Tot School: Letter Basket A

Welcome to our Tot School Curriculum Series! This is curriculum combines a Montessori style with classical education for a play based learning collection!

Tot School is something that I have always appreciated, valued, and wanted implement with my children. However, I had a hard time finding a curriculum that had everything I was looking for. I wanted something that was play based, with intentional toys or materials, as is found in the Montessori style. Yet, I wanted to keep the elements of classical education that are rooted in the basics of learning in a more formal way. This curriculum combines both of those things!

This is designed to be a Tot School level for 2-5 year old’s. Now please note: THAT IS A BIG AGE GAP. My oldest is the type of child who loves to sit and read or do more calm activities. It’s simply her personality. This curriculum is very appropriate for her at 2.5 years old. However, your children may be 3.5 or 4 and still not ready for this level. THAT IS OK. In the early childhood years, children develop at very different paces. This doesn’t mean, in any way, shape or form, that your child is “behind” or “not as smart” if they are not ready for this at 2 years old! It simply means THEY ARE NOT READY. That’s it!

Now that we that very important piece in, let’s get into the supplementary activities for this Letter Basket!

Letter Basket A – Supplementary Activities

The Letter Basket contains so many things already, materials list, weekly plan, lesson plans, printables, and even wall decor! It has everything you need to teach the letter A to your child. The plan is designed to be a week long unit. However, maybe you would like some extra activities or would like to do this unit for longer than a week. We have a supplementary list of activities that you can do with your child along with the letter basket A.

#1 Alligator Action Rhyme

Baby alligator rolled up in an egg. {Bend down and wrap arms around legs in a “ball.”}
Baby alligator breaks out its arm and leg!  {Point to head and stretch out arm.}
Then stretch and stretch all around,  {Stretch up with both arms to the sky.}
And crawl away on the ground!  {Crawl away!}

This a fun activity to combine with reading the book about alligators and crocodiles listed in the book list of the unit.

#2 Alligator and Apple Sensory Bin

Use the cards that are in the unit, to make a sensory bin of capital lowercase letters. Add the cards to a bin of cotton balls and put in some kids tongs. This will make it not only a sensory experience, but a learning experience and allow them to practice their fine motor skills.

#3 Hatch Alligator Eggs

Use about 4-5 cups of baking soda. You can add color to this if you’d like to make different colored. Slowly add and mix water in. You don’t want the mixture to be super wet, but damp enough to shape. Take some of the mixture and shape it around a toy alligator, into an egg shape. You can put them in a nest, or even hide them outside for an outdoor activity! Once you are ready to “hatch” the eggs, have your student drop them into a bowl of vinegar. This will make a really fun experiment as the alligators will come out of a bubble explosion! Use can give your student a scoop to get the alligators out with. This will be a sensory activity but also a fine motor activity.

#4 Bake Apple Muffins

They more senses you involve in learning, the better and faster you learn! Combining in the sense of taste into learning will help your student remember it. Use the letter Aa card with the apple for this lesson. Practice the name and sound together. Then bake some apple muffins together! A really great recipe that we have enjoyed before is from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Have your student be a part of the baking process. Mixing, scooping, and most importantly, tasting!

There are so many more activities that can be done, but these are a few that can be done along with this curriculum unit and I hope you can enjoy them with your student! You can find the curriculum on my TPT store. This curriculum is a growing set and I will continue to add to it with more letter baskets, learning baskets, dramatic play sets, number baskets, and so much more!

This has been a post all about Tot School Letter Basket A.