LEARNING THE BASICS

I started teaching M. the days of the week. It seems silly to make her know by heart a series of names that doesn't really have a meaning for her; so I draw her week, drawing what she is more likely to be doing each day, colour the days in different colours and drew a little portrait of M. on cardboard which she can move to a different day every morning and stick it with blue-tack.
First I taught her that for every day we will associate a colour, made a little rhyme for it which she could easily learn. Then I sang for her the song of the days of the week until she learnt it. In the end I made a time-line chart with the days of the week in the way I've explained above.
At every circle time we have we repeat the names of the days of the week, then I ask her which day she thinks today is, and then I ask her to go and move her little portrait and put it on today slot.
It is a success: now M. can say the names of the days of the week and has a minimum understanding of what they mean for her.