Princess E from the Silent Kingdom

There are times in homeschooling when a  little more instruction and activity than what the curriculum provides is necesary to cement a new concept. I have always made up little games, projects, worksheets, manipulatives and activities, but never kept track of my ideas.  Blogging has provided that storage house for me.

Please let me introduce Princess E from the Silent Kingdom.  She doesn't speak, but she has the ability to change a short vowel sound in a single syllable word into its long vowel sound. 

I bought the clothespins and stands at Michaels and my son, Jon, drilled small arm holes in them for me so they would be ready to create. Rebekah did the painting, the face creating and most of the gluing.  She used chenille stems (we used to call them pipe cleaners) for arms, yarn for hair, a remnant with princess fluff on the bottom for the royal robe.  Princess had a crown, but it fell off and the vacuum ate it.

We made our own flashcards to show how hat turns to hate, fat to fate, tap to tape, win to wine.  I purchase these great plastic index card boxes at the beginning of the year when they are very cheap and keep them in a supply box until I need them for an activity.  Rebekah decorated the box with princess stickers.

Princess E regalty presides over the desk when we are going through the flashcards so we remember her special ability.

The original idea came from these vintage cards I found years ago.  Of course, I couldn't find them at the time, so I made  my own set.

I added and "ed" and "ing" card for later suffix lessons.  You can see more clearly how the root word is written on the card and the  "e" is written on the folded end.

You may feel you don't have time to do anything above and beyond your core curriculum, but sometimes it may take a day or two of worksheets for a new concept to kick in, so a project can relieve the pressure your child may feel while trying to master the skill.  The project doesn't have to be fancy, it doesn't even have to be something you keep for all the kids.   Creating releases the frustration your child may feel.   By the time we were done creating and were reviewing, it made sense to Rebekah. Now, a casual glance at  Princess E reigning from the bookshelf is all it takes to review this phonics skill in her mind.

ABC Jars - Part 2

These are the additions I've developed for the ABC Jar Project.

I made an extra set of vowels, "blanks" and a question mark.

You can make them find the missing vowel in the middle of small words,

or you could leave off either the beginning or the ending consonant.

I began collecting mini things to begin sorting when school begins this week.

I raided the Barbie accessories, the bathroom, my sewing cabinet and the junk drawer.

Have fun crafting!

ABC JARS

I can finally cross this project off my list of good intentions!

The original idea came from my daughter Jana's first grade teacher, Mrs. Benson, but she used white frosting tubs. Each week they highlighted a letter of the alphabet and the kids brought items for the jar.

I loved the idea of having see-through jars, but if you have toddlers and glass isn't an enticing idea for a manipulative, you might choose the plastic alternative.

I started with 26 baby food jars. Thanks, cutest granddaughter, Brookie!

I bought a can of gray spray paint ($3) and alphabet stickers ($5).
I can't believe how expensive stickers are!

You could choose a cheaper option, but I loved that they were puffy, plasticy and bright.

I spray-painted the lids outside on a sheet of plastic.

One coat covered the colored caps well.

It dried in four hours.

Beka and I applied the lower case stickers to the lids

and uppercase stickers to the jars.


For her first grade phonics, Beka is excited to fill the jars
with little items that begin with the letter on the jar.
We began scouring the house today for tiny plastic animals,
monopoly movers, and scrabble letters.

Other ways to use the jars:

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1. Match the upper-case letters on the jars to the lower-case letters on the lids.

2. Cut out alphabets words from magazines to put into each jar.

3. Cut out pictures from magazines to put into each jar. You could choose a theme like animals or food.

4. Use the jar lids to spell simple words.

a. Give them an ending like "in", "at" or "it" and choose the beginning consonants that form words.
b. Give them the beginning and ending consonant of a three letter word and have them fill in the correct vowel.

c. Give them a beginning sound like "ba", "pi", "bi" and have them choose a final consonant to form a word.

5. Choose a letter and have your child choose the letter that comes after.

6. Choose a letter and have your child choose the letter that comes before.

7. Choose two letters and have your child choose the letter that comes in between.

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Anybody have any good ideas on what to put the jars in?

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Any other ideas for uses of the alphabet jars?

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I'd love to have your input on this project!

part 2