Find a variety of hands-on shape and color activities in today's post! Colors and shapes are two of those things your child should know before he starts kindergarten. Thankfully, they're fun to teach! Even though I have taken a very laid-back approach to teaching my kids colors and shapes, my oldest four kids have learned them well by age 3 1/2. I'm doing the same sort of activities with my Two. We talk about ... Read More
A strategy to help kids remember what they read
Have you ever read something and not remembered a word of it? Often when kids complete a reading assignment, they remember very little of what they read. This is especially true when reading nonfiction material such as a social studies article or textbook. If the material is confusing or uninteresting to them, it can be hard to retain it. Today I'd like to focus on a simple reading comprehension strategy to help ... Read More
5 fun syllable activities
Looking for fun syllable activities? You've hit the jackpot! Hamburger. Ham-bur-ger. Macaroni. Mac-a-ro-ni. Motorcycle. Mo-tor-cy-cle. Did you know that the ability to break words into syllables is an important part of phonological awareness? Phonological awareness. That's a big teacher-y word, but it's easy to define. Phonological awareness = the awareness of sounds within words 1. Jump. First, I used painter's ... Read More
Single player digraph games
Today I'm sharing a set of printable games that will help your child learn digraph sounds. Today I'm sharing a new set of single-player games. My Four loves these, and they're really helping him learn the sounds of common consonant digraphs! My little guy knows his letter sounds, but those tricky consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th) are another story. I began by creating a game to help him hear digraph sounds at the ... Read More
A simple way to practice name writing
Is your child struggling to write his name independently? Try this simple strategy for kids who are close to entering kindergarten but still need some help writing their names. (This post contains affiliate links.) Try hands-on activities first! Before you have your child practice name writing with a pencil, you'll want to do a lot of hands-on activities to help him recognize and form the letters of his name. ... Read More
Digraph say & cover
Looking for a simple activity to help your students learn the sounds of consonant digraphs? Try this one! My Four knows his letter sounds very well, thanks to many months of hands-on alphabet activities. While he's not quite ready to sound out words, there's a lot of learning we can do in the meantime. Up next: hearing and identifying consonant digraphs! For this activity we focused on the common ... Read More
Use funny poetry to improve reading fluency
Grab a book of funny poems and try this simple activity to improve reading fluency! (This post contains affiliate links.) A number of years ago, when I was much younger (and thinner), I had the privilege of tutoring a struggling reader as part of my work for a graduate course. At over six feet tall, Mike towered over my 5'2" self. (Size was apparently in the family, as his older brother played professional ... Read More
How to do interactive read alouds
Did you know that one of the best ways to get your child ready for kindergarten is to talk about books as you read? We call these interactive read alouds. (This book contains affiliate links.) Let's talk about most important thing you can do to prepare your child for the academic learning that comes in kindergarten. Read to your child. A lot. Today I'm sharing ways to talk about books that will help your child ... Read More
Spring beginning sounds activity
Are you teaching letter sounds? Try this spring beginning sounds activity! This activity is a quick, low-prep way to give kids practice with beginning sounds. Simply print the "sticky sounds" page of your choice. Then write the featured letters on round office stickers. Have your child say the name of each picture and find the corresponding sticker with the beginning letter. He should place the ... Read More
Books about flowers
Liven up your spring with these beautiful books about flowers! Enjoy these lovely books any time of the year! Save ... Read More