SNP Parent Letters
by Allison Soncrant, SLP, 2013
Contents
1. Introduction to literature
2. 10 Little Apples Up On Top
3. 10 Little Lady Bugs
4. All By Myself
5. Apples and Pumpkins
6. Bear Snores On
7. Berenstain Bears on the Moon
8. Big Red Barn
9. Blue Hat, Green Hat
10. Does Your Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
11. Eating the Alphabet
12. Eight Silly Monkeys
13. Froggy Learns to Swim
14. From Head to Toe
15. Glad Monster, Sad Monster
16. Go Away Big Green Monster
17. How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?
18. I Went Walking
19. If You Take a Mouse to School
20. In The Tall Tall Grass
21. Is Your Mama A Lama?
22. Lemons Are Not Red
23. Mama Cat Has 3 Kittens
24. Mary Wore a Red Dress
25. Mouse Mess
26. Napping House
27. Polar Bear, Polar Bear
28. Rainbow Fish
29. Raindrop, Plop!
30. Round is a Mooncake
31. Skeleton Hiccups
32. Snowy Day
33. Spot’s Windy Day
34. Take Me Out to the Ballgame
35. Ten Little Rubber Ducks
36. The Little Engine That Could
37. The New Baby
38. The Rain Came Down
39. Time For Bed
40. Very Hungry Caterpillar
41. Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea
The preschool years are crucial for language development. Since most children spend the majority of their time with a parent, it’s important that parents become active participants in their child’s language development. Two easy ways for parents to become involved are through children’s literature and play.
Children’s literature: Sharing books with young children creates a love for books at an early age. Reading together allows a child exposure to new vocabulary, sentence structure, and phonemic awareness. Books allow children an opportunity to learn language with the support of visuals. Finally, books provide repetition which is fundamental in language development.
Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.
Emilie Buchwald
Play: Play is the way in which young children explore their environment. It is the way in which a child learns. Play allows children to learn language in context. By involving parents in play, learning language becomes fun and convenient.
Play is the beginning of knowledge.
George Dorsey
By using the context of a particular book, parents can engage their child in several language and play based activities. Through the activities parents will learn several language intervention techniques which can be applied to other situations. The strategies include: self talk, parallel talk, expansion, the use of visuals, and teaching language through music.
1
We will read 10 Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss.
Eat apples together. Cut the apple into small pieces and encourage your child to request the apple pieces. Talk about the different parts of an apple (the stem, seeds, core, etc.). Talk about the taste and texture of apples using words such as “juicy”, “sweet”, “sour”, and “crunchy.”
Cut an apple shape from red paper. Use a hole puncher to punch a hole in the apple. Your finger will be the worm crawling through the apple. Have the worm crawl under, beside, on top, next to, and over the apple.
Point out apples at the grocery store to your child. Talk about the color and size of the apples. For example, “I see green apples.” Or “Look at the big apple.”
Sing the following song about apples. Emphasize the word “in” each time your child places an apple in the basket.
Picking Apples (Tune:Frere Jacques)
-use when picking up legos, blocks, etc.
Picking apples Picking apples
One by one
One by one
Put them in a basket
Put them in a basket
Oh, what fun! Oh, what fun!
(from perpetualpreschool.com)
As always read, read, and read!
Allison Soncrant, SLP
2
We will read 10 Little Ladybugs by Melanie Green, This book introduces the concept of counting backwards. One by one the ladybugs disappear on each page.
Target Vocabulary: ladybug, butterfly, caterpillar, grasshopper, bee, breeze, turtle, and bird
Make an edible ladybug. Slice a red apple in half vertically. Attach raisins with peanut butter for the spots. Have your child request each ingredient. Describe each object and action while making the ladybug. Talk about the concept of half vs. whole as you slice the apple. Talk about what we do with a knife. Ask, “Why did we need peanut butter?” Count the spots on the apple.
Play a lady bug matching game. Cut circles from red construction paper and make black spots on one side of each circle. On the opposite side, write a number 1-10 on each ladybug. Make a set for each number. Have your child pick a ladybug and find a ladybug with the same number. Talk about which ladybugs have the same number and which ladybugs have a different number.
Sing “10 Little Ladybugs” to the tune of “10 Little Indians.” Simply replace the word ladybug for Indian. Try singing the song backwards. Periodically, pause during the song and hold up your fingers to represent the number of ladybugs. Ask your child, “How many ladybugs, now?” Make sure that your child is using regular plural forms by adding an “s” when there is more than one ladybug.
As always read, read, and read!
Allison Soncrant, SLP
3
We will read All by Myself by Mercer Meyer. A little critter describes all of the things that he can do by himself.
Target Vocabulary: button, brush, tie, pour, pull, kick, and pound
This book is full of action words. Typically, children acquire nouns before verbs. Verbs tend to be abstract in nature making them more difficult to learn when compared to nouns Try singing about verbs as a part of your daily routine. When you or your child begins a task, sing about it. For example, sing about brushing your hair. Using the melody of “Row, Row, Your Boat,” sing the following: Brush, brush, brush your hair, brush your hair with a brush, brush your hair, brush your hair, brush your hair with a brush. Replace the action of brush with another action and sing about the action when it occurs in your routine. Your child will be learning verbs in context and with many opportunities for repetition.
Encourage independence in your child. Allow extra time so that your child can begin to take care of his own self-help needs such as buttoning, zipping, and opening containers. If your child becomes frustrated, remind him/her to use his/her words and ask for “help.”
The little critter in the story enjoys pounding with a hammer. Have your child pound golf tees into a piece of Styrofoam with a toy hammer. Practice and talk about putting the nails in and taking them out.
As always read, read, and read!
Allison Soncrant, SLP
4
We will read Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell. A family visits the farm to pick apples and pumpkins.
Target Vocabulary: farm, farmer, tree, apple, pumpkin, basket, vine, and turkey
Cut out an apple shape from red paper. Use a hole punch to create a hole in the apple. Your child’s finger will represent the worm. Have the worm crawl through, under, beside, and over the apple.
Eat apples together. Talk about the different parts of an apple (the stem, seeds, core, etc.). Talk about the taste and texture of apples using words such as “juicy”, “sweet”, “sour”, and “crunchy.”
Create a pumpkin vine in your living room. Spread yarn or string across the floor to represent the vine. Add orange paper circles of varying sizes to represent the pumpkins. Have your child pick big and small pumpkins from the vine and put them in a basket.
Point out pumpkins and apples at the grocery store to your child. Talk about the size of the pumpkins. For example, “I see a short pumpkin.” Talk about the colors of the apples. For example, “I see green apples.”
As always read, read, and read!
Allison Soncrant, SLP
5
We will read Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. A bear is sleeping in his cave during the winter. His animal friends have a party around him while he continues to sleep. Nothing seems to wake him until a fleck of pepper reaches his nose and makes a big sneeze. Soon, he joins in the fun. In the end, the other animals become tired and only the bear can’t sleep.
Target Vocabulary: bear, cave, winter, mouse, popcorn, badger, nuts, mole, pepper, and sneeze
Create a cave in your living room. If you have a pop-up tent, it can easily represent a cave. If you do not have a pop-up tent, drape sheets or blankets across several chairs to create a cave. Turn out the lights to make the cave dark inside. Crawl inside and talk about the darkness. Bring some stuffed animals inside the cave. Have your child shine a flashlight on the animals and name each one. Reverse roles, and describe one of the animals to your child and have him/her shine the flashlight on the appropriate animal. Talk about why you need a flashlight. Explain to your child that bears take a long nap in the winter called hibernation. Ask your child, “When do you sleep?”
Read other books about bears such as Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming and Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson.
Go on a bear hunt. Pretend to look for things that might be desirable to a bear such as nuts and berries. Use prepositional words as your describe your hunt. For example, “We’re climbing over a rock.” Pretend to climb up and down trees. Swim across a river.
As always, read, read, and read!
Allison Soncrant
6
We will be read The Berenstain Bears on the Moon by Stan and Jan Berenstain. The Bears become astronauts when they take a trip to the moon.
Target Vocabulary: moon, rocket, earth, stars, and space helmet
At night, point out the stars and moon. Talk about the shape of the moon. Sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Ask your child “When do we see the stars?”
Pretend to walk on the moon. Place several pillows on the floor and then cover with a sheet. Use a bike helmet for a space helmet. Walk on top of the moon and talk about how it feels.
Make a sun from handprints. Color a paper plate yellow and trace and cut out your handprints and your child’s handprints from yellow paper. Glue the handprints along the edge of the paper plate to create the rays of the sun. Talk about which handprints are big and which ones are small and why they are different sizes. Use descriptor words such as yellow, round, hot, and bright as you talk about the sun.
Make moon toast. Using a circle or crescent shaped cookie cutter cut shapes from sliced cheese. Place the cheese on top of a slice of bread and place in the toaster oven and bake. Name each ingredient. Talk about the temperature of the toaster oven and talk about what happens to the cheese in the oven.
As always read, read, and read!
Allison Soncrant, SLP
7
We will read The Big Red Barn by Margaret Brown. This book describes what you might see on a farm. Many illustrations of farm animals are provided throughout the book including their actions during the day and night.
Target Vocabulary: barn, farmer, tractor, cow, horse, sheep, pig, rooster, scarecrow, and hay
Play with a farm set. Name each animal and talk about the noises and actions of each animal. Talk about the location of the animal. For example, “The horse is in front of the barn.”
Sing “Old McDonald had a Farm.” Let your child request which animal to sing next. According to your child’s ability level, have him/her request with a sentence such as “I want + (animal’s name)” rather than just naming the animal.
Read other books related to the farm such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? by Eric Carle or Giggle, Giggle Quack by Doreen Cronin.
Make an edible sheep. Spread peanut butter on an oval shaped cracker. Place miniature marshmallows to represent wool on the peanut butter. Use thin pretzel sticks for the legs. Label the different parts of the sheep such as the wool and the legs. Have your child request each ingredient as needed. Ask your child, “Where does a sheep live?
See if your child can name 5 animals that live on the farm and then give him/her a “High Five.” If your child is having difficulty remembering the names, give cues to help him/her. For example, describe the animal, make the sound of the animal, or say the beginning sound of the animal to help your child recall an animal’s name.
As always read, read, and read!
Allison Soncrant, SLP
8
We will read Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boyton. This book is full of repetition as it presents various types of clothing. A color accompanies each article of clothing.
Target Vocabulary: hat, shirt, pants, socks, coat, and shoes
Take turns trying on hats together with your child. For each turn, say ”my turn” and “your turn” to model simple pronouns. Look in the mirror. Young children love to look in the mirror and play dress-up. Who is wearing a hat? Describe the hats to your child. Are the hats black, red, tall, big, or small?
Try on different shoes. Children enjoy trying on adult-sized shoes. Describe the shoes and tap them on your child’s feet as you repeat the following chant:
Black shoe, black shoe
One, two
Continue with other shoes of varying colors.
Allow your child to help with the laundry. Describe each step as you perform it. For example, “I’m putting the dirty clothes in the washing machine. Now, I’m adding some soap.” Talk about putting the clothes in the washer and taking them out of the dryer. Explain that we wash clothes to get them clean. Name each article of clothing as you put it in the washing machine and take it out of the dryer. Once the clothes are out of the dryer, have your child sort them into 2 different piles such as pants and shirts.