Are you ready to learn about Hajj in the next few weeks?
Below are some fun activities you can do with you pre-schoolers to learn about Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha. Young kids learn differently and too much information can be overwhelming. I have created simple reading and interactive activities to introduce them to the concept of 2 of the most important events we partake in as Muslims.
Perfect way to practice writing numbers in words this summer!
Practice sight reading and writing important sightwords with your preschooler and kindergardener!
I remember being around 6 years old when I started memorizing my multiplication facts. Growing up in the Middle East, it was pretty straight forward; you were to memorize the facts, and you did. That's it. Most kids studied this way. It was the norm. There was this sense of pride attached to it as well. The younger you were when you memorized these tables, the smarter you were! And I did, I memorized the life out of them. I came up with a rhythm to study them (I still use the same rhythm with my kids and students). I repeated them again and again out loud, wrote them out countless times until they were drilled into my brain.
The problem was, I didn't understand why I multiplied numbers at all. I just knew I had to memorize them to do calculations. There was no explanation behind it. It wasn't until much later when I realized the "Why?"
As an educator and a mom myself, I know how important it is for our children to understand Mathematical Operations and what is actually happening when you are adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. This doesn't means memorizing isn't a part of the process, it definitely is. However, before your child memorizes all their Multiplication facts, it is important for them to understand the process.
In this post, I will focus specifically on Multiplication. In order for your child to comfortably multiply, they first need to learn how to add. They should also know how to skip count by twos, fives, and tens. Do not start teaching multiplication until your child completely understands addition.
1 + 1 + 1 = 3
2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8
5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20
Ask: What do you notice about these numbers? "They are the same numbers added again and again and again!"
2. Discuss: These numbers were easy to add, but what if you had the same number being added 8 times or 10 times. Would it be easy or hard? What if you run out of blocks?
3. Now introduce them to multiplication using the same numbers
** Use blocks to show them how the numbers are grouped.
1 + 1 + 1 = 3 (3 groups of 1 block)
2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8 (4 groups of 2 blocks)
5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20 (4 groups of 5 blocks)
4. Have your child explain to you what is happening when you multiply numbers. The blocks will serve as a visual and manipulative for your child.
By the end of it, your child should know that multiplying is a great way to add the same number quickly!
Once your child grasps the concept that multiplication is basically addition of the same number "so many times", they are ready to memorize them. This doesn't meant you stop using the blocks. Keep encouraging your child to use blocks to make groups until they memorize their facts.
Ms. Shakir, signing off!
Typically, when parents introduce children to letters in the English language they start with the Alphabet Song . However, as I mentioned in my earlier post, the point is to use phonetic sounds and not to teach letters in the alphabetical order.
That being said, with Zayn, my husband and I taught her all the phonetic sounds first; and yes, they were in alphabetic order, but we were still figuring it all out. Once she was able to recognize all the sounds, I moved onto breaking them up into sets.
In my research to find the best way and combination to introduce letters I discovered that many different variations are used in different Montessori Schools. I decided to use the order suggest in How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin:
c, m, a, t
s, r, i, p
b, f, o, g
h, j, u, l
d, w, e, n
k, q, v, x, y, z
When working with a set, there are a variety of activities that parents can engage in with their children –
- Identifying pictures with letter sounds – You can easily print pictures or look in books for pictures that start with a letter sound.
- Use small objects that begin with the letter sounds in the set (see picture)– You can go hunting for little items around the house that you can place in a tray for your child to identify for each letter sound.
- Cut and paste activity – You can cut up pictures of items that begin with a letter sound. Write the letter on a piece of blank paper and have your child glue on each item as they sound the words out.
- Identifying things around the house with the letter sound – You can always write names of some objects around the house on a piece of paper, stick it on the object itself and have your child sound each item out every time they use it.
Assessment before moving onto the next set –
In order for you to move onto the next set it is important to know that your child can identify and differentiate between the sounds in each set. You can do this by using any of Activity 2 or 3 as a form of assessment. Once your child can comfortably sound all the items on the sheet, it is time to move on to the next set.
Always Remember that your child should be initiating their learning. You should have it all on display for them to choose from and then sit and work with them. Also, it is important to stop when they indicate they want to move onto something different.
Ms. Shakir signing off!
Teaching kids to learn the Alphabet using the song or in a specific order never made sense to me. I always wondered why we put so much effort into teaching our kids to sing the Alphabet song when it doesn’t really correlate with actual sounds the letters make when pronouncing most words.
For instance, lets take a look at the word cat. When saying the alphabets, for the letter c we say, "see", but when we say the word cat, we use the phonetic sound "cuh". Another example is the letter "g". We say "jee" when we say the alphabet, but when reading the word gap or goat we make the sound "guh". I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.
It also baffled me that we focus so much on upper case letters when sentences consist mostly of lowercase letters. When I started looking more into the Montessori way of learning, I realized that all of these questions were answered in the way reading and writing were taught in Zoya's Montessori. Below are a few things I learned and incorporate in my own teaching with Zayn (the 2 year old).
Here are some ways you can teach your children how to read and write English -
- Try not to introduce letters using the Alphabet song. I made sure that my 2 year old started learning the phonetic sounds of the alphabet instead of the song. Below is the video my husband I showed her everyday when she was a year old. She knew all her sounds by the time she turned 2.
- Focus on lower case letters. It is a better idea to introduce lower case letters first. Even as I write this blog post, I am mostly using lower case letters. Once a child can recognize lower case letters, you can then introduce them to upper case letters. This does not mean you can’t introduce them at the same time, you totally can.
- Use manipulative – There are a few manipulative that you can use to help your child learn. One of them is the use of “sand paper” letters (pictured) alongside some sand or rice flour in a tray. You can buy these online (they can be a little pricey). However, if you are on a budget, you can also, cut up letters using a thick board and stick them on construction paper. The point is to have your child feel the shape of the letter as they practice “writing” on the sand in the tray.
In my next post I will talk about how to introduce letters to your children. There are many combinations out there but I will share the ones I prefer using.
Ms. Shakir signing off!
Welcome to Scribbles & Blocks!Taj is an educator and mama to two highly energetic girls. She keeps them busy all day by doing Montessori inspired activities. Taj enjoys creating activities that use blocks. She also creates printable that are easily readable by children so they feel more in control of their success. She lives in Manitoba, Canada.