If your learner is ready for sight words, check out our newest class with this link:
bit.ly/tmacademy-sightwords

Each week, we'll learn a new letter and practice learning both uppercase and lowercase identification, as well as practice writing them out. The goal is to support them in recognizing letters when it's time to identify and read words, and our class schedule is based on the most frequent letters they'll begin to recognize when learning to read. Since letters aren't taught in alphabetical order, you can join any week! Each week will introduce two new letters, with an additional focus on short and long vowel sounds and soft and hard consonants.

Class Structure:
Welcome & Feelings Check-In
Letter Introduction 
Mindfulness Theme of the Day 
Picture Identification
Writing Practice
Letter Games 

To add mindfulness to our learning process, there will be different themes for each week that build on social-emotional skills that allow learners to practice in these areas: 
(1) Self-awareness (understanding our own thoughts, emotions, values, beliefs, and experiences) 
(2) Social awareness (empathizing with others & being mindful of other experiences)
(3) Self-management (practicing emotional regulation & managing our thoughts & actions)
(4) Relationship building (creating positive relationships & building on our social skills)
(5) Decision making (making choices that support us)

Letter Schedule (one letter per class -- your learner can jump in any time):
*After completing Q, we go back to S. 
*Various examples for each letter are shared throughout class - the matching words below are for our themes. (:

Week of November 10th - S (superpowers - how we help others & for fun, what our superpower would be), A (affirmations - recognizing personal qualities & building confidence)
Week of November 17th - T (thankfulness - expressing gratitude), P (patience - being patient in different settings)
Week of November 24th - I (imagination - using the power of our brains & creativity), N (needs - expressing needs & asking for help/support)
Week of December 1st - C (confidence - believing in ourselves & our big dreams), O (optimism - positive thinking)
Week of December 8th - D (decisions - understanding our choices & mindful decisions), G (goals - thinking of our current & future self)
Week of December 15th - M (memory - growing on our working memory), K (kindness - being friendly & courteous)
Week of December 22nd - E (emotions - embracing & managing different feelings), R (respect - manners & respecting ourselves/others)
Week of December 29th - U (uniqueness - recognizing what makes us one of a kind), B (bravery - being courageous)
Week of January 5th - H (honesty - being truthful), F (friendship - building healthy relationships)
Week of January 12th - L (love - appreciating ourselves & others), J (joy - finding & spreading joy)
Week of January 19th - W (willpower - determination & discovering our capabilities), V (values - discovering what matters to us)
Week of January 26th - X (x-factor - recognizing talents & skills), Y ("yes, I can" - trying again & learning new things)
Week of February 2nd - Z (zones - recognizing zones of our small-big feelings), Q (qualities - recognizing our unique inner traits)

How will our mindfulness theme be introduced to build on social-emotional skills?
Example: N (needs - expressing needs & asking for help/support)
What are our basic needs? What are needs that others may not see based on how we feel?
What are some examples of those needs?
For example, if you feel like the letter you're practicing is hard to draw, you can ask your teacher or grown-up for help. Maybe you need a rhyme to remember it, another writing example, or a little bit more practice. 
This helps us become self-aware of what we need and decide how to express those needs. It also helps our relationship with others when they can understand what we need.