Shake It Up

Have I have mentioned how much I love the Bob Books we’ve been working through?

They may not look like much, but the simple drawings, short words and short sentences are the perfect next step for kids who already know the alphabet and are starting to “sound it out”.

Joe doesn’t read the books on his own yet, but he knows some of the words by sight and he has started to sound out words wherever he sees them.

“ss tuh ah puh…Stop!”

There are 12 books in Set 1, each with short sentences and three-letter words.

In Book 1, the only letter sounds introduced are M, A, T and S. Using these four letters, Joe can sound out (with a little help from Mommy) every word in the book.

We’ve played a bunch of games using these books and Joe’s interests: treasure hunts, measuring tape play, letter tracing, using scissors, driving monster trucks, making contraptions and deciphering secret codes.

And sometimes, like today, he wanted to make a lot of noise.

Ok…so that’s every day…but today I used that energy for learning words.

We used Bananagram letter tiles, the flashcards I made for the Bob Book words and empty M&M tubes.

I put the letters for three words in the tube and Joe shook the tube like a mad man. I think he ran and shook that thing for an hour (not really, but you get the idea).

After he had worn himself out shaking the tube, or when I had had enough of the noise, he dumped the letters out and I handed him the first card.

He pulled the matching tiles, put them in order and then sounded the word out.

I didn’t have to help him with many of the words and, even when I did, it was only to help him put all of the sounds together.

It was too much to ask him to read the books when we were done with the letter shaking and noise making. I guess he was worn out from all of the running and shouting.

I know I was.