.

Please make sure you say the alphabet's sound and not the alphabet's name.