Caroline has a small bulletin board in her room. It is on the wall opposite the end of her bed. She can see it clearly but it is far enough away that there is no way she can reach it or even be tempted to reach it. I’ve been hanging pictures on there, cards she receives, etc. Lately I’ve been hanging up a few of the pictures she’s “colored”. (I don’t believe that coloring books or worksheets are evil or destroy a child’s creativity.)
I’ve started hanging up a printout with four high-interest pictures labeled with the correct word.
This is nothing fancy. I found the stock photos in Word (Vista) under “Insert” and then “Picture.” I chose Century Gothic for the font since it doesn’t have any of the fancy letters that might confuse Caroline. It is printed on plain white paper.
My purpose? Simply print awareness and exposing Caroline to letters, words, etc. I don’t expect her to learn to read these words just because she sees them there. I’m a big believer in phonics with a tad of whole language thrown in. I simply want her to see letters and words and continue to learn that print has meaning.
What a great idea! I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Caroline did begin to put the words with the pictures. It truly amazes me how God designed our brains to soak up all that is around us especially in those early years! Thank you for sharing your great ideas.