Moving Little Minds

What about the children who are ready for more?

In pre-K, most of our literacy instruction is focused on building strong oral language, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and letter-sound connections.

But when children have a strong foundation in phonological awareness and letter sounds, we can begin offering intentional opportunities for early phonics work.

That means:
- blending sounds together
- decoding simple words
- segmenting words into sounds
- encoding, or writing the sounds they hear

This does not mean turning pre-K into first grade.

It means noticing when children are ready and giving them playful, developmentally appropriate opportunities to stretch.

We love this ABC Arc Mat from Insights because it gives children a hands-on way to connect letters, segment sounds, and build and write words.

And we intentionally designed our Moving Little Mindd 4s curriculum to begin offering opportunities for this kind of work when children are ready.

Comment INFO for both of these links or grab them here ⬇️

Curriculum: https://www.movinglittleminds.com/preschool-curriculum

ABC Arc: https://amzn.to/4oQb17b
Here are the links

Did you know children typically learn the letters in their names first?

That’s because those letters are meaningful.

This adorable cookie jar game is part of our first letter cycle routine, and the girls started playing it on their own after just a few days of practice. Comment CYCLES for the framework.

There is no perfect order for teaching the alphabet, but there is a better system than “letter of the week.”

When alphabet instruction is playful, meaningful, and repeated often, children begin to notice letters everywhere — in their names, their friends’ names, songs, books, games, and classroom routines.

That’s what our Letter Cycle Framework helps you do.

It gives you a simple process for teaching letters with intention, without getting stuck on one letter for an entire week.

Comment CYCLES and I’ll send you the free framework or grab it here:

https://www.movinglittleminds.com/letter-cycle-framework

Something big is coming with these alphabet cards, and it’s going to be epic.

But before I can tell you more, I need you to understand why these cards work so well.

Our alphabet motion cards were designed with intention from the very beginning.

Yes, the pictures act as embedded mnemonics to help children connect the letter, sound, and image — but it goes even deeper than that.

The motions were intentionally designed to match how the sounds are made.

Continuous sound? The motion is long and slow.
Quick sound? The motion is quick and sharp.

That means children aren’t just memorizing a picture. They are feeling the sound, moving with the sound, and building a stronger connection between the letter and what it says.

These cards have become a staple of our alphabet system and curriculum because they truly help children learn letter names and sounds — and we now have two big studies showing the impact of this approach.

Comment CARDS to learn more or head here to learn about our curriculum.

https://www.movinglittleminds.com/preschool-curriculum

Describe what you do, but make it sound illegal…

I smuggle literacy into playtime and train teachers to do the same. 😉

The children think we’re just singing, hopping, clapping, building, chanting, and playing games.

Meanwhile… we’re sneaking in letters, sounds, rhyming, syllables, vocabulary, comprehension, and all kinds of early literacy magic.

No tiny people forced to sit still forever.Just playful, intentional teaching that builds real reading readiness skills.

Hit the follow button if you want to learn our smuggling techniques or subscribe here:

https://www.movinglittleminds.com/subscribe

Ditch the boring worksheets this summer. ☀️

Our 100 Engaging Conversation Questions + Extension Activities Pull-Off Pad is perfect for Pre-K families who want simple, meaningful ways to build literacy skills at home.

Each question includes a matching intentional literacy activity designed to help build important pre-reading skills through play, conversation, and connection.

These quick prompts help children practice oral language, vocabulary, thinking skills, and that powerful back-and-forth conversation that builds brain power. 🧠

And teachers, this works beautifully in the classroom too! Use it as a question of the day, a simple transition activity, or a quick conversation starter during those few down minutes.

Easy and playful with no prep needed.

Comment CHAT for the link or head straight to the shop here!

https://www.movinglittleminds.com/product-page/100-engaging-conversation-starters-literacy-extensions-tear-off-a

They couldn’t segment words on Monday…

By Friday, over half of them could. 👏

This week at camp, we worked on segmenting words by using our sound boxes and hopping through sidewalk chalk squares. Each square represented one sound, and the children jumped as they stretched the word apart.

Simple? Yes.
Powerful? Also yes.

This is such a good reminder that children do not need more worksheets to build literacy skills. They need intentional, playful, active instruction that helps the skill make sense in their bodies and brains.

A little repetition + movement + clear instruction can make a big difference.

And this is exactly what we help teachers do inside our literacy curriculum: merge evidence-based instruction with playful, developmentally appropriate activities children actually enjoy.

If you’re ready to bring more playful literacy instruction into your classroom, comment PLAY and I’ll send you the curriculum info or shop here:

https://www.movinglittleminds.com/preschool-curriculum

At Moving Little Minds, our curriculum focuses on building strong early literacy foundations through phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, and pre-writing skills.

But we don’t stop there.

Each curriculum also includes lesson plan extensions with high-quality read-alouds, literacy activities, and song recommendations so teachers can support all areas of early literacy in a playful, meaningful way.

One example from our 2s curriculum is The Feelings Book by Todd Parr. After reading, children can talk about emotions, choose a feelings card, and practice making that expression in the mirror.

These adorable mirrors from are perfect for bringing the lesson to life. If you want to explore our full curriculum, comment SHOP and we will send you the link.

Literacy is strongest when it is playful, connected, and easy for teachers to implement.

Shop the curriculum here: https://www.movinglittleminds.com/preschool-curriculum

Shop the mirrors here: https://amzn.to/4xz1YeF