Activities

Tell him that you will both play at finding words that contain one or more of these letters. Give one point for each letter found (one point is awarded even if a letter is named more than once) to each player. To count points, draw lines on a small sheet or use concrete objects such as tokens. The number of points to be named the winner varies. Start with a small number (for example 5 points) then gradually increase the number of points at each game.

Give an example: “In the word noon, there are two o’s and two n’s. I found four letters. So I have four points. “. If your child has difficulty naming words guide him in his search:

What or who do you see on this page?

• Placotine? Are there letters on the banner that are also found in the name Placotine?
• Olivia? Are there letters on the banner that are found in the name Olivia?
• David? Are there letters on the banner that are found in the name of David?

Have the child hold the book and turn the pages while reading. The child can indicate with his finger where the adult has to start reading.

Ask the child to look at the illustration before reading the text. The child will guess what the page is about using the clues from the illustration. Read the text later to verify his hypothesis.

On a piece of cardboard, create a model by using your child’s first name. Follow the rules to trace uppercase and lowercase letters. For each letter, follow the format shown in the following video: http://www.tfo.org/fr/univers/louis-josee-et-lexie/100280285/lecriture-des-lettres

In everyday life, provide opportunities for your child to write her name. By using the model you provided, your child can write his name on:

• Labels he affixes to his personal items (clothing, sporting goods, plastic containers, toys, etc.)
• His creations (crafts, drawings, etc.)
• Invitation cards on his birthday

If he has difficulty writing his first name, give your child an erasable marker and ask him to draw letters on the model (plasticized or inserted in a plastic cover).

If he has mastered writing his first name, your child can practice writing the names of the people around him or her on objects intended for them:

• gift tags
• letters
• drawings

Tell your child that just as David’s parents, you (or another person of the child’s family) would like to know what he did today. Ask him to write in his own way (symbols, scribbles, letters, drawings) a small moment of his day. Encourage your child to write by the way (drawings, letters, etc.) he has chosen to communicate his message. Tell him he’s “play-writing.” Do not correct the spelling of words; the goal here is not to show the mechanical aspects of writing, but to show that writing is used to communicate a message.

Example: The child wants to talk about how he played with blocks with his friend Maxime. He draws himself playing with blocks with his friend. He fetches the box of blocks and writes the letters of the logo “Lego”. Then he writes Max over his friend’s head and Alexis above his head.

If your child enjoys this activity, you could give him a large format notebook in which he writes and draws its activities as the days go by.

List the items that David will need for his first day of school. What would he need? Ask the child to make a list using drawings, letters or words from the story. Example: backpack (the child can draw a backpack or only the letter “b”).

Variation: make a list of food items that David will eat during the day.

Play the game of “Miss Nika says…” in the manner of “Simon says …” Tell the child that you will play the role of Miss Nika and that he will play the role of David. Tell your child that when you say “Miss Nika says…» he must do the action you ask. Also mention that if you do not say “Miss Nika says …” and that you simply name an action to do (e.g. Touch your head) he must not do this action.

Give these instructions to your child:

Miss Nika says, Eat your cereal and then say “Yummy”.

Get on the bus and sit down.

Miss Nika says: Imitate the sound of a bell and the sound of a monkey.

Miss Nika says, Give me a hug and give me a kiss.

Give me a big smile and tell me Hi!

Miss Nika says; Sing me the alphabet by doing jumping jacks (jumping jack).

Miss Nika says; Sit down, cross-legged on the carpet.

Miss Nika says: Read a book and turn the pages.

Cry and laugh.

Take my hand and say “Come”.

Miss Nika says, “Eat your snack and then put your container in the recycling box.

Climbing in the play structure and said” I’ll go up!

Miss Nika says, lie down and close your eyes.

Imitate the wolf blowing hard on the pig’s house.

You can resume daily activity to the traditional way of “Simon Says” taking care to give two instructions for each specific command.

After reading My First Day of School, find the words “that start with …» On each page, select a word or an item in the illustration that your child must guess with the first sound. For example, on the first page, “What begins with bbbb?”” A backpack! “.

Variation: “I’m thinking of monkey. What sound do you hear at the beginning of this word? “.

Tell your child that you are going to read them a story and that you will need their detective skills to find out what the story is about. Sound excited—your enthusiasm will be contagious!

Read the story’s title aloud, My First Day at School, and then ask your child to look at the illustrations on the cover. Ask your child to predict what the story will be about: “What will they talk about in this story? Do the title and illustrations give you any clues?” Tell your child that you will now read the story to see whether the prediction was correct. At the end of the story, ask your child to explain why their prediction was correct or incorrect.

Ask your child to choose a sticker and to put it on their “reading finger” (the index finger of their writing hand) and on yours. If possible, choose a sticker of something that can bounce or jump (for example, a ball or a frog). You could also draw an animal on your child’s reading finger.

As you begin reading the story, show your child where to start by placing your reading finger under the first word. Tell your child that one always starts reading at the top of the page, from left to right. As you read the story, point at each word. Tell your child that you leave your finger under the word until you have finished reading it.

Ask your child to put their reading finger on yours, and continue reading the text aloud while moving your reading finger from word to word. Continue pointing at each word even if they no longer seem interested in moving their reading finger under the words.

Write the first names of your child and people your child knows on small pieces of paper. Ask your child to read the names, with help if needed. Cut out each letter and mix them up. Ask your child to sort the letters, placing uppercase letters on one side and lowercase letters on the other. The activity can even be done using the names of the characters in My First Day at School (David, Olivia, Nathan, Chantal, Xavier and Miss Nika).

Variation: Use magnetic letters.

Using the illustrations on pages 5 and 6, ask your child to find David and Olivia’s first names and to look carefully at the way in which they are written. Ask your child to look for the two names in the text. Do so by showing one line of text at a time and asking your child to examine each word, from left to right. Remind your child that words are separated by spaces.

On a piece of cardboard, create a model using your child’s first name, while following the points below and explaining them to your child:

– Write the first letter in uppercase and the following letters in lowercase (except for compound first names, which have two uppercase letters).

– Write each uppercase and lowercase letter properly (for each letter, follow the example in the video http://www.tfo.org/fr/univers/louis-josee-et-lexie/100280285/lecriture-des-lettres).

Ask your child to create their own model by watching again the videos showing how to write each letter of their first name.

You can also use the following model: http://fr.wikihow.com/tracer-les-lettres-de-l%E2%80%99alphabet.

Ask your child what fruit David eats for his snack. Also ask your child to name the fruits and vegetables that your child likes to eat.

Give your child some grocery flyers. Ask them to put their finger on the word for a fruit or vegetable that they would like to eat during the week. If needed, guide them to the right word. If no word is linked to the illustration or if the word is written in uppercase, write the word next to the picture to provide a model.

Ask your child to write the word on the grocery list by copying the letters of the word. Ask your child to cut out the picture and paste it on the list next to the corresponding word.

Go to the grocery store with your child and ask them to read the words on the list. For each food item found, ask your child to cross out the corresponding word.

Ask your child to write a message to David wishing him a good day at school. The message may contain letters, words or drawings. Your child may even choose to add decorations!

Variation: Ask your child to write a message to another character in the story or to someone your child knows.

Say a word. Ask your child to roll a die and say words that belong to the same category as the word you said. The number rolled is the number of words your child must find. Take turns.

Examples of categories found in the story:
School—Home—Lunch Box—Backpack—Buses—Nursery—Class—Snacks—Games—Sports—Music—Animals—Park—Breakfast—Fruits—Vegetables—Groceries

To familiarize your child with various emotions and facial expressions, watch this video with them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byOXInrshYs

Ask your child, “How do you think David felt on his first day at school? Was he anxious, excited, happy or tired?” Ask your child to describe a new experience they had (“the first time I . . .”) and the way they felt. Were they happy, shy, surprised, scared or sad?

If your child can’t recall a specific experience, you can help by asking the following:

Do you remember the first time you . . .

• rode your bike without training wheels?
• slept in our new home?
• welcomed our pet home?
• saw your little brother (or little sister)?
• invited a friend over?
• took new lessons?
• went to the dentist?
• took a plane (or train or bus)?

How did you feel at that moment?

Ask your child to identify their favourite part of the story and to explain why. Your child may also choose to draw or act out their favorite part of the story.

Choose four or five objects that can be found in school, for example, a pencil, a ruler, sports shoe, an apple or a reusable water bottle. Place them in a backpack. Ask your child to cover their eyes, and then take an object out of the bag. Your child must then guess the missing object by saying “David puts . . . in his bag,” and then name the remaining objects. Switch places. It is now your turn to guess the missing object.

Watch this video to familiarize your child with the vocabulary related to the spatial orientation (beside, behind, in front of, above, below):

http://www1.tfo.org/education/episode/27572/Le-sens-de-lespace#.VkUO5rcvfIU

Close your eyes or turn your back to your child. Ask your child to hide an object (ex. a teddy) in front, behind, above, below, next to, or near another object (ex. a safe). Find the place where the object is located by asking these questions: “Is it in the trunk? Next to the trunk, above the trunk, in front of the trunk, behind the trunk, etc. « When you have found the place where the object is located, check if your child has used the right word and then ask him to find an object that you have hidden. If he does not find your object and he doesn’t know what to ask, remind him of this list of terms: in front, behind, above, below, beside, near, far, over, under, in, on top of, underneath, between to identify its position in the space.

The adult hides a stuffed monkey or another animal figurine. The child has to find where the animal is and indicate where it was. For example: “The monkey was on the bed, next to the truck.”

Variation: the adult names places where the animal could be and the child places it there. For example: the monkey is under the table, the monkey is between the chairs.

In the story told by Miss Nika, there is a wolf and pigs. Since in the classic tale there are 3 pigs, invite the child to form groups of 3 items. For example: 3 balls, 3 little cars, 3 socks.

Variation: at snack time or during a meal, form groups of 3s with foods such as fruits or vegetables.

Watch the following educational videos on plane figures with your child: http://www.tfo.org/fr/univers/miss-tope/100290847/miss-tope-decouvre

Ask your child to name objects in the story that contain plane figures such as a square, rectangle, circle or triangle. Guide your child by asking them to look at a specific object. For example, you might want to ask your child to name the plane figures in a table, bus, fence, name tag, toy, book or plate.

Look at page 7 with your child and ask, “Who has the most apples, Olivia or David?” Prompt your child to use the expression “as many as”: “David has as many apples as Olivia does, and Olivia has as many apples as David does.”

Place 10 objects on a table. Close your eyes or face away from your child. Have your child secretly select a number of objects and divide them between the two of you.

Guess the number of objects your child has given you by asking, “How many objects do you have?” “Do I have more than you do? Do I have fewer than you do? Do I have as many as you do?”

Ask your child to close their eyes or face away from you. Select a different number of objects and divide them between the two of you. Tell your child the number of objects you have. Prompt your child to ask questions using “more than,” “fewer than” and “as many as” to determine the number of objects you have given them.

Watch the following video with your child to familiarize your child with spatial orientation vocabulary (for example “beside,” “behind,” ”in front of,” “above,” and “below.”): http://www1.tfo.org/education/episode/27572/Le-sens-de-lespace#.VkUO5rcvfIU

Ask your child to look at the illustrations on the pages below and to answer the following questions:

Page 1:

“What are the objects on the table?” (a monkey, backpack and lunchbox)

Page 4:

“Where is Olivia’s monkey hidden?” (behind her)

“What is far from Olivia and David?” (the play structure)

Page 5:

“Where is David’s name label?” (above his coat hook, under his cubbyhole)

“What is under Placotine?” (a cubbyhole) (Placotine is the name of the stuffed frog)

“What is above Placotine’s head?” (a banner with numbers)

Page 6:

“Who is sitting next to David?” (Olivia)

Page 8:

“Where is Placotine?” (in the trunk)

“What toy is near the building blocks?” (a truck)

Page 9:

“Who is standing between Olivia and David?” (Mr. Chan)

In the gym, Olivia and David need to use their legs and arms to run and play. But how long is an arm, leg or foot? Take items such as sticks, building blocks or books and place them next to an object to measure it. Count the number of objects used. For example, “My leg is three books high,” or “My foot is eight building blocks long.”