Letter of the Week: C

March 3 - 7Image from The Cat In The Hat app by Oceanhouse Media
Letter of the Week: C
Theme: Cat (in the Hat!)

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) was born on March 2, 1904.  The NEA now celebrates him and his body of work to promote children's literacy with Read Across America Day (although this year Read Across America Day is being celebrated on Monday, March 3rd).  Is Dr. Seuss a popular author in your house?  Growing up, we had several Dr. Seuss books in our home library.  I admire his creativity and imagination.  His play with words lends well to working on word families and rhyming.  And he's got a quite famous cat.  Ready for some Seussian fun?  Let's 'grab our hats and read with the cat'!

‘C’ is a consonant.  From a speech perspective, ‘c’ is a borrower.  'C' does not make a sound of its own, rather it borrows its sound.  Image from the LiPS Program by Lindamood-BellUsually, ‘c’ borrows the quiet tongue scraper /k/ (as in cat).  For our purposes, that is the letter-sound relationship we are going to focus on this week.  We make /k/ by elevating the back of the tongue to make hard contact with (scrape) the soft palate (back part of the roof of your mouth); the air is released in a quick burst.  /k/ is a quiet sound (no voice).  Hold your hand to your throat as you say it; no vibration from the vocal cords.    

In therapy:  We will be reading 'c'/cat themed books, doing ‘c’/cat (in the hat) themed and rhyming activities, and exploring the letter name, letter sound and letter symbol for 'c'.

Suggestions for home:  Sprinkle ‘c’ throughout the week.  Pick out a variety of activities that appeal to your child (and you!).  Kids learn best through active and meaningful experiences.  And multi-modal learning helps make stronger and more diverse connections in the brain, which helps with retention and recall.  Most important, have fun!

If your child has a good handle on letters and sounds, this would be a good week to have fun with rhyming and playing with sounds in words.

BOOKS

• My “c” Book (Sound Box Books) by Jane Belk Moncure  [Kindle Edition]
• The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss  [Kindle Edition]
• The Cat In The Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss  [Kindle Edition]
• Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward
• Cats, Cats, Cats! by Leslea Newman
• Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup
• Scat, Cats! by Joan Holub  [Kindle Edition]
• Bad Cat by Tracy-Lee McGuinness-Kelly
• Hi, Cat by Ezra Jack Keats
• The Kids' Cat Book by Tomie de Paola  [Kindle Edition]
• Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag

More cat books include: Pete the Cat books and Splat Cat! books

FOOD
Eating the Alphabet - C:  Consider adding some “c” foods to your menu this week.  Here are a few ideas:
     custard     carrots     cucumbers     cake     cupcakes     casserole

     cantaloupe     cabbage     cauliflower     cole slaw     corn    

     coconut     crackers     cranberries (juice)

Feeling adventurous?  Kids can learn so much through cooking/baking activities.  Make your child’s favorite cookie recipe with your child!

ACTIVITIES
Scavenger Hunt:  how many ‘c’ things can you find around the house, while shopping at the market, in a magazine or store ad flyers?

Field Trip:  

• Zoo/Aquarium:  can you find any animals with ‘c’ in their name?
• Dr. Seuss Day at the Seattle Children's Museum

Be a letter detective:  hunt for the letter ‘c’ in a variety of texts (books, magazines, newspaper, road signs, license plates).

Sensory Play:

• Play "Coach Commands" (a la Simon Says) - take turns being the "coach" who gives action commands
• Visit the Seussville website
• create a sensory tray of corn meal for your child to practice writing letters/drawing
• make cat masks
• paint using cauliflower, cotton swabs or cotton balls as a brush
• dress up as clowns
• make a collage of things that begin with C (or for rhyming words)
• get moving with this Dr. Seuss ABC Gross Motor activity from 3 Dinosaurs

APPS

• The Cat In The Hat app     Amazon/Android     iPhone/iPad
• The Cat In The Hat Comes Back app     Amazon/Android     iPhone/iPad
• The Cat In The Hat Knows A lot About That, Vol 1 (iOS)
• The Cat In The Hat Know A lot About That, Vol 2 (iOS)

Do you have other fun ‘c’ ideas?  Take a moment and leave me a comment.  I’d love to hear!

This post contains affiliate links.