One of the language activities I have been doing with Kylee lately is practice narrations. I read just a very short passage (no more than 1 paragraph) and she tells it back in her own words. One of the things I have found is perfect, is this book from Rainbow Resource. It is designed for a 2nd grader to read independently and has complimentary language activities. I bought it for Aidan after our fire when we needed some workbook style things to keep us thinking (so glad I didn’t throw the completed workbook away).
The language activities are obviously WAAAAAAAY beyond an almost 4 year old, but the stories are rewritten to such a reading level that they are excellent for narrating with her. I don’t know that she fully understands the moral lessons, but the stories themselves are simplified for her to retell the beginning, middle, and end.
We have a set of core family actions (you can read them by clicking on the About Us tab above) and one of them is “We think before we act.” Today the story Kylee and I read was “The Two Frogs”. During a particularly dry spell, two frogs come across a well. One frog wants to jump in and live in the well forever, but the second frog thinks and realizes that if they jump in the well and the water dries up they will be without water and stuck in the dry well.
Kylee and I decided to make frog pictures to remind us to be a smart frog and think before we act. Before I knew it, Caleb wanted to read the story and make a frog too. Next I looked, everyone had stopped what they were doing and come to the table to make their own “Smart Frog”. (Ok, well, Logan wasn’t making a frog…he was trying to eat glue sticks, but he did join us!)
The kids each hung their frogs up in their own rooms in a special spot to remind themselves to think before they act!
Make a Smart Frog
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