Extension Ideas for The Gruffalo
My youngest 22-month old loves The Gruffalo storybook that Auntie Ridayu has kindly passed to us before she left for Melbourne. Not a day passes by that one of us is requested or rather 'ordered' to read it for the past few months. It has come to a stage where my eldest and third has memorised the book after having read to Sarah for so many times and of course we have been guilty of hiding it time to time.
While some disagree to the written language being introduced at too young an age, I have rather followed the child's interest regardless of age. So having been indoctrinised by The Gruffalo of late, a few ideas have passed through my mind and, before I forget, maybe I should share them here; at least if I don't get around to doing it, one of your who read this might.
1. Learning the Alphabet
a. Alphabet Cards
By the tenth time your child has made you read the book, he would have already recognised the animals in it. Copy/draw each animal on a thick piece of paper and write the first letter of the animal's name beside it. I usually teach the small letters first at they are more frequently used but it is up to you to follow what you feel is best.
You might want to make a second set but this time with the letters separated from the picture. The child can then try to match the letter to the relevant picture for play.
Of course this can be extended to having blank space beside the picture where an older child can write the letter in.
As there is only one animal for each letter, you might want to use the animals in the story as a launchpad to introduce other words that start with the same letter. Six to a letter would be a comfortable number.
Where possible, you can also use models for each letter before you introduce the pictures. I always find this a bit more troublesome but if you have the resources it will be a more 'sensorial' experience for your young child.
b. Letter Story and Drawing
In the Waldorf tradition, story and drawing is used to introduce seven-year olds to the alphabets. The alphabets are 'embedded' into the picture of the word that starts with it. If you want to introduce the letter 'm' for mouse, you can tell the children a story about say the mouse from The Gruffalo who was trying to find a nut-
One day, the mouse was feeling hungry but not a nut was in sight so he climbed up a hill where nut trees grew on top (draw a line up). When he was at the peak, he saw a few nut trees there but when he looked ahead, he saw that there were even more nut trees at the hill across.
So he went down the hill he was on (draw a line down) and started climbing the other hill (draw a line up). He had so many nuts that he grew very full and soon felt quite drowsy. He did not realise that he was on the edge of the hill. As he was falling asleep, mouse slipped and rolled down the hill (draw a line down). Luckily for him, it was not a bumpy fall and he had fun rolling down and was soon fast asleep at the foot of the hill. Happy and full. (The 'm' would form the ears of the mouse. From them, draw the rest of the mouse's face. You can draw the mouse smiling to go with the story).
The chalkboard is usually used for such lessons. Make sure your letter stands out from the rest of the drawings. Colours would of course help very much. You can say 'Here we can see the letter 'mmm' (I usually teach the sound first and you can name them as you go along) and 'mouse' starts with 'mmm'
You can come up with your own stories and form for the rest of the characters. Note that in Waldorf they usually start with capitals. I kind of mix theories and practice, not much of a purist than a what-works-best-for-different-kids kid of practitioner.
I do have a few other ideas but that will do for now. Insyaa Allah I will share them when time permits. A good book you can look at is Famke Zonneveld's Waldorf Alphabet Book and The Living Alphabet and Howard Schrager's LMNOP and All the Letters A to Z. For older but not so old kids you can get Shelley Davidow's The Wise Enchanter: A Journey Through the Alphabet.
While some disagree to the written language being introduced at too young an age, I have rather followed the child's interest regardless of age. So having been indoctrinised by The Gruffalo of late, a few ideas have passed through my mind and, before I forget, maybe I should share them here; at least if I don't get around to doing it, one of your who read this might.
1. Learning the Alphabet
a. Alphabet Cards
By the tenth time your child has made you read the book, he would have already recognised the animals in it. Copy/draw each animal on a thick piece of paper and write the first letter of the animal's name beside it. I usually teach the small letters first at they are more frequently used but it is up to you to follow what you feel is best.
You might want to make a second set but this time with the letters separated from the picture. The child can then try to match the letter to the relevant picture for play.
Of course this can be extended to having blank space beside the picture where an older child can write the letter in.
As there is only one animal for each letter, you might want to use the animals in the story as a launchpad to introduce other words that start with the same letter. Six to a letter would be a comfortable number.
Where possible, you can also use models for each letter before you introduce the pictures. I always find this a bit more troublesome but if you have the resources it will be a more 'sensorial' experience for your young child.
b. Letter Story and Drawing
In the Waldorf tradition, story and drawing is used to introduce seven-year olds to the alphabets. The alphabets are 'embedded' into the picture of the word that starts with it. If you want to introduce the letter 'm' for mouse, you can tell the children a story about say the mouse from The Gruffalo who was trying to find a nut-
One day, the mouse was feeling hungry but not a nut was in sight so he climbed up a hill where nut trees grew on top (draw a line up). When he was at the peak, he saw a few nut trees there but when he looked ahead, he saw that there were even more nut trees at the hill across.
So he went down the hill he was on (draw a line down) and started climbing the other hill (draw a line up). He had so many nuts that he grew very full and soon felt quite drowsy. He did not realise that he was on the edge of the hill. As he was falling asleep, mouse slipped and rolled down the hill (draw a line down). Luckily for him, it was not a bumpy fall and he had fun rolling down and was soon fast asleep at the foot of the hill. Happy and full. (The 'm' would form the ears of the mouse. From them, draw the rest of the mouse's face. You can draw the mouse smiling to go with the story).
The chalkboard is usually used for such lessons. Make sure your letter stands out from the rest of the drawings. Colours would of course help very much. You can say 'Here we can see the letter 'mmm' (I usually teach the sound first and you can name them as you go along) and 'mouse' starts with 'mmm'
You can come up with your own stories and form for the rest of the characters. Note that in Waldorf they usually start with capitals. I kind of mix theories and practice, not much of a purist than a what-works-best-for-different-kids kid of practitioner.
I do have a few other ideas but that will do for now. Insyaa Allah I will share them when time permits. A good book you can look at is Famke Zonneveld's Waldorf Alphabet Book and The Living Alphabet and Howard Schrager's LMNOP and All the Letters A to Z. For older but not so old kids you can get Shelley Davidow's The Wise Enchanter: A Journey Through the Alphabet.
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