Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider and sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Whether it was Little Miss Muffet or Little Mister Muffet, the spider got them every time! We enjoyed acting out this nursery rhyme this week, but we also worked on rhyming and the sounds we hear in words. As a little review, ask your child to complete these rhyming sentences.

I'm thinking of a food that Miss Muffet might like.
It rhymes with _____ (horn). It must be _____. (corn)

Furnish the first word each time and then invite your child to finish the sentence with a rhyming word. Try these others:
cape-grape
reach-peach
rare-pear
seat-beet
dime-lime
sees-peas

Frightened has also been one of our vocabulary words. Make sure you ask your child to show you his/her frightened face! It's not to be missed!

Egg Over Easy

What about that egghead? Humpty Dumpty has been walking that wall all week! Ask your child about the day that we actually had a real egg up on a wall and watched it fall. We figured out why the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty back together again!

Humpty has introduced our little ones to some new words this week. We have found these sight words in our rhyme: a, the, had, on (notice the green tape over those words on the chart below). Maybe your child can find some of the words at home this week. We have also learned to say the first sound we hear in words? What’s the first sound you hear in the word Humpty? Answer: /h/ When a letter has slashes before and after, it means that it’s the sound that “h” makes. Ask your child to tell you the first sound s/he hears in these words:
Dumpty Answer:/d/
wall /w/
fall /f/
king /k/
We are also still working with words that rhyme – words that sound the same at the end. Ask your child to make a nonsense rhyming word with his own name such as Maria Baria, Caleb Naleb, Madison Radison and with all the names in your family. We have had fun all week making rhyming names. For a copy of the rhyme to read with your child, go to http://www.kinderfriends.com/humptydumpty.doc. It has been an egg-specially great week!

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock!

The mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck one

And down he did run.

Hickory Dickory Dock!

This week we learned the nursery rhyme and motions to Hickory Dickory Dock! What fun!Make sure to ask your child to say the rhyme and to do the motions! Then ask that the rhyme be recited in a little squeaky mouse voice!

We are still working on words that rhyme. This week one of the Literacy Centers that children could choose was to put pictures under words that rhyme with "hill" (as in jack and Jill) or words that rhyme with "clock" (as in the Hickory Dickory clock). Ask your child if the following words rhyme with hill or clock: dock, Jill, rock, shock, pill, knock, jock. Can your child think of other words that rhyme with hill or clock? To download a copy of the rhyme for your child to "read" go to http://www.kinderfriends.com/hickorydickory.doc.

Next week is that all-time favorite, "Humpty Dumpty." He just cracks me up!

Mother Goose is on the Loose!

You may remember the traditional nursery rhyme Jack and Jill from your own childhood! This week the children talked about Jack and Jill going up the hill. They learned what a well is and even acted out the rhyme (in our case, we used a trashcan to represent the well!) The children practiced "reading" the rhyme from left-to-right and top to bottom. They read the rhyme using a deep, gruff "Jack" voice and a silly, high "Jill" voice. Make sure to ask your child to recite the rhyme using a "Jack" voice and then a "Jill" voice! For a copy of the rhyme for your child to practice reading, go to http://www.kinderfriends.com/jackandjill.doc

Finally we talked about rhyming words:

What's the word that rhymes with Jill? Can you guess the word?

Standing outside my windowsill, in the winter I feel a ... (chill)

My dad does woodworking with lots of skill. I love to watch him use his ... (drill)

Eating hamburgers is a thrill when we cook them on the ... (grill)

When I was sick and feeling ill, my mom gave me a yellow ... (pill)

What a fun week! Next week's nursery rhyme... Hickory Dickory Dock!