Teaching Your Toddler the Alphabet! I SPY Giveaway!

Two words: Bob Books. They sell them at Costco periodically, and they are awesomeness!!! We have the complete collection, and paid $10 a box. You can also find them, used (which really doesn't make a difference, there are no activity pages) in the children's section at Half Price Books! I've seen them there for as low as $6!

Regardless, every day after lunch, the girls and I open up a Bob Book, and get going. Bob books are organized in sets of two or three letters per book, so we go through one book a week, and when we get to the end of the alphabet we repeat!

I sit with a girl on either side of me, point to the words and have them repeat as I read them! They are only 2 and 3 after all. When I come to a letter standing alone, I do not read it, but allow them to guess what it is, and going through the series the second time, Kaylee Autumn can name them all! She can even recognize the word, “the!” I also ask what sound the letters make, and even point out some letters within the words of the sentences on the story pages, asking them to name the letter. We have been “learning to read” since age two with Kaylee, and at first she didn't know what I was asking when I pointed to the “k” in “kite” and asked what it was. However, when you take the time to say, “there are 4 little letters in this big word, k-i-t-e, the word is 'kite,' but these little ones are letters,” eventually you can shorten it to “what's this little letter?” and she GETS IT! Then you can point out little letters everywhere, and it will make the difference between “i” and “l” much easier!

After we “read” the book, I set it face up on my lap so we can see the capital letters on the front cover. Then we take out these SUPER AWESOME dry-erase sentence boards, and our kid-size dry-erase markers. BOTH were purchased at Target in their dollar section for, you guessed it, a buck a set! 4 sentence boards and 3 markers per pack. I give each child a board, then I take the Red pen and draw the capital letter of the day on the first line, while saying a little phrase on how to remember how to draw it, and trace over it while saying my letter-drawing mantra two more times! Then I draw it again on the row below, trace over it two more times, all while repeating the letter mantra! Since there are two letters per week, we practice the first letter for two days, the second letter for two days, and on Friday we try both! After I am done writing and repeating, I take out a blue or green pen for one child, place it in their hand, helping them with the three-finger pincer grasp, and we draw the letter together directly after my Red letter, three times, move down to the next line and repeat, while matra-ing away! I repeat all of this with the next child and their individual board while I let the first one try to draw the letter on their own. They can still hear me saying how to draw it while I teach the sibling, and sometimes, they can do it!

This week was “M.” And “'M' has a straight back, with one hump, twooo humps!” After practicing together, my little smartipants three-year old, Kaylee could write it on the first try!!! Remember to tell them you are proud of them!! Because when you do, they will practice writing that letter on everything!

Kaylee Likes To Trace Before Trying The Letter On Her Own!

Teach your child to read and write for $12?! UM, YEAH! You can further their reading education in coming years, at $10-20 a year for the subsequent steps in the Bob Book curriculum, depending on how fast your child learns. My girl is fast, she could recognize the whole alphabet by 26 months, and can now write A, H, I, L, M and O!!! I'm sure there are faster children, but it's healthy to brag about your own ^_^

So! If you can tell me how many “M”s are in this picture, I will give the winner...

The First Set Of Bob Books! A White Board Set! And a Pack Of Dry-Erase Pens!!!

I spy with my little eye...