Time Together Kit  Components

Share the Secret Alphabet Books 

Inside the "Share the Secret Alphabet" book set are some easy to use instructions for parents. Inside each book is a description of how a child forms the letter. There are textured letters for your child to feel and trace with his/her pointer finger. It is a good idea to utilize a small mirror so your child can see how the letter sound is formed with his/her mouth. Each book contains simple text that your child can read by following the pattern in the book. You may want to focus on one letter at a time for a week or more. Read the book several times. Have your child find the letter in other texts such as in environmental print, family names or in other books.

Whiteboard & Marker

Model your child's name using a capital and lowercase letters. Have your child write his/her name several times using the whiteboard and marker. Give your child multiple opportunities to practice writing the letter that you and your child have focused on. Use the prompts found in the books. For example when writing the letter d, have your child say “ circle..up…down… d” The books do not contain writing prompts for capital letters. You and your child can develop prompts together such as “D- make a stick and a fat tummy”

The white board and marker can be used to practice writing numbers and writing numbers in order from 1-10.

The Real Mother Goose

Mother Goose rhymes give children an opportunity to recognize rhyming words, words that repeat themselves, and words that start with the same sound.

When using the Mother Goose book, start with one rhyme. Repeat it over and over with your child. Help your child commit favorite rhymes to memory. Share with your child a favorite Mother Goose rhyme you had when you were a child. Recognize the illustrations that go with many of the rhymes. Talk about “silly’ words often referred to as nonsense words that are found in some of the rhymes. Repeat the words for memory when in the car or going for a walk.

Magnetic Capital and Lowercase Letters

The magnetic letters can be used on the magnetic white board. They can also be used on cookie sheets. A pouch is provided in the kit to keep the letters in.

The letters can be used to spell the child’s name. Once your child has mastered spelling his/her name, other family names could be practiced.

Having your child sort the letters in many different ways is excellent practice for your child to become familiar with letter names and sounds.

Encourage your child to match the capital and lowercase letters together. Have your child find all the tall letters and put them together. Have your child put all the short letters together. Have your child form words from the labels you have put in your home. Encourage your child to put letters together using sounds such as /c/ /a/ /t/ to spell cat.

See Handout: Ways To Sort or Match Letters

Magnetic Match Ups

This is a magnetic puzzle for your child to use. It is designed to help your child match numbers and values together. Put the pieces out in random order. Have your child match the number and the picture that shows how many (value). This can also be used as a matching game. Turn over all the pieces. Have your child match the two pieces together. Give your child opportunities to practice writing the number on the white board that is included in the kit. Encourage your child to gather items to match the items on the puzzle. For example have your child find two shoes and write the number 2 on the white board.
Help your child design his/her own puzzle using stickers on note cards. Have your child write numbers from 1-10 on the single note cards. Match the note cards.

A Time Together math readiness parent workshop will be conducted at your school. You will be given many ideas of how to prepare your child in the area of math readiness skills.

"Preparing Your Child for School Success" Flip Book

This book is an excellent resource to use in helping your child prepare for kindergarten. The flip book is designed to help you prepare your child in the areas of listening skills, understanding print, phonemic awareness, beginning phonics, and fluency. Activities are designed to be presented in a game. Each activity should take from five to ten minutes to complete. The flip book is also online and can be found in parent resources on this website.

Click here to download a copy.