One morning this week we woke up to a bright, colorful kite draped across the trees down the hill. The kite wings had an extensive span and the face smiled at us from the treetops. This photo requires lots of imagination, especially because the wind was quite strong and whole hillside seemed to be quivering. It seemed just right, tho, for one of the alphabet activities. And for talking about phonological awareness, which is the ability to hear and divide words up into their sound bits. It is a fundamental skill for later learning to read. And the Activity is….Letters have names. They also have sounds. This is such an important concept for early learners. Helping them learn this concept can be done anywhere, at any time. “Look, that sign says Park. Park starts with the letter P and P makes a puh sound. Hey, purple starts with that sound, too. What else? Pickle and playground. Any guesses what letter starts pants and pineapple?” Caution: just be careful if you are making a meal and use the word fridge, as in fridge starts with the letter f and what else starts with that same sound? The answer is not always fork. Or fruit. Or for heaven’s sake. Which brings us back to a is for angel. B is for banana. Banana starts with a buh sound. What else starts buh? A great Activity for Anywhere, Anytime. All Aboard.
