Does teaching your preschooler to read feel like a pretty tall order? Maybe it’s something that other moms can do – but you’re afraid to try.
What if you mess it up?
Or maybe you have tried — only to feel frustrated by your lack of progress.
Let’s try one more… you think preschoolers are too young to learn to read. What’s the rush? We need to let them be kids.
Today I’m sharing an age-appropriate, hands-on curriculum designed for parents.
You can teach your preschooler to read – and let him be a kid, too!
(This post contains affiliate links.)
When I first started blogging, one of the first sites that caught my eye was This Reading Mama. I was blown away by her preschool reading curriculum! She clearly knew what she was talking about. And no wonder – Becky earned her M.Ed. in Elementary Reading and was a private reading tutor until she began homeschooling her four kids.
Now I’m using her Reading the Alphabet curriculum with my two preschoolers. One is almost five, the other just over three. I love adjusting this flexible curriculum to meet the needs of both my boys!
Teach your preschooler to read with Reading the Alphabet
It’s age-appropriate.
- The curriculum is designed for preschoolers who know their letters and sounds and are ready for the next step – but not quite a fast-paced kindergarten curriculum.
- You’ll find loads of hands-on learning ideas – just right for young learners.
It’s educationally sound – it includes just what preschoolers need to learn to read.
With Reading the Alphabet, your child will:
- review and apply letters and their sounds
- be introduced to beginning sight words at an appropriate pace
- play with sounds in words
- learn book and print awareness
- practice fine motor skills
- review basic math skills connected to the letter being studied
- learn to sound out basic three-letter-words using word families
It’s designed for parents.
Curricula can be very intimidating. Not Reading the Alphabet!
- It’s divided into 31 weekly lessons. Each lesson contains a suggested 5-day plan for learning. Not sure what to do with the pocket chart, letter book, or initial sound sort? Don’t worry. Becky explains each piece of the curriculum at the beginning of the download.
- Similar ideas are repeated each week, so you’ll get the hang of it in no time.
- If you’re more of a visual person, just visit This Reading Mama’s website. She shares each lesson with pictures and explanations along the way.
It’s flexible.
- If you find a reading curriculum that demands that you do every activity in order… that’s a big warning sign. Are the lessons scripted? Run the other way! What those curriculum developers don’t understand is that every child is different. Parents and classroom teachers know their children best. In Reading the Alphabet, Becky encourages you to pick and choose the activities that interest and meet the needs of your child.
- Reading the Alphabet is the framework I use for teaching my boys to read — but because my older son has been recognizing words and starting to sound them out for quite some time, I move at an accelerated pace. My three-year-old still needs some alphabet reinforcement, so I just do the simpler activities with him. They’re both learning and growing – at just the right pace for each of them.
Its printables aren’t merely worksheets — they’re interactive learning tools.
See for yourself!
Each lesson comes with a printable emergent reader. These are so hard to find for the earliest readers! Here you can see my Three reading with confidence. (I love these readers so much that I’m creating four extra emergent readers for each sight word. Be sure to check them out!)
The words from each emergent reader are also used in pocket chart sentences. This is our favorite part of the curriculum! My boys love reading with their pointers. The pictures are the clue for the last word. The repeated exposure to sight words help them stick.
Here’s another use for those pictures: after you’ve gone through a few lessons, sort them by beginning sound. This was a challenge for my Three, but he’s getting it!
I love, love, love this brilliant game. Use those picture cards again by putting them on the road sign. Then find two matching wheels for the word’s beginning letter. (Want to make milk or bottle cap letters like mine? See my tutorial and get free printable patterns here.)
You can also see the familiar pictures from the readers and pocket chart on these clip cards — here my Four is clipping the number of syllables in “alligator.”
My Three already does great at rhyming – but he got even more practice by gluing down the rhyming pictures with this printable.
You can use this math printable in many different ways. Since my Three is still mastering number recognition, I called out the numbers and had him cover them with our power magnets.
I love these printables for learning print awareness. I scrambled the words. After my Four drew a picture, I told him what the sentence should say. He found each word and assembled them in order. Then he could read it himself!
Reading the Alphabet focuses on one word family for each short vowel. This bottle cap spelling is great for beginning readers. Since my Four was ready to forge ahead, I copied Becky (with her permission!) and made milk and bottle cap spelling mats for all the short a word families (see them here!).
It works!
Even though I taught first grade for a number of years, I was a little unsure when starting from scratch with my own kids. So when I found the logical sequence of sight word and alphabet learning in Reading the Alphabet, I was hooked. It’s done great things for my kids!
- My Four has gained confidence in reading emergent readers. He has learned voice-to-print matching, is building his sight word vocabulary, and is gaining automaticity when reading three-letter-words in word families.
- My Three knows almost all his letters and most of their sounds, has learned a few basic sight words, and is able to read a very basic emergent reader (and boy is he proud!).
With time and practice, I know that both of my boys will continue to grow in their reading ability. I can’t wait to see where they go!
It’s affordable.
You can use this curriculum for free – visit This Reading Mama and download each lesson and printable one by one. That’s what I’ve been doing for a few months. But now that Becky has packaged the entire curriculum, I have it all on my computer in just six downloads. I have quick and easy access to the materials whenever I want them!
Not only is the bundle pack streamlined for easy downloading, but it also has bonus material you can’t get in the online version. Check out some of those below:
New sight word songs
Sight word cards
One-page readers
These are just a few of the “extras” you’ll get with the paid version.
And it’s just $12. Yup! Twelve dollars for 31 weeks of lessons – 1300+ pages of material – in just six easy downloads.
Get it here!
And check out my set of free emergent readers that I’ve created to use alongside Reading the Alphabet!
© 2013 – 2020, Anna G. All rights reserved.
Natalie says
I agree this is an awesome price, and in general I admire This Reading Mama a lot! I wish I knew about her curriculum 3 years ago when I taught my daughter to read starting before she was even 3. I used http://progressivephonics.com/. It’s also free, and comes with the same hassle of downloading and printing all the material. It was totally worth it though as Ms Smarty Pants was reading fluently at 3.5. So, yes, I am very much with you – you CAN teach your preschooler to read.
Anna Geiger says
Thanks for sharing progressive phonics with me, Natalie – I printed some of those shared readers – where mom and child each read some of the text. I’m sure I’ll be back for more!
Rebecca says
Hi Natalie
Can i ask you a question? I’m a teacher (certified k-grade6) and i’ve been hired to educate a 3 year old. I thought it would be a similar process but I’m finding it extremely challenging to come up with lesson/day plans to work with him. I don’t want to force him to sit down and do literacy & math activities but thats what i’ve been hired to do. How did you get your daughter reading when the other option is play? I don’t know what is appropriate for a 3 year old
Thanks
Anna Geiger says
Hi Rebecca!
Natalie may not have seen your question, so I’m going to send a reply, and she can chime in if she sees this note. You asked how to teach a 3 year old to read when the other option is play. Of course every child is different, and for some young children sitting down and learning to read/do table work is FUN and what they enjoy. Other (most) children are not interested in much work at the table, at only 3 years old.
My tip is to incorporate learning into play instead of trying to get him to sit at the table. If you are teaching letter sounds, for example, make a game out of it. Write them on the driveway and have him jump to them. Write the letters on paper plates, tape them to the wall, and have him throw a ball on the letter you call, etc. If he is learning to read, put the letters on connecting blocks and show him how when you connect the blocks you can make a word. You can easily take math outdoors in a variety of ways, and there are many ways to make math activities fun without using worksheets.
You will probably need to move toward more focused learning at the table eventually, but I would go easy on it.
These may have been things you already thought of. If you have specific skills you want to work on, I might be able to give you some ideas or direction. My Pinterest boards have lots of playful ideas for preschool learning, especially Alphabet Activities and Preschool Math. You can see all my boards here: http://www.pinterest.com/themeasuredmom/
Robyn Y says
Great encouragement – I’m teaching my 3 year old how to read right now and this would be a Super big help!
Anna Geiger says
It’s lots of fun, Robyn – I hope you get a chance to use it!
Krissy of B-Inspired Mama says
I just got this to start with Priscilla. Can’t wait!
Anna Geiger says
How exciting! Have fun with it, Krissy!
Heather says
I’m the owner/director/teacher of a small preschool and in researching a new readng program for this year I stumbled on this program. I’m excited to give it a try this year. We had been using “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”, but I found it a little dry and repetitive. I like the variety of activities and can see how I can easily adapt it to fit the classroom environment.
Anna Geiger says
Hello, Heather! I am not familiar with 100 Easy Lessons, but I have heard that it isn’t very exciting. I hope you find that Reading the Alphabet is versatile and fun for your group!
Heather says
I got the first four lessons printed out and am starting to prep them. I’m so excited to present this to my students!
Anna Geiger says
Fantastic! I hope you have a great time with it!
nan says
Happy Birthday, Anna! Love the ultrasound pictures and love the blog!!! You are a
born teacher and no matter how many children the Lord blesses you with, you’ll always find time and energy to share your educational thoughts and ideas!!!
Anna Geiger says
Thank you so much, Nan! It’s definitely fun and a great way to resurrect the old teaching brain. Also nice to find out I still have one :).
iGameMom says
looks like a wonderful set of curriculum. I am featuring this on igamemom.com http://wp.me/p2t50R-28N thanks for sharing at Mom’s Library.
Anna Geiger says
Thank you so much for the feature!
Monica says
Featuring at Family Fun Friday!
http://happyandblessedhome.com/category/family-fun/
Monica
Anna Geiger says
Thank you so much for the feature, Monica!
Monica says
Ana,
Is there an affiliate program set up for this? Like if I wanted to feature a button on my blog? Have you trued eJunkie?
Monica
Anna Geiger says
Hi Monica, I am actually an affiliate for this curriculum through eJunkie. This Reading Mama asked me personally if I would be an affiliate. I am not sure if she is seeking other affiliates, but you can certainly contact her directly via her blog.
MomAtWork says
Thanks alot for your blog!! Pre-school children indeed can learn to read, especially when the reading activities are mixed with fun things like songs, puzzles, games etc. I did use Hooked on Phonics – It isn’t free but there is a 30 days free trial to get a good assessment done.
Anna Geiger says
Thanks for commenting! Personally I’m not big on packaged phonics programs for my own children, but I do know that they work really well for some kids. I think as long as we make it age appropriate, hands-on, and fun, our kids can be successful.
Anna Geiger says
You’re welcome, Kelly – thank you for checking it out!
Marie C. says
Thanks for the resources Anna… looks like some good prices. In my opinion one must choose the best reading program for your child. It’s not a one size fits all in the learning arena. Also, I believe that parent participation is key in whatever learn to read method that is used. It looks like you defiantly advocate involved parenting… good for you!
Marie C.
http://www.ChildrenLearnReading.com
Anna Geiger says
The challenge of course is in schools, where many teachers are not given the freedom to adjust what they teach based on the needs of each child. For this reason, I strongly dislike scripted curricula – which don’t take into account the needs of individuals. Thanks for weighing in, Marie!
Dani Rren says
The printable sure look good! I like to do printouts for my kids who then use them to learn how to read as I find it as an exciting way of schooling them on basic reading. Thanks for the wonderful information contained here.
Regards
Dani Rren
Anna Geiger says
Thanks for reading, Dani!
Tonya McIlvaine says
Ok, so I was a middle school math teacher for over 15 years and thought: how hard can it be to teach reading to my preschooler. Well, I just attempted to start with what I thought was a great lesson only to frustrate both my daughter and me! We have subscribed to ABCmouse.com for a year and she really loves doing it. I dont see how it is going to teach her to read, but she is only at level 1 lesson 11. I want her to do a half day kindergarten in the fall but have been warned that she will not learn to read unless she is in a full day program. She will be in school all day for the next 15 years or so and forgive me for wanting to give her one more year of just being a kid! That said, I feel some obligation to supplement her learning in school with some learning at home. We have been doing basic things 3 days a week which she loves -art work connected to the letter of the week at preschool, letter recognition, letter sounds, etc and she has mastered all of that. I need to move to the next level and dont want to spend a fortune on several different programs….. My mother in law – along time 2nd grade teacher – is an advocate of phonics which is how I learned to read, and it worked obviously, but while I can teach your kid Algebra, I feel incompetent teaching her how to read! Help!!
Anna Geiger says
Hi, Tonya! I’m right there with you on preferring half day kindergarten. I choose that for my kids too, even though with my daughter I was only one of 3 parents (out of 31 students) who did. It sounds like you’ve done a GREAT job on pre-reading skills with your daughter. I am going to post something next week about what kids need to know BEFORE sounding out. That might clear up a few things for you… but I’d like to know more about what you’ve tried. Did you try a lesson of Reading the Alphabet? What specifically was the trouble? You’re welcome to email me instead of carry this on through the comment thread. 🙂 themeasuredmom@gmail.com
shaya says
Dear Anna, thank you so much for always sharing amazing works with us, you can’t believe if I tell you I spend much time reading your notes and ideas every day, today I was reading it and suddenly found out that I am on net for about 4 hours, wow your job is amazing, I really love teaching and great ideas and fun which you show us make reading very interesting, God bless you and your family, I wish all your dreams come true, amen. My lil kids will pray for you because you make them happy I will tell them about you all the time.
As you know I am a new teacher from Iran with no experience and love teaching kids so much, I have 3 ESL kids, they are 5-8 years old, after only 5 months now they know their ABC’s. they know the letter and the sounds I am so proud of them, they learn very fast and also learn the vocabulary very fast, when I show them letter “Aa” they loudly say ‘a, a, a is for apple, alligator, ambulance, ant’ wow and the same for the other letters. But now we have a 2 weeks holiday and in about a week will start new course, but do not know what I should teach them, we do two ESL for kids curriculums but its more about talking and listening and learning new vocabularies but I want to teach them phonics and also their parents want. Now they know their alphabet what would be the next step. I have made a phonic book with this order for them,
s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,g,o,c,k,e,u,r,h,b,f,l,j,v,w,x,y,z,qu,ch,sh,th,ng,ai,ee
when they reach letter “n” they can make and read lots of words, like ” sit, sat, pin, pan, ant, is, it, nap, tap” but I told you I am new with no experience and I myself made this phonic book for them, it maybe has lots of errors, but now when I see your pages it was so fun and amazing, but the order is not the same, what should I do, would you please advise me, I have one week to start the next course so I can change my workbook please please show me the best way. God bless you lovely teacher.
Shaya
Anna Geiger says
Hello, Shaya! As always you have great questions. Thank you for your patience when it takes me a while to get back to you! I think you have already started your next course, so I’m sorry it took me a while. I know you left some other comments, so I will review all of them and send you an email.
Julia Sischo says
WHY??? There are more important skills for a preschooler. Play for example!!
Anna Geiger says
You will not see me disagreeing with you on the importance of play. In fact, teaching my preschoolers to read has taken (at most) 30-60 minutes a week. Some of my children have had more interest in it, and we do it a few days a week. One of my sons resisted, so we took quite a few months off while he enjoyed his Legos, until he wanted to give it another go. Most days we just enjoy reading books together, and they have a lot of independent play with their siblings. LOTS of it. I absolutely do not believe in forcing children who are uninterested to be early readers, but when they enjoy it – and it’s done in a developmentally appropriate way – it’s fabulous. They LOVE being able to read, and they enjoy school because it’s not a struggle. It’s also a wonderful thing for a parent to have the joy of teaching his or her child to read, and it’s a wonderful sharing experience for both of them.
Roopa R says
So agree with you on this. WHen the child shows interest, what’s the harm? Plus having them ready and open to a whole new world of books and when their play can be supplemented with what they read in books and they combine that with their imagination …you don’t know whats going to come out of their minds and mouths !!
Patti says
Thank you Julia!
Allyson says
This was such an informative article- thanks for sharing! I am a high school teacher but started a community reading group for kids a couple of months ago. There are a couple of 3 year olds. It is very different but I agree 100% with the comments about creating a fun activity and then embedding the learning into it. Thanks again!
Anna G says
Thanks for reading, Allyson!
shipra says
(link removed)
Anna G says
Please stop spamming my comment section with your links. Thank you.