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GET READY:
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Read, read, read to your child. |
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Turn off the TV, the video games, the computers, the car electronics and the hand held anything for your young child. |
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Eat dinner together and have real conversations. |
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Go outside and play. Swing, slide, spin, jump, balance, hang upside down, ride, dance. |
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Give your child some jobs around the house like helping to wash vegetables and fruit or sweeping the porch. |
GET SET:
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Play games with sounds. Try mixing up words by asking, "Is this a c-c-cog? a r-r-rog? or a d-d-dog?" This helps your child to isolate the first sound of a word. You can also simply repeat the first sound of a word by saying, "c-c-cat" or "m-m-mom" |
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Play I Spy with sounds. You can say, "I spy something that starts with b-b-b" and then try another one when your child guesses correctly that it's a bird or a bush you're talking about. |
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Sing the alphabet song. |
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Use the Alphabet Picture Cards to match the first letter sounds with the pictures. Start small, in groups of six and don't worry about whether the letters are in proper alphabetical order or not. |
GO!:
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When your child knows at least 16 letter sounds, let your child use the Alphabet Cards to “write” words like cat or jump. |
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It is helpful to have an alphabet poster, placemat or quilt available so that your child can look for unknown letters and sounds instead of always asking for help. This supports their own curiosity and desire to learn. |
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When it is comfortable for you child (not a chore), let them begin to sound out and read words from the Phonetic Word Card deck or the Action Word Cards. Ask your child to use the word in a sentence when they sound it out. |
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Teach sight words in groups of six. Look ahead at early reader books and choose the first sight words from that book and review those with your child. |
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Offer your child their first book to read after she can read the Phonetic Word cards easily. Your child should read well enough that they enjoy the story without much help from you. Give your child a gift and let them be the first to read their own books. |
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The Phonogram Word Cards are designed for use in the classroom or a homeschool setting and are not always a necessary purchase. As your child progresses as a reader and discovers the long vowels and consonant blends, say, “When c and h are together they say ‘cha’ or when o and i are together they say ‘oy’. “ If you do purchase the Phonogram Word Cards, they will need to be sorted into 41 sets or booklets. |
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As your child progresses even further, carefully select books that will support their efforts. Enjoy reading all of the words around them like store signs and menus and remember… |
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Read, read, read to your child. |
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Turn off the TV, the video games, the computers, the car electronics and the hand held anything for your young child. |
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Eat dinner together and have real conversations. |
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|
Go outside and play. Swing, slide, spin, jump, balance, hang upside down, ride, dance. |
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Give your child some jobs around the house like helping to wash vegetables and fruit or sweeping the porch. |
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