C Week in Review

Another good letter week has come and gone. I've discovered the best thing about this project is the awareness of text that it gives Emma. Almost anywhere we go--driving in the car, at the grocery store, at church--she says, "Look, look! Letters!" or she points out the individual letters and says the sounds. I'm no expert, but I'm betting that's a pretty important prereading skill. It also makes for excellent impromptu entertainment ("What letter is that? What sound does it make?").

PS. Sorry for the sporadic posting lately. My husband has been home off work the last couple of weeks studying for the bar exam and monopolozing my (I mean our??) computer. That and a stomach bug that set us back for a few days and delayed D week. Plus, I've got 8 weeks to go and am already itching to evict this baby. Is that enough excuses for you? I'll try my best to update regularly.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is, of course, a classic, and we've had it at our house for a while, though it's been a long time since we've read it. Emma enjoyed it a lot more than she has in the past--perhaps because now she knows what cupcakes and lollipops are??? It definitely works as a C book, though we have the board book version and the text was kind of small, which made it hard for Emma to spot Cs.

The Cat Next Door by Betty Ren Wright

This was a random library book find that didn't work too well for us. For starters, it's one of those whimsical picture books with a lot of text--not necessarily a bad thing, just not ideal for a two-year-old. It made it hard for her to look for Cs within the text. It also didn't have too many C words. However, if you're looking for a nice picture book to deal with the death of a grandparent, especially for an older preschooler, this one would work well.

Cards

With Valentine's day this week, what better craft than to make cards? I simplified things by using premade cards, which Emma colored with crayons and decorated with stickers.

The front of a masterpiece:

I helped by writing a message inside:

This was a fun, quick project, and even though we didn't get them done in time for Valentine's day delivery, I'm sure they'll be appreciated!

Cowpokes by Caroline Stutson

This was another random library book that I loved so much I'm thinking of adding to our home collection. Perhaps it's because we're in Texas now? Cowpokes is the story of (what else?) a day in the life of cowpokes. The illustrations are fantastic--the artist created 10 different cowpoke personalities that show up in every picture. The gently rhyming text is fun without being overbearing. And there were lots of Cs!

Just Call Out My Name...

Once again, I felt like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel for our "Do" activity this week. I need to do more brainstorming and research, because all I could come up with was "call," which is what we ended up doing. Emma is a regular chatty Cathy and talks to both sets of grandparents quite regularly, so instead we called MY grandparents (Emma's great-grandparents). She loved telling them about her day, informing them of the sound that the letter C makes, and singing the alphabet song. And I'm pretty sure my snow-bound grandparents enjoyed the call too.

Daisy the Dancing Cow by Viki Woodworth

This was a random library book pick, about a cow who aspires to be a dancer. The story was kind of cute--I didn't think it was all that special, but Emma has read it several times since we read it together. Should I be at all concerned that her favorite part is when one of the dancers "hurt the ankle"??? Plenty of Cs to find and a dancing cow to boot.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

What's a better cooking project for the letter C than a triple threat? :) Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures this time, but Emma enjoyed dumping in the dry ingredients, and I introduced her to the pleasure of eating raw cookie dough. Yum. And I don't think she'll soon forget that cookie starts with C!

We just used the Tollhouse recipe, which I love the taste of, but don't particularly like how they flatten out.
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12 oz. package) chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra

This is a fun book with a lot of C words (although at first Emma called the crocodiles "alligators"). It is the story of a monkey stuck on an island who outwits some crocodiles to get a bunch of bananas. The illustrations are zany and the text rhymes, which provides a lot of opportunities to look for little Cs.