Once my kids were beginning to show interest and ability in sounding out words and recognizing the print around her, 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 in teaching a child to read, this ultimate guide
To challenge my children (and those in our reader’s response co-op class) to step outside of their reading comfort zone, we’ve been working on the Badges for Books genre reading challenge. Badges for Books is a simple way to encourage a diverse diet of reading, and I’ve found it allows my children to each choose
When I think of summer, I think of reading. I love to encourage free reading all summer long, and finding reading programs with book-ish rewards only adds to the fun.
Apparently, searching for eggs never gets old. My older kids and my kindergartner all love hiding and searching for eggs in our home and our yard, time and time again, even when it’s not quite Easter! I told my youngest that I’d hide eggs for her yet again today if she would read the words
I’ve fallen in love with word links (also called word ladders, word golf, or doublets): games that change just one letter at a time to get to a completely different word. The game of word links were created by Lewis Carroll in 1877. My son, although a very strong reader, did struggle with vocabulary as a first
One of the true blessings of homeschooling is that I get to learn about everything along with my brilliant, curious, and excited children. Strangely, I learn the most from the “I don’t know” questions because my own self-directed learning is then interest-led. I am invested in finding the answer so I’ll know next time. This
It’s poetry month! I love poetry, and I’ve found some wonderful resources for children that my son also loves. Here are a few of the best poetry anthologies for kids. Find more of my favorites on my Amazon page!
I simply love reading Christmas picture books with my kids. Sometimes huge, long lists are overwhelming, so here are some of my absolute favorite picture books of the season. On my list, I start with a few religious-themed books and then branch to other parts of the Christmas tradition.
A few weeks ago, I overheard my kindergartner talking to his baby sister. “Are you an i, u, v, or j?” he was saying in his sweetest voice. “Because if you are, you cannot come at the end of an English word!” This he repeated a few times over the next few minutes as he
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
Even before my daughter could put the sounds of words together, she loved playing with words! As the months have passed, she’s become more confident in reading CVC words and these CVC activities are favorites we return to time and again.
It’s so much fun to incorporate alphabet learning activities into our every day reading and activities. Every day items and even garbage materials can easily be re-purposed into engaging hands on activities for my toddler and preschooler! Alphabet learning is the most important pre-literacy skill to introduce to them.
