The Mom I Want to Be

The letter Q is an extremely reliable, but redundant, letter.  It does not make its own unique sound — it makes the /kw/ sound as in queen.  This makes it a difficult letter for children to sound out.

 

1. Present a capitol and lower case Q to your child.  See if she knows the name of the letter and the sound it makes.  Show your child a quilt and how it is made up of separate pieces sewn together.  Explain that like pieces of a quilt, the letter Q is “sewn” together with another letter “U”.  Give examples of words that start with Qu, such as quack, quit and

 

2. Read The Keeping Quilt

 

3. Go on a scavenger hunt around the house to find items that start with Q for the Q bag this week.  You might find a quilt, queen, quartz, quarter, question mark, q-tip, quiver, etc

 

4. Create a Q collage.  Have your child search through magazines for Q words, and glue them to paper for his alphabet book.

 

5.  Q-Tip Printed Q’s.  Provide a Q pattern, taped to waxed paper for easy cleanup.  Place small amounts of paint on a paper plate or in small cups.  Have your child use a q-tip as a paintbrush.  When dry, glue to a sheet of 8.5 x 11” paper for their alphabet book.

 

6. Provide a worksheet with a line of Qs to trace across the top and a blank spot below (you can write in a grid pattern or use the sheet in the book if desired), 1” squares of different colored construction paper, markers and glue sticks. Have your child decorate the squares, and then glue them to the page to create a quilt.

 

7. Other activities:  Talk about Queens and what they do; Pass around a quarter, ask what they would buy with it; Set out a number of stuffed toys, when child turns around, cover one with a quilt and see if she can guess which is missing; decorate felt or paper square, then assemble to form a quilt; Play a noisy – quiet game; play the TMBG song – “Q U”; Make quesadillas; Make a paper plate or paper bag quail