With the new kindergarten program-we are keeping things pretty child guided in our class. We had a lot of conversations and thoughts on whether or not to incorporate Jolly Phonics into our program, and we decided that we thought there needed to be a balance. We want there to be a lot of child directed opportunities, but think it is important to teach the kids the letter sounds. With Jolly Phonics we can make it really interactive so it fits well with the program suggestions.
So this week-we had a short week with there being Fair Day and tomorrow a Professional Development day. We decided this would be the week we started our Jolly Jingles. It's basically teaching the song for 'S' to the kids, and the action that goes with the song. Then we have a very open conversation about 'S' words.
Then we move along to more good stuff.
The SCENTED playdough. (s word) . We practiced forming the S letter with the playdough. I questioned in my own mind how this would go over, but luckily it flew! The kids were eager to come to Graphic Communication and try their hand at forming the letter 'S'.
I love playdough activities because of how good it is for fine motor development. As I began implementing this activity-I understood how beneficial it was based solely on the fact that most of the children who chose to play with this center didn't know how to roll playdough out. It was great to see them developing this ability, and turning it into the letter S. It gave them a real sense of accomplishment when I cheered for them.
Not everyone would agree with the implementation of Jolly Phonics in an ELK classroom, but we find it works for us this far. It's a short block of time that it is done in-and the choice to do the follow up activities (playdough formation) is theirs. We do ask them all to try-but if it's something they aren't interested in-we don't keep them.
So. We decided to jingle.
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