Listen to your child read daily (teachers can provide both the books and the guidance on how to do this). Research has shown that, once kids are reading, it is helpful to read aloud. to someone. I encourage parents to use the Pause, Prompt, Praise (3P) approach for this activity:

Pause: When the child makes a mistake, Pause… give him/her a chance to correct it. Don’t butt in until the child gets to the next punctuation point or where it is obvious that the error isn’t getting fixed.

Prompt: When a child makes a mistake, you can prompt him/her to sound out the word better (look at that again… sound it out… what if we break the word there?) or to use the meaning (does that make sense?… what should that say?). If the child doesn’t get the word after one prompt, tell the word and keep going.

Praise: Praise the child for anything he/she does well (you read that great, you made a mistake, but you fixed it, etc.).

Play word games:

For example, I spy with my little eye something that begins with /m/.

For example, while dining with children (a prek and a k), say a word, “Big,” and they should try to change just one sound in the word to make a new word (dig, or bib, or bag, etc.). Have fun!

Sound Activities

Sound Awareness All Day

Give parents the 100 most common words (DOLCH: Pre-primer and Primer )or the 300 (DOLCH: All). Have the parents quiz the kids in 5 or 10 word/letter sets during commercial breaks of television shows (that would, for a 30-minute show, give the youngster 6 minutes of interval training).

For more specific examples and free materials for phonics, phonemic awareness, and other skills go to the Resources section of Timothy Shanahan's website, https://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/ppt-resources, and look at Great Sites for Teachers and Parents. Especially helpful in this regard are Reading Rockets, Balanced Literacy Diet, and Reading Bear.