3R Aids for the Three & Half Year Old

Just before the girls turned 3, I wrote a post about the tools and methods I was using to teach them their 3Rs - Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. This is more or less an update post for the 3-1/2 year olds.

PS: The comments by Johanna and Samantha on that post were really helpful to me and worth a read.

READING: Following up on the good work done by the LeapFrog Letter Factory "movie" we've graduated to sounding words and actively practicing phonetics. Right now this involves me coming up with a word and having the girls guess the first letter of the word based on their knowledge of phonetics

aRITHMETIC: Fingers and toes have been very useful tools in learning how to count around here. The twins are also recognizing double digit numbers and I'm just waiting to break out the abacus and start teaching basic addition

wRITING: There are 3 things that have proven to be most useful in the girls learning to write their letters

1. The Elmo ABC app on my iPad - they trace letters with their fingers
2. The Pre-K writing readiness book by the Canadian Curriculum Press (Not sure if this version is available in the US but any book that teaches preschoolers to trace their letters will do
3. I sold the play kitchen and bought an easel (I got the Step2 Easel For Two because it comes with a chalkboard side and a magnetic side. Theoretically that means one child can play with chalk while the other plays with magnets and peace reigns. In myTwintopia reality, both girls want to be on one side at the same time and sometimes peace does NOT reign) 

Other Supplies for our homeschool

1. A comfortable writing table and chair
2. Crayons
3. Pencils
4. A collection of story books and activity books
5. Chalk and magnets for the easel
6. A variety of jigsaw puzzles with varying level of difficulty
7. Educational electronics (apps, DVDs, TV shows, toys etc)

C'est bon. There you have it. If you've passed this road before, any other learning aid you'd like to add to this list?