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Your child has been introduced to the first three letters of the uppercase alphabet. This week is devoted to reviewing their sounds and shapes and to printing these three letters clearly on unlined paper in your child’s Main Lesson Book. Refer to the Introduction to Language Arts for a discussion about writing on unlined paper.

If your child can experience each letter through several different senses - seeing, hearing, and touching - he will be more likely to remember their shapes and sounds. The many activities presented in this syllabus will allow children of all learning styles to establish a relationship with the letters and to build an understanding that will make all the difference when it comes to learning to read and write.

Together, remember the stories you used to present the first three letters. Review the sounds that the letters A, B, and C make and the images used in the stories to present each letter.

Help your child notice A, B, and C in her environment, both as letters on signs and in books or magazines, and as shapes, such as “C” being seen as the crescent moon, or “A” being seen as the way a roof angles. Can all these shapes be found in items in your home? Try to cultivate a creative eye for such things - you might be surprised to find the shapes of the letters all around you!

This week, help your child make A, B and C out of semi-permanent clay. (You can use a regular potter’s clay, or a commercial modeling compound that can be baked in the oven, or a homemade dough - although the homemade variety is less likely to hold up for the entire year.) These will be used throughout the year as part of periodic alphabet reviews, so keep them in a safe place. The letters can easily be made by rolling clay out into “snakes” which are then formed into the letter shape and hardened according to the directions for the particular clay or modeling compound used.

Additionally, make bread with your child this week. Form As, Bs, and Cs out of dough, and cook and eat them for lunch.

As you have previously walked some letter shapes with your child, walk A’s, Bs, and Cs this week. Begin by “following your nose” in the letter shape, and move on to walking the shape while facing one direction the entire time, moving forward, back, and to the sides in the shape of the letter. (See Lesson 1 for a complete description of this exercise.)

If your child has struggled with any of these letter shapes, take extra time to make their experience more physical. Do the following art project devoted to a particular letter your child may be struggling with.

Letter Collage

• Posterboard
• Colored construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Toothpicks, beads, rice, lentils, tiny pasta
• Arts and crafts scraps, fabric scraps

Gather tooth picks, beads, rice, and whatever little craft or fabric scraps you might have in your home. Any small glueable item will work.

Collage the posterboard letter by covering it with numerous smaller letters formed out of a wide variety of textures and materials. Glue on the construction paper letters, some of which have been left plain, others of which have been covered with the collage materials.

While working with your child on this project, occasionally mention the name of the letter and discuss words that start with this sound, or review the image in the story that was used to present the letter. When completed, display the collage in a prominent place to remind your child of the activity and the letter.