You can purchase several versions of these notebooks at any office supply store. To be honest, I got mine at HEB. I like the primary grade version because it has the multicolored lines for handwriting practice, but it also has space at the top of each page for drawing, etc. (similar to mine here). Besides markers, I also use dot markers, stickers, & wooden letter stamps with our composition books. With all of those supplies, here are some of the activities that we do in our workbooks:
Using a marker, I will draw a letter or a number and ask my kids to trace it with dot markers or with stamps.
To practice basic handwriting, I will make letters and numbers out of dots and get my kids to trace them. Here we can talk about how to write letters and often I will draw something at the top of the page with them that starts with the corresponding letter. Occasionally, I will cut out items that start with that letter and we put the items in the shape of that letter, or give them stickers to put in the shape of a letter.
I do the exact same thing with numbers! I will model the numbers & provide the dots for tracing. With dots, I put a lot when they are first starting but slowly put fewer so they have to do more and more on their own.
Another activity to practice letters is to put a bunch of letters in rows and columns and ask them to put a dot on, sticker on, or simply circle a particular letter.
Another fun way to practice finding letters, but also learning the difference between uppercase & lowercase letters, I will put a bunch of numbers & letters in rows and columns. I will assign one color to the uppercase letter and another color to the corresponding lowercase letter and ask Dutch to find them & apply the correct color dots.
Another fun way to practice fine motor skills is to cut out pieces of paper & glue them in the notebook in the shape of a letter/number/shape that you're working on your kiddo with.
To practice numbers, counting, and matching, I will put numbers on one side and dots for the different numbers on the opposite side of the page. The child has to identify the number, count the number of dots and then match them.
To practice numbers, counting, and matching, I will put numbers on one side and dots for the different numbers on the opposite side of the page. The child has to identify the number, count the number of dots and then match them.
To practice shapes, colors, number recognition, & counting, I will draw different color shapes with numbers inside them. The kids have to identify the color & number for each shape and put the corresponding number of dots in the same color in each shape.
Occasionally if I have a download or a printable, I will glue the activity in the notebook. I really like to put the ones that involved cutting and gluing in their notebooks.
To practice motions for handwriting, holding a writing utensil, and size comparison, I will get them to trace different sized shapes, and them ask them, "Can you put a blue dot in the biggest square? Can you put a yellow dot in the smallest rectangle?"
With counting and shapes, I will draw some shapes and ask "Can you put three stickers in the circle? Can you put one sticker in the heart?"
Another really easy task that is great for helping to form great writing habits is to draw dotted lines and get your child to trace them staying on the line.
We also use our books for seasonal celebrations! "Can you decorate the Christmas tree?", "Can you decorate the Valentine's heart?", & "Can you put fall colored leaves on the tree?".
See, for the most part you don't need to print off anything for preparation! You can draw all of this in their notebooks while they're sitting right next to you. Really easy and fun! As a selfish desire, I love looking back through these books as a record of how they have improved, & I know that both of my kids love their notebooks and are so proud of their work! Do you use composition notebooks with your preschooler already?
Obligatory Blogger Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, I just really like these products.
