Charlie’s Cues: Using the Alphabet Word Cards

January 19April 20 | Chalimar Rios

The sounds, words, songs, rhymes, and illustrations children are exposed to influence the ways they speak and communicate. This is why an environment rich in writing, letters, and vocabulary offers them the opportunity to develop strong language skills.

The Fireflies curriculum, for ages 3-5, becomes part of building a writing-rich classroom by including Alphabet Word Cards as part of your monthly kit. The cards show the letters that will be taught that month, accompanied by illustrations. Each month the letters taught are different but the purpose behind the cards is the same: to help children acquire vocabulary, learn new letters and their sounds, encourage repetition, and familiarize children with and help them become comfortable with using new words.

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Benefits of Using Themes

June 20July 22 | FunShine Express

We receive a lot of questions about our themes and how we select the activity schedule each year. In this post we talk about how we create and update our themes. First, let’s talk about the benefits of using themes in early childhood education in general.

Theme-based learning:

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Storytime Spotlight: Over in the Meadow

May 30May 3 | FunShine Express

♫“Over in the meadow in the sand in the sun, lived a bumpy mother toad and her little toadie one.”♫

Have you ever picked up a book and been captivated by the rhythm of the language? How about really unique illustrations? If not, you’re in for a treat with our June Fireflies Book of the Month, Over in the Meadow. Published by Barefoot Books, Over in the Meadow was a NAPPA Honors winner in 2011.