Horstman Blog 9

An example of Theme 4: "providing for ease of learning" is the notebooks teaching young children to write the alphabet. The line paper sets the children up for future writing on paper and giving them an understanding of what to do with lined paper. Not only does the little notebooks show lined paper, but in the beginning of these books they show light colored dotted lines that slowly form the letters it wants the children to learn to write and even can show the direction their pens or pencils are suppose to move in order to create the letters. Some of the books also will have the two versions of the letter (A & a for example) as well as an object associated with that letter like an apple. Further along in the books or series of books they will show you pictures of objects and show you how to write the word for that object. All the while, they are providing step by step instructions and ways of creating the alphabet and putting them into words to associate them with pictures of objects. These books continue with uniformity and consistency to avoid confusing the children and keep them interested as they learn.