During winter time, it’s easy to add “snow days” fun into your learning. Start with my snowman vowels sort freebie! Play with snowmen as you sort long vowel from short vowels in a simple phonics file folder game or classroom center. While you’re at it, here’s another winter-y idea: Make learning fun with snowman breaks […]
DIY Princess in Black Costume
My first-grade-aged daughter has a one track mind these days. There is only one superhero she is good enough to emulate: the Princess in Black! This monster-fighting princess is definitely one of our must read favorite characters. Using my basic sewing skills and online tutorials, I created a perfect ninja princess costume for her! Our […]
Silly Sentences Funny Early Reading Practice
My daughter is so proud that she can read simple consonant-vowel-consonant words now. She still needs to sound them out sometimes, but it comes with ease now. Because she’s gotten to this point of fluency, she can read for understanding. The best activity we’ve done lately is switched the right words to the wrong words. […]
Fun Kindergarten Syllable Activities including a Free Valentine’s Day Worksheet Set
One of the keys to beginning reading is understanding the parts of words, including syllable breaks. For my beginning reader, I made a Valentine’s Day themed syllable practice set to practice hearing the “beats” in the words. We also played with syllable clip cards for fun as well.
Practice Recognizing Short Vowel Sounds with an Autumn Game
Strawberry may be kindergarten aged and learning to read, but she does not want to sit down and do a worksheet, thankyouverymuch. So to make sure we get a bit of school in our exploring, I have to be creative and turn it in to a game. This week we played an autumn-themed game to […]
Introducing Multi-Letter Phonograms
Now that Strawberry is gaining more confidence with the various sounds of the letters of the alphabet, she’s ready for understanding the concepts of digraphs and other multi-letter phonograms. Whistling Whales by Denise Eide introduces the 21 most important multi-letter phonograms and the multiple sounds they produce in English. After reading the picture book together, […]
Normal Stages of Reading with a Baby or Toddler
As I’ve been through Reading 1000 Books before Kindergarten with my two oldest kids, I’ve realized that there are various “stages” of reading with children, especially reading with my babies. I started reading with my babies from their infancy, and my third child is nearly two. My thoughts on baby-reading stages are based on my […]
Compound Words Activities: Pre-Reading Skills
Before a young reader can parse together phonemes to form a word, they have hear the parts of the words. Hearing the parts of compound words and blending words together is then an essential pre-reading skill to develop. The hands-on compound words activities we put together were fun for my school-resistant preschooler. My five-year-old daughter rarely […]
Ultimate Guide to Early Reading Resources and Activities
Now that my daughter is showing interest and ability in sounding out words and recognizing the print around her, it’s time I read up on it too and find the early reading activities that will be a perfect match for her personality. If you are starting out or teaching a child to read, this ultimate […]
Dusty Rhyming: A Picture Book-Inspired Game
Before a child is ready to jump into learning to read, it’s important to review basic phonemic principles, such as hearing the parts of words. Rhyming is a fun activity that is ideal for kids preparing to read or just starting out. After reading a favorite picture book, we played a “Dusty” Rhyming Game to practice making […]