Kindergarten

1. Pick a word, let's say "CAT". Say two other words (rug/hat). Ask, "Which one rhymes with CAT?"

2. Start with a word, let's use "PAN". Take turns rhyming with the word pan, they can be real or nonsense words.

3. Make a Rhyming book - draw pictures of objects that rhyme or cut out pictures from a magazine.

4. Read a book and find the rhyming words. Some great books for this are "Sheep in a Jeep" by Nancy Shaw, "Jamberry" by Bruce Degen, "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae, and "Llama Llama Red Pajama" by Anna Dewdney.

• Say a word and ask "What is the first sound?" or "What is the ending sound?"

• Say the sounds in a word slowly /k/.../a/..../t/ and have your child blend the sounds to make the word cat.

• Take Away - Say a word, such as "sun", and have your child repeat it. Then tell them to take away the sound /s/, what is left?

• Say three words (two words that start with the same sound and one that starts with a different sound) and have them choose the two that have the same beginning sound. Do the same for ending sounds.

• Play a "find it" game with Lego pieces. Fill a medium sized plastic container with a large opening and lid with various sized bricks of the same color and some miscellaneous other lego pieces (dog, man, window, door, tree, etc.). When your child finds a non-brick piece, they name the piece and say the beginning sound (ex. tree, /t/). OR you can say a beginning sound and the child has to search for an object in the container with that sound.

• Play "I Spy". Spy something that starts with the sound ____. Child guesses objects that start with that sound.

• Say a sound and have your child tell you the name of the letter (or letters) that make that sound.

• Write each letter of the alphabet on a popsicle stick. Write the word "KABOOM" (or whatever word you choose) on a few of the popsicle sticks. Place all sticks in a cup. Have your child pull out a stick and say the name of the letter (and the sound too). If they say it correctly they can keep the stick. If they pull out a stick with "KABOOM" they have to put all their sticks back in the cup and start over.

• Wack a Letter. Write each letter on a separate post-it note or small squares of scratch paper. Call out a letter name and have your child "smack" that letter with a fly swatter. You can call out letter sounds as well.

Get a list of High Frequency words from your child's teacher or online. Here is the Fry list of the first 100 sight words.

• Say the word. Have your child put their finger under the word and repeat the word 3X.

• Practice saying the word in a sentence. Each time you say the word, point to it. Have your child say their own sentences with the word.

• Build the word with letter tiles, play dough, toothpicks, pebbles, alphabet pasta, anything you can find.

• Word of the Day: tape one or two words written on an index card next to the front door, as EVERYONE in the family leaves or enters the house…..ask them to touch the word and yell it out.

• Jump to Read: write the words your child is practicing in chalk outside, spend five to ten minutes a day jumping from word to word and calling them out.

• Shaving Cream: Spread shaving cream onto a plastic tray and write the words with your finger

• High Frequency Word Search: Hide two or three sight words around the house (written on a post it). Have your child find them (each day hide them in a new place).

• High Frequency Word Detective: look for focus words in your favorite story each night or in their decodable reader.