Suggestions for Effective Read-Aloud Time
Make reading aloud a DAILY habit.
Spend a moment Previewing the cover - Who is the author/illustrator? If you look them up ahead of time, you might have interesting information to add.
Do a picture walk before reading, talk about what you see in the pictures.
Track your reading with your finger.
Read with expression - consider changing the tone of your voice for dialogue.
Adjust your reading pace to fit the story. You don’t have to rush to the end.
Allow your child to interject their thoughts without being pushed to complete the book.
Be willing to pause and whisper to yourself what you’re wondering about while you read a certain part. “That seems like it’s an important word/part/sentence/idea.”
Ask your child to interact with the print - "Can you find a word that starts like your name?"
Invite your child to “read” repeated, predictable words/phrases.
Ask questions about the story -
"What do you think will happen next?"
"Do you think that character made a good choice? Why or why not?"
"What do you like about this picture?"
“Do you notice any patterns?”
Bring attention to sounds of words - "What sound do you hear at the beginning/end of ---"
Ask other family members to be readers so your child has many role models for reading.
What can you do with ten black dots?
One dot can make a sun, two dots can make the eyes of a fox, and three dots can make a snowman's face.
And that's just the beginning in this unique counting book! Children will develop visual learning skills, explore creativity, and practice counting numbers, all in one deceptively simple—and fun!—picture book.
A small green inchworm is proud of his skill at measuring anything—a robin’s tail, a flamingo’s neck, a toucan’s beak. Then one day a nightingale threatens to eat him if he cannot measure his song. Children will enjoy the clever inchworm’s solution and delight in finding the tiny hero on every page.
What can you make with one oval, two circles, and eight triangles? Just ask three clever mice—who even find a funny way to trick a sneaky cat.
Patterns are found in math, reading, science, music, art, dance, and poetry--and in the world all around us.
Bored and dissatisfied with his life, a triangle visits a local shapeshifter to add another angle to his shape. Poof! He becomes a quadrilateral. But then he gets greedy and keeps adding angles until he's completely transformed. Kids will enjoy this boldly colorful introduction to shapes and basic math concepts.
Each ring of the doorbell brings more friends to share the delicious cookies Ma has made in this beloved classic.
With sprightly rhymes and energetic illustrations filled with hidden shapes, Dayle Ann Dodds and Julie Lacome reveal that shapes are everywhere. Encouraged by this entertaining introduction to an important first concept, young children will eagerly begin to identify shapes in the world around them.
Count from one to ten—then count again! What does it take to make a feast for ten hungry people?
Every child is a natural mathematician, according to Mitsumasa Anno. Children are constantly comparing and classifying things and events they observe around them. As they try to bring sense and order into what they observe, they are actually performing basic mathematical feats.
Count the mice from 1 to 10 and back again as they outsmart a hungry snake! A companion to Mouse Paint and Mouse Shapes.
Colors, colors everywhere!
Can you find colors just like Bear?
Little Blue and Little Yellow are best friends, but one day they can’t find each other. When they finally do, they give each other such a big hug that they turn green! How they find their true colors again concludes a wonderfully satisfying story told with colorful pieces of torn paper and very few words. Leo Lionni launched his children’s book career in 1959 with Little Blue and Little Yellow, and this 50th-anniversary edition, complete with Lionni’s own explanation of how the book came to be, is sure to resonate with children today.
These humorous and expressive characters make learning the colors easy and fun. From New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Tad Hills comes another concept book starring our favorite feathered friends. Duck and Goose introduce basic colors in this sturdy board book, perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.
Blue is a quiet color. Red’s a hothead who likes to pick on Blue. Yellow, Orange, Green, and Purple don’t like what they see, but what can they do? When no one speaks up, things get out of hand — until One comes along and shows all the colors how to stand up, stand together, and count. As budding young readers learn about numbers, counting, and primary and secondary colors, they also learn about accepting each other's differences and how it sometimes just takes one voice to make everyone count.