Awesomely Easy Toddler School: Letter A

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Last time, I introduced Toddler School as a way to incorporate learning into your toddler's every day routine.  Today, I'm going to go over specifically what we did with the letter A, so if you wanted to, you could use this as a kind of template to make it easy on yourself.  No need to reinvent the wheel!

Just as an aside, please remember that this is not forced or meant to be a super structured sit-in-a-desk time.  This is a fun, do whatever she's interested time.  Not every child responds to this kind of thing.  If yours doesn't, you'll have to get sneakier or more creative about how you introduce information to them.  You can still do it, but maybe not in this way.

Ok, but if you do want to do what we are doing, this is how we do it.

Calendar Time and Number Play

First of all, we start out day by doing our calendar.  I talked about it in my last post.  The calendar is a great way to practice counting, number recognition, prereading skills, days of the week, months, and more!  I also use calculator play, number puzzles, and the Poke a Dot books for number and counting practice throughout the day.  These are not really related to my alphabet theme, but I do try to make a point to do at least one number activity or book with her each day.

She loves playing with "her" calculator.

Alphabet Unit

As I said in my last post, I decided to do units based on a letter of the alphabet.  Each unit lasts approximately two weeks.  During that time, I try to cover two famous people (one man and one woman), at least one animal (usually a bunch), one place, and one object, all beginning with the target letter.  I also choose a character trait that is usually based on at least one of the people we are studying.  (It may or may not begin with the target letter.)  Here are the ones I chose for the letter A.

Man:  Albert Einstein

I have some leeway in whether I want the first or last name to start with the target letter, and it varies depending on which person I choose and honestly, which books my local libraries have.  We found a couple of simple ones on Einstein, and we emphasized that he worked hard and studied so that he could discover new things.

Also, I recently got her this book, Quantum Physics for Babies:

It is awesome, and the last page says, "Now you are a quantum physicist," with a picture of Einstein, so it got read a lot.

Woman: Amelia Earhart

This was Cricket's favorite part of the whole letter A unit.  She absolutely loves Amelia Earhart!  We got several books from the library about her, but Cricket's favorite by far was this one, called I am Amelia Earhart.

It really is a cute book, and apparently the illustrator used to work for Marvel Comics and some other big names.  Cricket would often repeat the lines Amelia said, like, "This is awesome!" and "This isn't a good idea.  It's the BEST idea!"  We emphasized that Amelia Earhart was very brave to do all the things she did, and the book makes a point of saying that she wasn't a natural pilot.  She just worked harder than anyone else.  I loved that part.

Brian found an old pair of tinted goggles that
immediately became her "Amelia Earhart goggles."

I used this coloring page for Amelia Earhart, but you can find plenty just by Googling it.

Animals: Alligator, Ant

We got a book about alligators and crocodiles and had fun reading it and looking at the pictures.  I used this coloring page for the alligator.  It is actually a whole set of letters made in the form of animals that begin with that letter, so I am making a little book out of them as she colors each one.

Places:  Atlantic Ocean, Antarctica, Australia, Alabama, America

Letter A is the jackpot when it comes to places.  Print off a map and you'll realize that the majority of the continents begin with the letter A, as well as several oceans, states, and countries.  (Not all of them begin with the traditional "A for Apple" sound though, so I used those for letter recognition, but not for the phonics emphasis.)  The main place we focused on was the Atlantic Ocean because it went along with the life of Amelia Earhart.  We also found some library books about Antarctica and Australia, so we ended up talking about those some, too.  They were a cute little series that was just perfect for a toddler attention span, with cool pictures and facts.

     

I printed off a world map to cover the oceans and continents, and I printed off a map of America and a map of Alabama, because we live there.  We also checked out a colorful children's atlas to look through, and a couple of books on Alabama.  Cricket especially liked Y is for Yellowhammer.  It goes through the alphabet and tells an interesting fact about Alabama for each letter.  They make them for several different states.

Object: Apple

The activities from 1+1+1=1 (more about them below) were all apple themed, so that was our main object, but of course, we talked about lots of words that started with A when we found them in our books or just out and about.  I think we even managed to eat applesauce and/or an actual apple sometime during the two weeks.  I am not stressing about trying to coordinate snacks to fit my theme (like some blogs I've read).  This one just happened to fit.

I also used this airplane coloring page because we were already talking about Amelia Earhart, so she had seen the word airplane a lot. The word airplane doesn't start with the traditional "A in Apple" sound, so we didn't focus on it for the phonics part, but we did use it for the letter recognition.  Airplanes are also great to talk about because toddlers are just starting to be aware of airplanes in the sky, so it comes up regularly.

By the end of our two weeks, our kitchen cabinet display was pretty full.

Character Trait:  Bravery

I know it doesn't start with an A, but since bravery came up naturally in the Amelia Earhart books, I made a point to emphasize it during these two weeks and beyond.  When she did something on her own the first time, we told her she was brave like Amelia Earhart.  We talked about how being brave meant doing something even when you were a little scared, like going into her bedroom when it was dark and turning on the light herself.  This has been something we have continued to talk about with other historical figures and Bible figures, emphasizing that there are many different ways to show bravery.

Bible Activities:

As I mentioned before, I printed off these amazing verse cards and put them on a ring.  The verse for A is "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  Joshua 24:15."  Cricket had no trouble memorizing this.  I would just read it to her and show her the card each morning, and for almost a week, she just listened.  Then one day, in the middle of lunch, she just started saying it.

I have to say, I was a little skeptical of trying to get her to do memory verses.  I didn't know if they were too long or too complicated, but she picks them up so fast!  We still review all of them every day, but she absolutely can say them by memory by the end of the two week unit, just saying them once a day like that.  Kids' brains are amazing.

We also read a Bible story every day from our Big Picture Interactive Storybook.

I did a blog post a little while ago on how and why we chose that storybook Bible.  We are loving it so far.  The stories are a little longer than Cricket's normal books, and since there is one story per page, sometimes she gets anxious for me to turn the page, but she usually makes it through the story ok, and she is definitely picking things up.  The other day she started repeating, "God always keeps His promises," which was the theme of the story on Abraham we had read that day.

I also try to make sure we listed to some praise and worship music or some verses set to music at some point during the day.  Pandora has a great praise and worship station, and Seeds Family Worship has some AMAZING Scripture set to music that she and I both love.

Other activities we did during the two weeks:

Play Dough

I have a set of alphabet cookie cutters that my sister-in-law gave me, and boy have they come in handy over and over!  Here's a set you can get on Amazon:

When we were talking about the letter A, I gave her the A cookie cutter and she had a blast making her own letters.

Google eyes and pipe cleaners are also super fun.

Alphabits

Alphabits are the new Cheerio's at our house.  I got them for her birthday party, but she loved them so much, I've kept getting them!  (And they're surprisingly not full of sugar!  They have a pretty short list of ingredients, too.)  She loves pointing out the letters as she's eating them, and even spontaneously decided one morning to look through her bowl of dry Alphabits to find the letters that spelled April.

It didn't even occur to me to do that, but we've done it several times with different words since then.  Whenever she finds a target letter in her Alphabits, we make a point to say the sound it makes.

Alphabet toys and puzzles

I absolutely love my Melissa and Doug Alphabet puzzle.  It is how she learned her letters in the first place, back when she was potty training.  She would spend forever working on that puzzle, and by the end of the week, she could recognize every letter and say the word for the pictures underneath them.  She still plays with it a lot.

Other alphabet toys that I love are the foam bathtub letters,

the magnet alphabet on our fridge,

and this Light Up Alphabet Apple that I got at a consignment sale.

They are all great review and practice for letter recognition and phonics sounds, and there are lots of things you can do with them.

Printables

As I mentioned before, I use several printables from 1+1+1=1.  It is a great site with just TONS of stuff you can use for your young child.  I just use a few basic ones, like the traceable target letter and the letter with a couple of pictures around it, both of which I put in page protectors so she can use dry erase crayons to color every day.

    
If you haven't discovered this combination yet, you're welcome.

Toddlers are not able to write letters accurately yet, so don't push that.  Just let them color the picture and watch you make the letters.

I also print out a couple of her pages on cardstock that Cricket can play with over and over.  There is always a little puzzle picture for the target letter, a matching shadow game, a sequencing game, and a lacing picture.  Cricket loves these and often asks to play with them several times a day.

So there you go.  That's everything I used for the two weeks we focused on the letter A.  Please remember, I didn't do all of this every day.  Some of it, like the play dough, I may have done once a week.  It just depends.  Also, remember this is just an introduction.  This isn't kindergarten.  My goal was for her to be able to recognize the letter, give the sound it makes, (or one of them anyway, since it's a vowel), and learn some stuff about people and places.  I didn't work on lots of phonics practice or writing drills.  It's just directed play.

I hope this helps inspire you.  If you come up with other ideas, please post them in the comments so we can all try them, too!

Choosing an Awesome Storybook Bible

This post contains affiliate links.  I am not otherwise compensated for my opinions.

I over-think things.  I know this.

Sometimes it is exhausting.  I can't choose a product without doing hours of reading and comparisons and evaluations.  Sometimes I wish that one time I could just not care.  Just one time, I could grab something and go with it.

This is not that time.

I decided that it would be great to get a storybook Bible for Cricket's Easter basket.  What follows is the criteria I developed for comparing them and choosing the one I felt would be best for Cricket and for our family.  It might not be the best for you, and I'm not bashing other books.  Just take this as one person's opinion.

1)  What is a storybook Bible?

Unlike a Bible translation, a storybook Bible (also called Bible storybooks, story Bibles, or some other combination of those words) is not a literal or even paraphrased translation of the Bible.  It is a retelling of a selection of stories from the Bible intended to be more accessible to young children.  They are usually designed to be read to a child, although there are a few that are simple enough for a beginner to read himself.  Storybook Bibles are usually illustrated and many times include discussion questions, suggested responses, or even activities to go along with the stories.

2)  Why use a storybook Bible?

Well, honestly, after everything I have looked at lately, I have to say that it might be easier to just read straight from the Bible.  I mean, most of us grew up being read to from an actual Bible.  It's not like it's impossible for kids to understand.  I'm not saying story Bibles are a necessity; however, they are nice because they help children to get engaged with the Bible in a more accessible way.  The pictures help hold their attention and the language is geared towards their level of understanding.

3)  Which one to choose?

Oh my goodness.  Little did I know what I was getting into when I started this.  I looked at maybe ten or twelve different story Bibles, and that wasn't even all of them!  When I was growing up, I think there may have been one or two available.  Now, there's an entire aisle of them at the Christian bookstores!

So I came up with a criteria to help me compare them.  These may not be the things you look for in a story Bible, but this is what was important to me.

• Theological Accuracy

Does it accurately depict the main themes of the Gospel, such as sin, redemption, God's love, etc.?  Does it tell the stories accurately or does it embellish or reduce them to the point where the main point is lost?  I get so annoyed when I have to rewrite Cricket's books as I read them to her because they are saying things that just aren't true.  For example, saying that a dove came and rested on Jesus at his baptism is not theologically accurate.  It was the Holy Spirit, and to simplify it to just a dove removes the power of that first look at the Trinity.

• Historical Accuracy

There are many "facts" that we learn as children about the Bible that we later have to unlearn.  Did the wise men come to the stable the same night as the shepherds?  Were there really three wise men?  Was Daniel a little boy when he was thrown into the lion's den?  Was the ark so tiny that the giraffe had to stick his neck out the top window to fit?  Was it a whale that swallowed Jonah?

I know these may seem like small, insignificant details in the grand scheme of things, but I just have a thing about telling the truth.  In fact, if you did a poll of all of those questions to people on the street or even people in your church, I bet you would find that there is still confusion about the answers, even though the they are right there in the Bible.  The truth is important.  We don't want our fanciful interpretations to cause someone to stumble (making the story of the flood seem unbelievable by not showing how large the ark really was, for example).  And why teach things to children that we will have to unteach later?

• Complete Stories

Does it tell the story of the Bible in some kind of chronological order?  Do they tell parts of the stories, or the whole thing?  Does the story of Jonah stop after the fish?  Does the story of Daniel go beyond just the lion's den?  Does it show David as king, or just when he fought Goliath?  I grew up learning the Bible in such tiny pieces that I was in eighth grade before I realized that the Jacob from the story of Jacob and Esau was the same Jacob who had 12 sons!  If we want our kids to really get the  message of the Bible, we need to make sure we present it as the complete story it is.

• Realistic Artwork

Since most storybook Bibles are illustrated with cartoon-like pictures, I'm not necessarily talking about lifelike artwork.  What I looked for was artwork that makes the Bible look like it could have really happened, versus artwork that makes it look like fairy tales.  Also, "European Jesus" pictures are a huge pet peeve of mine, so I wanted something that at least made an effort for ethnic accuracy.

• A Non-Legalistic Message

So many children's books treat the Bible like a collection of Aesop's Fables that can be pulled out at random to teach a lesson about what we should or shouldn't do.  I looked for a story Bible that pointed to the Gospel and to Christ, not to legalism.  (Yes, the Bible does tell us things to do and not do, but that response comes from a loving relationship with Him, not a list of do's and don't's.)  

A good way to measure this is to look at how they treat the story of Noah.  What is the "point" of the story?  I have seen everything from "Noah worked hard, and so should we," to "We shouldn't make fun of people like the men made fun of Noah."  Neither of these are the emphasis of the Biblical account of Noah, and they set a dangerous precedent.  Also, those kind of interpretations make everything in the Bible about "me" instead of about God's work throughout history.

(Fun fact: Nowhere in the Bible does it say that anyone made fun of Noah or mocked him for building the ark.  Neither does it say that they beat on the outside of the ark when it started to flood.  Those are the kind of extra things that are often added to children's Bible stories, and we grow up believing them to be in the Bible.  I believed both of those things were in the Bible until I was an adult.)

• Minimal Censoring

I do understand that the Bible is full of crazy, weird, and sometimes gruesome things that children may not be ready for at the ripe age of two.  However, I think we do a disservice to children by censoring the Bible to the point where we leave out the basic themes of sin, judgement, and even death.  We have no problem introducing concepts of evil, death, and punishment in Disney movies, (see The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Princess and the Frog, and Sleeping Beauty for some pretty scary examples of evil and the bad guy getting his/her punishment) but we balk at telling them that God punishes sin.  We permit them to hear about violence in fairy tales, but we suddenly have a problem with it in the Bible.  (Wolves eating children whole and witches baking children in ovens are ok, but we can't tell them that David cut Goliath's head off?)

To gauge this in the story Bibles, I looked at the stories of The Fall and of Noah.  Do they gloss over God's judgement of sin in the world?  I also looked for inclusion of other more difficult stories, like Abraham sacrificing Isaac.

• Beyond the Basics

Does it include just the basic Bible stories that are considered "appropriate" for children, like Daniel and the Lion's Den, Noah and the Ark, David and Goliath, etc?  Or does it pull in some less well-known stories like David and Jonathan, Nehemiah rebuilding the temple, or Jesus being tempted?  Those are not necessarily the specific ones I was looking for, but I just like to see it go into more detail than the classic Sunday School stories.

• Reading Level

If you look at what's available, you find that you could easily buy a new storybook Bible every year to meet your child's ever-changing needs.  They have the baby Bible, the toddler Bible, the kindergarten Bibles, the elementary Bibles, etc.  Honestly, I can't afford to buy a new one every year, and I think it's kind of silly/wasteful.  I want one that we can use for years to come that will continue to hold a child's attention and teach new things as he or she matures.

See?  I told you I over-think things.

4)  I Found an Awesome Storybook Bible!

As I said before, I went through almost a dozen different storybook Bibles, and I found one that I just love.  It's called The Big Picture Interactive Bible Storybook.

The Big Picture Interactive Bible Storybook,
Click the picture or link to look through samples from the book or to purchase from Amazon.
Also, if you purchase the book through Amazon, you can get the Kindle edition free!

Note:  There is another story Bible with the name "Big Picture" in it, but it is not at all the same.

This book is brand new, and it has got to be one of the coolest Bible storybooks on the market.  It passed my criteria with flying colors!

• Theology:  The text is basically the Holman Bible translation, modified slightly for a younger audience.  There is virtually no editorializing, embellishments, or additions.  There is very little censoring at all in this Bible, other than for space.  There is no hesitation in discussing sin and judgement, or God's love and redemption.

• History:  You guys, the historical accuracy in this Bible is maybe the best I've seen in a children's Bible, especially in the pictures.  Jesus is a little boy when the (two!) wise men come to see him at his house.  Daniel is an older man with a grey beard in the lion's den.  Jesus' scars are even in the right place (wrists instead of hands) when he appears to the disciples after the resurrection!  I could go on and on because I was so impressed with the attention to detail in the art.  Since the texts are basically straight Scripture, of course they are very accurate as well.

• Completion:  I love how MUCH of the Bible they get into this book!  They tell the story of Jonah right to the end.  They tell not just David and Goliath, but also God's covenant with David, David and Jonathan, and  David's sin and redemption. 

• Illustrations:  The artwork is cartoons, which is fine, but it is realistic (the ark is really big) and ethnically accurate (Romans look Roman and Jews look Jewish).  Jesus even wears different clothes in different pictures!  Imagine that!  As I mentioned above, the artists really focused on making the pictures as true to the actual Biblical accounts as possible, while still making them fun and interesting for children.

• Message:  The introduction of this story Bible specifically says that the message of the Bible is "Be saved," not "Be good."  There is a tie-in to the Gospel and Christ at the end of every story, showing God's "Big Picture" (get it?).  There is no legalistic cherry-picking of morality tales.  The focus is on God's love, man's sin, and the redemptive work of Jesus.

• Censoring:  I can't even tell you how minimal the censoring is.  I was surprised but pleased to see even stories like Barak and Deborah left in there.  (You know, the one where the girl puts a tent peg through the guy's head?)  They were not shy about the good, the bad, and the ugly in the Bible, but they did make sure it wasn't overly gory.  

• Variety:  Like I said up there, I was thrilled at how much of the Bible they got into this book, considering it is a storybook Bible.  They have almost every Old Testament book covered by at least one story, and in the New Testament, they even cover some of the epistles and the early church!

• Level:  The reading level is geared primarily towards early elementary, so it will be usable for a long time.  She will enjoy the pictures and the basic ideas of the stories now, and as she gets older, she will benefit from the application and deeper messages as well.

• As it says in the title, there is also an interactive element to this Bible.  You can scan the pictures and special codes throughout the book, and it will animate the stories and give additional features.  I don't have an iPhone, so I can't speak to how awesome it might be, but it has gotten pretty good reviews.  I hope to eventually be able to use this feature whenever we get around to joining the 21st Century.

Again, I realize that there are lots of Bible storybooks out there, and I am not saying that they aren't valuable.  I am just sharing my thoughts on this one because it was exactly what I was looking for.

I am so excited to start reading this with Cricket!  I know we will all enjoy going through this storybook Bible together, and I can't wait to see how much she learns from it!  

In Everything Give Thanks

I realize that this post doesn't really fit with the overall theme of my blog, but bear with me.  I need to tell this story, and this is the best platform I have.

(Just a heads up: this story involves some medical stuff, so if you don't like reading about that kind of thing, you should get out while you can.)

Here's the story.

I have had three bouts of acute diverticulitis in the past six months.  Out of nowhere.  I have no personal or family history of diverticulitis, and there was nothing unusual to instigate these episodes.  Also, I am not elderly, which is the typical demographic for this kind of thing.  It was determined that I needed to have a colonoscopy to see if they could figure out what was going on.

I was super not looking forward to that.  I mean, of course not.  No one in the history of ever has been excited about a colonoscopy.  They are pretty much awful.

But still, it was necessary, so they did it.  I will spare you the details.  Just...it was unpleasant.

They did not find anything to indicate why I would be having diverticulitis, or any other issues.

HOWEVER, they did find what my doctor described as "a very large mass."

This was a surprise to everyone, most of all my doctor.  In my drug-induced haze, as I got ready to leave the hospital, I heard him say, "It's a miracle that we found this."  It wasn't related to the diverticulitis.  He was sure of that.  It just "happened" to be there.

They did a biopsy on the mass, and I had to wait a week.  That was a very stressful week.  I tried really hard not to worry, but a week is a long time.  The worst part was when my doctor finally did call Thursday evening.  I missed the call, but it was after-hours at his office, so I couldn't call back until Friday morning.  That was definitely the worst part.

When I finally did talk to him, he said that yes, it was cancer.

HOWEVER, the margins were clean, meaning they think they got it all.  This is awesome, because it means no chemo.

HOWEVER, they do want to take out that section of the colon just to make sure it doesn't come back or anything.

HOWEVER, the procedure doesn't involve a colostomy bag, which I was worried about.  They just take out that section and reattach it.  Like a Play-Dough snake or something.  (I dunno what a better analogy would be for that...)

You can see how my emotions have been on a roller coaster of "bad news, but better news, but bad news, but ok news..."

But here's the part of the story I really wanted to share:

My doctor said over and over again after my colonoscopy that this was a miracle.  Again on the phone he said, "I cannot emphasize enough how much it is an act of God that we found this.  We don't even typically LOOK for this kind of thing when we do a colonoscopy.  I was looking for colitis or problems with the diverticula.  This was absolutely not related, but I'm very glad we found it."

Now, you may have a different interpretation of these events than I do, but it's my life, so here's my take on it:

God gave me diverticulitis to show me that I had cancer.

Never have I been reminded more strongly of 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18.  "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

In everything give thanks.

Diverticulitis is extremely painful.  Debilitatingly painful.  But I am so thankful for it.

And I'm thankful for the cancer too, because I know there is a reason for it as well.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm also scared, nervous, confused, and a lot of other things.  But all I can think about right now is how thankful I am to have a God so in control of everything in the universe and everything in my body.

So maybe I was wrong.  Maybe this does fit with the overall theme of my blog.  How can you be awesome at everything?

In everything give thanks.