Kindergarten has gotten off to a great start.
Pencil Grip
One of the foundational skills a child needs for future writing skills is the correct pencil hold. An incorrect grip can lead to later struggles in writing. In Kindergarten we work on holding the pencil correctly. To help the children remember the correct way, we used the analogy of alligator fingers making sure his mouth was nice and straight. Ask your child to show you;)
Letter Sounds, placement & Recognition
We are beginning the year by going through each letter. Focusing on both the sound and how to write it.
Gross Motor Activities- sounds
Research has shown that when a child learns something using their whole body, in a "gross motor activity" significantly more neurological connections are made, reinforcing the "knowledge" making it more accessible for the child to retrieve in future. With this in mind, we did some gross motor skills to reinforce the three different sounds an 'a' makes. Each time Moshe knocked down a letter (bowling the ball across the room) he said a sound.
For F and G we placed little stickers on the feathers. The ones that had G- had to throw them on the Ground. The F ones it was fun to Fly them in the Fan.
Letter Writing & Placement
It is important the children know where to start on the line, when writing a letter correctly. We used salt for the children to practice with to get their fingers used to starting from the top and then it was much easier when it was done on paper.
In this photo Mendel Paller is following with his finger and pressing the sticker "button" to make the sound. Meir tried "writing" the letter in salt. Salt is a great way to keep practicing since a little shake can erase and be ready for multiple practices!
To help us remember where to start in writing a letter correctly, we named the top line the 'sky' the middle line 'birds' the bottom line 'ground'. With each sound we told a story of the letter to remember where it goes. Moshe practicing making his own.
Mendel cutting the C sound.
Math
The first month of school we will be focusing on the 10 frame as well as breaking down the numbers to understand how they work. We have also been hard at work writing the numbers 1-10.
Moshe using two different colors to help understand how two numbers can equal his total number.
Mendel dividing his pieces to see what two numbers add up to his seven.
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