alpha letter 1

alphabet a - f
www.butterflyschool.net visit shininghours.com Pick up Activity Sheets

Welcome to Butterfly School

Autumn 2002

Creativity basket tips for the week:
A blue crayon or blue washable marker!
Colorful paper, washable markers, scissors, fruit!
Patterns: a simple paper butterfly, butterflies, and a leaf.

Print our lowercase alphabet mini-poster.

Butterfly School Alphabet Week 1

wpe17.gif (11585 bytes) Welcome to Butterfly School's alphabet journey. Jump in any time! Select your favorite letters or collect the whole alphabet to make a special book with your child. Activity Sheets contain all the information you need to make a session fun. "Picture Talk" makes it easy for you to get started, even when you are having a hectic morning.

Extra tips from my kitchen table to yours.

	The Alphabet is fun! You can't talk about the alphabet enough with your child. Understanding the alphabet provides a basis for learning to read. Fortunately, the alphabet is easy to talk about and it surrounds us! Point out letters in street signs, on food packages, in stores -- everywhere. Help your child be aware that each letter has a name and a sound.
	Expectations. The expectation we hope you can create is this: that learning is fun! All children learn to read at their own individual pace. Whatever their stage, you play an important role when you share the alphabet with your child. One day, it will all sink in! (Focus on keeping your child cheerful during this learning time -- she doesn't need to absorb all the details.)
	Please draw! I know many adults who feel their drawing isn't good enough to share. But, please do draw with your children. It will help your child to see you try to draw, whether you draw stick figures, simple shapes or doodles.
	Display. Hang up the sheets you complete. Leave the sheets up for a few days so your child can review them with you and feel proud of his work. Seeing that you value his work will help build your child's self-esteem. Gather the finished sheets into a three-ring notebook and you will have an excellent place for your child to review the alphabet -- in a highly personalized way!

Sneak Peak.
Join us next week for a special field trip. We're going on a hike in search of acorns! The alphabet series will continue in two weeks. Until then, enjoy the resources posted here and at www.shininghours.com!

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You are ready for the Activity Sheets now; you can print them from here (Get Sheets), or go back to the Butterfly School home page.

From Butterfly Central,

-- Jessica Steigerwald

For more great ideas, check out the activities at our parent site www.shininghours.com.

Get ready to read!

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Teacher Tips
from Corinne Steigerwald

Sharing a love for reading is one of the greatest things adults can do for young children. Each person who cares for a child, whether teacher, parent, grandparent or other caregiver, plays a role in helping that child learn to read.

Learning to read takes time and lots of exposure to letters, letter sounds and printed words. Reading aloud each day, and singing the alphabet are wonderful habits.

Butterfly School's introduction to the alphabet features one letter per day. Focusing on one letter makes it manageable to draw your child's attention to the letter, its sound and an example of a word that begins with the featured letter. In my experience, the earlier children are exposed to letters, names and sounds, the easier it will be for them to master reading skills later.

When introducing the letters on each Activity Sheet, try to identify the letter's name and sound for your child. They do not need to learn this right away but it will help them to hear you talk about the letters. It also makes the letters more interesting.

Stress that the word on the page also begins with that letter. You might say, "Here is big B, here is little b. B sounds like "buh" in butterfly. This is the word butterfly!" Then use Picture Talk to highlight other special things before you begin the activities. When you help your child answer the day's question, try to let your child watch you write out words.

Remember, the emphasis here is on having something simple and fun to discuss, not expecting your child to remember individual letters or their sounds. Exposure to words, sounds and ideas takes time. You are building a wonderful foundation!

Questions for Corinne: corinne@shininghours.com

Coordinated resources: