Pat-a-Cake
Begin each day’s work with a reading of the poem. Through
several experiences your child should be able to say the poem from
memory.

Ask your child how many lines are in the poem. Invite him or her to number
the lines.

Ask your child to find the longest line. How many words does it have? Circle
each word.

Have your child point to the first and last word in the poem, then count all
of the words.

Ask your child to circle all of the Aa’s in the poem. How many are there?

Say the following word pairs. Have your child tell you if they rhyme.
man, can
can, cake
cake, bake
Ask your child to name another word that rhymes with each pair.

Say the following words. Have your child tell you if they start the same way.
man, mark
cake, bake
pat, put
Ask your child to name a word that starts the same as cake and another that
starts the same as bake.
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Begin each day’s work with a reading of the poem. Through
several experiences your child should be able to say the poem from
memory.

Read the poem. Reread it, pausing at the end of lines 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Ask
your child to provide the missing words. For example, say “one, two, buckle
my ___.” Your child should answer “shoe”.

After reading the poem, ask your child to find the lines that have two words.
Ask your child to find the lines that have three words.

After reading the poem, ask your child to find:
1. a word that starts with a.
2. a word with a in the middle.
3. a word that starts with t.
4. a word that ends with t.

Using index cards, make one set of cards with numerals 1-10 and another set
with dots showing each amount. Match the numerals with the dots.

Shuffle the numeral cards. Ask your child to help you put them back in
order.
Miss Mary Mack
Begin each day’s work with a reading of the poem. Through
several experiences your child should be able to say the poem from
memory.

Write a lowercase i and an uppercase I on a slip of paper. Show them to
your child and name them. Ask your child to circle all of the Ii’s in the poem.

Read the poem line by line. After you read each line, count the words in it,
touching them as you count.

Do an echo reading. First, read the entire poem. Then, reread the first line
and have your child repeat it after you.

Say the following word pairs. Have your child tell you if they rhyme.
Mack, black
red, head
lunch, shoes
Ask your child to name another word that rhymes with each pair.

Say the following words. Have your child tell you if they start the same way.
Mack, black
lunch, pack
big, bow
Ask your child to name a word that starts the same as lunch and another
that starts the same as pack.