Although my little Greased Lightning was not ready for "intense" alphabet instruction at the start of this school year, he was eager to have his turn at the big kids' school table post-Christmas. He desperately wanted a few school books to call his own. I knew that the ABC Book that my older boys completed would be more appropriate for when he was academically ready to learn pre-reading skills, but began brainstorming ways to tweak it for his 3-year-old self. I decided that we'd make an alphabet picture book together. It would be a gentle way to introduce the sounds without expecting mastery.
To Make an Alphabet Picture Book
You'll need:
- a spiral bound notebook with blank pages (thicker "art style" pages are best)
- old magazines
- scissors
- glue stick
Directions:
- Label each 2-page spread of the notebook with a letter of the alphabet. (I put the capital letter on one page and the lowercase letter on the other page.)
- Each day, help your child look through an old magazine to pick out four or five pictures that catch his/her eye.
- Help him/her cut out the pictures.
- Verbally name the picture emphasizing the initial letter sound. Then tell your child what letter the picture starts with.
- Locate that letter page in the book and encourage your child to glue the picture on the page.
I am not expecting my son to learn the letter shapes or sounds this year. This picture book is just a fun way to become familiar with letters and the idea that they are somehow related to words. As an added bonus, he has begun over-emphasizing the first letter of words throughout the day and guessing which letter each word starts with. And do you know, most of the time, his "guess" is correct!
He absolutely loves his alphabet picture book and looks forward to our time together each morning.
This is a FABULOUS idea. I love it and need to pin and remember this! My son is so ready to do something like this. Thanks for sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteReally like this idea, adding it to my pintrerst preschool folder. We have a ton of old magazines in this house.
ReplyDeleteWe've been working our way through old Family Fun magazines that I don't think I ever even found the time to read. Oh well, at least they are going to good use now.
DeleteWhat a fun idea! My 4 year old would love to do this with me!
ReplyDeleteWe did this with our kids this year. We went on a letter hunt each week, in our many sticker books, looking for things that started with that weeks letter. We just finished letter z this week & the kids were so excited to finally bind all their pages in a book to show people!!
ReplyDeleteHow fun! It certainly makes for a nice keepsake that they'll always treasure.
DeleteI love this idea, but winder how it works with letters like X? Were you able to find things that started with x?
ReplyDeleteWe found things that ended with the letter X. Not quite the same, I know. But he could still hear the sound in the word.
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