Dear Parents and Guardians:

This month we celebrate Mother’s Day with poems about animal moms.

On pages 6–11 you and your child will learn how animal moms take care of their babies. As you read each poem aloud, emphasize the rhyming words. Have your child point to the words that rhyme in each poem.

After reading all the poems, ask your child how human mothers take care of their children. Does she make them food? Take them places? Help them stay clean?

Turn to page 12 and read the “Ricky and Pals” story to your child. Then have fun playing the “Copycat” game with him. Take turns pretending to be different animals and copying each other’s actions. Here are some ideas to get you started: fly like a bat; howl like a wolf; slither like a snake; hop like a kangaroo; quack like a duck; waddle like a penguin; roar like a lion.

After you’ve read the entire magazine with your child, help him remember what you have learned by going on a scavenger hunt. Find the following:

—an animal that can squeeze into tiny places (page 19)

—an animal with a brain the size of a walnut (page 4)

—a bird that’s better at running than flying (poster)

—an animal with deadly drool (page 22)

—a bird that dives for its dinner (page 14)

I hope you and your child have an opportunity to spend time outside this spring.

Mike Wilson, Founder

Prekindergarten Reading Encouragement Project
PREP – Helping childhood literacy one family at a time.
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