Literacy
Letter Identification
Simple Strategies for Teaching Your Child Letter Recognition:
· Sing the alphabet song often. Write the ABC’s on a large piece of paper, or find a toy or a book with the printed ABC’s. As your child sings the alphabet song, have him/her point to the letters one at a time. This will help the child match the spoken letter to the written letter.
· Use the flashcards to play a game. Lay the cards out faced-down and have the child turn them over one at a time. The child names the letter. If s/he is correct, the card stays turned over. If incorrect, the card is flipped faced-down again. The goal is to name all 26 letters, lowercase and uppercase.
· Have your child cut and paste letters from magazines to make the alphabet or to spell his/her name.
· When reading stories or signs outside, point to letters and ask the child to name them. Point to whole words and ask the child to spell the word.
· Have your child practice writing his/her first and last name. Then ask the child to name all the letters in his/her name. Mix up the letters and see if the child can still name all of the letters in his/her name.
· When you read stories to your child, point at random letters and ask the child to tell you what letter you are pointing at. When you are walking or driving, say the letters on the signs together, such as W-A-L-K and S-T-O-P. When you talk to your child, spell some words instead of saying them, such as G-O, S-I-T, N-O, Y-E-S, M-I-L-K, and D-O-G.
· Choose educational toys that incorporate upper and lowercase letters. LEAPFROGâ carries a great line of DVDs and electronic toys and books that teach letter and sound recognition.
Simple Strategies for Teaching Your Child Letter Sounds and Phonemic Awareness:
· When your child is comfortable with the alphabet and can recognize all or most of the letters, then begin to introduce sounds. When reading stories, point out how the words match the picture. For example, if you are reading about an apple, point to the picture of the apple and then the word “apple”. Show the child that the word apple begins with the letter a. Have the child repeat “a-a-apple” repeating the beginning sound /a/. Emphasize beginning sounds, such as “b-b-ball”, “c-c-cat”, “d-d-doll”, and “e-e-egg”.
· Point at letters when reading books and ask, “What letter is this?” and “What sound does this letter make?” When in the house or in the car, ask questions such as “What letter does radio start with?” or “What sound do you hear at the beginning of car?”
· Buy a set of phonics flashcards. These cards will have, for example, the letter Aa and then pictures of words that begin with /a/.
· Have your child match letter flashcards to toys that start with that letter. Give the child a letter card and say “I dare you to find 3 toys that start with this letter.”
· Have your child cut and paste pictures from magazines that start with certain letters. For example, make a collage of “b” words. Or write the alphabet and for each letter, cut and paste a picture to match the sound the letter makes.
· Play clapping games with your child around the house or in the car to practice counting syllables in words. For example, clap once and say “chair”, clap twice and say “ta-ble”, clap three times and say “ba-na-na”, clap four times and say “tel-e-vi-sion”. When you are reading stories, choose some words to clap out the syllables.
· Read a lot of rhyming poems and rhyming stories. Listen to and sing rhyming songs. Allow the child to hear rhyming words all the time and they will probably start making up their own rhymes in no time.
· Play rhyming games around the dinner table or in the car. Start a rhyme and have your child finish it, or say “I am thinking of a word that rhymes with boy…” and have the child guess the answer.
Simple Strategies for Teaching Your Child Reading Comprehension:
· Before reading a story, show the child the cover of the book and read the title. Tell the child to look through the pictures and guess what happens on each page. Then read the story. Afterwards discuss how the predictions were correct or incorrect. Incorrect predictions are fine, as long as they make sense according to the pictures.
· After reading stories, do not simply say “The End” and close the book. Take 2-3 minutes to talk about the story. Ask the child who the characters were in the story. Ask what the setting was (where and when did it take place). Use the terms characters and setting, as the child will need to use them in kindergarten. Ask the child what happened in the beginning, the middle, and at the end of the story. Use the book and flip back through the pages to recall all the important events in order. The child should use complete sentences and not bounce around. Encourage the child to use sequence words such as first, next, then, after that, last, and finally.
· Make these post-reading discussions a habit.
· After reading a story, have the child draw a picture about what happened in the story, or what they learned from the story. The child should draw the characters and the setting, as well as at least one event. Practice this often.
courtesy of kindergartenreadiness.net
Reading Activities
· Take turns reading. When you are reading a story, ask open-ended questions that your preschooler can answer. "What do you think will happen next?" "Why do you think she did that?" Let your preschooler read with you and fill in the blanks. "Then Goldilocks said..." Be sure to choose books that have storylines that are easy to guess.
· Add to language. You can help your preschooler develop his language and thinking skills even more. Listen to what your preschooler has to say. Ask questions for more information. "How many leaves did you get?" Ask your preschooler to follow two-part directions. "Please go to your room and put your book on your table." Encourage your preschooler to talk to other children. Give your preschoolers words to use, like "Can I play with the ball?" "Would you like to help me build?"
· Make reading a routine. Have a set reading time when you and your preschooler read out loud every day. Bedtime is usually a good time for preschoolers and parents to read together. Make sure you read at least 15 minutes every day.
· Give lots of reading and writing materials. Make sure there are a lot of magazines and books, paper, pencils, and crayons for preschoolers to use every day. Preschoolers will notice different words, and try to write the letters and words they see.
· Play language games. Play sound games with your preschooler - like words that rhyme: "Cat, rat, bat, hat, sat." Name words that begin with the letter "b": "Boy, bat, bee, bird."
Link to additional activities: