Great link to 5 things kids need to know before they can start sounding out words
http://www.themeasuredmom.com/reading-skills-kids-need-theyre-ready-sound-out-words/
First of all...READ WITH YOUR CHILD EVERY DAY!!! Ask them questions about the book, have them identify letters or words they recognize, talk about characters, setting, problem and solution, what they liked and didn't like, etc.
Be cautious and thoughtful about screen time
Today’s children grow up immersed in digital media, which has both positive and negative effects on healthy development. The AAP recommends that parents and caregivers develop a family media plan that takes into account the health, education and entertainment needs of each child as well as the whole family. For school-aged children and adolescents, the idea is to balance media use with other healthy behaviors. There are many shows and websites that are more educational than others. Some of the websites I've found to foster creativity and enhance learning for my students as well as my own children are listed under "Great Websites."
Make your own play-dough
Play-dough is easy and fun to make. Playing with it build muscle strength in children's hands and can help their fine motor skills. We use it a lot in class to make letters and words. Ingredients for this classic playdough recipe:
- plain white flour – 1 cup
- salt – 0.5 cups
- cream of tartar – 2 tsp (you can substitute 2 tbsp of baking soda)
- water – 1 cup
- cooking oil – 1 tsp (if you use baking soda, add 1 tbsp of oil instead of 1 tsp)
- food coloring
- Directions for this classic playdough recipe:
- Mix all the ingredients together with a fork in a mixing bowl until the mixture is smooth and one solid color
- Pour the mixture into a pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Stir until smooth and then until playdough bunches up to form a ball
- Take it out of the pan and allow the playdough to cool
- Knead for a few minutes and store in an airtight container
At the Grocery Store
If your child usually joins you at the grocery store, this is a great activity to try. Allow your child to be responsible for a few items on the shopping list. They can make their own list ahead of time with a few items. Let them sound out the items you want them to be responsible for. If they write"mk" for milk and "brd" for bread, this is great! Then as the put the items in the cart, they can cross them off their list. This not only allows them to practice writing and sounding out words, but it teaches them that words have a purpose (and it can also keep them busy in the store, which can be a bonus for you!).
In the kitchen
Place alphabet magnets on your refrigerator or on another smooth, safe metal surface (cookie sheets work great!). When you are working in the kitchen, ask your child to name the letters she plays with and the sounds they make. Can she spell some words? Throw in a couple of metal cookie sheets and this game can be played just about anywhere.
The Great Outdoors
• Lie on the ground and describe the shapes of the clouds.
• As you play outdoors, play “I Spy.” Look around your world and say, “I spy something that starts with the [m] sound. What is it?” If you like, add clues such as “We use it to cut our grass.” (mower) “It’s where we put our letters.” (mailbox)
• “Finger paint” the alphabet using sand, garden soil or playground pebbles. At the beach, try making letters “giant-sized” by walking the shapes or letters. Pretend you are writing messages to airplanes that might pass by.
• When you take a walk, point out the directions you are going: turning left or right, going uphill or downhill. Point out which directions are north, south, east or west.
• As you play outdoors, play “I Spy.” Look around your world and say, “I spy something that starts with the [m] sound. What is it?” If you like, add clues such as “We use it to cut our grass.” (mower) “It’s where we put our letters.” (mailbox)
• “Finger paint” the alphabet using sand, garden soil or playground pebbles. At the beach, try making letters “giant-sized” by walking the shapes or letters. Pretend you are writing messages to airplanes that might pass by.
• When you take a walk, point out the directions you are going: turning left or right, going uphill or downhill. Point out which directions are north, south, east or west.
Go Fish
Sight Word Go Fish--Nemo* (black line masters below)
(sight words)
Print and cut apart 2 sets of playing cards (each set includes two copies of each word--this will give you 4 copies of each word--total of 60 cards). To play, deal out 5 cards to each player. Place the rest in the middle of the table...this is the "pond". Players take turns asking another player if they have a card ("Do you have a "XXX" card?). If the player has the card, he gives it to the asking player. If not, he tells the player to "go fish" and the asking player draws a card from the pond. If a player gets the card from either another player or the pond, he gets to take another turn. As players make matches, they lay them down (I have my kids make matches of 2 but the "official" rules for Go Fish call for matches of 4). Continue playing until all matches have been made. The player with the most matches wins.
Easy words Medium words Hard words
(sight words)
Print and cut apart 2 sets of playing cards (each set includes two copies of each word--this will give you 4 copies of each word--total of 60 cards). To play, deal out 5 cards to each player. Place the rest in the middle of the table...this is the "pond". Players take turns asking another player if they have a card ("Do you have a "XXX" card?). If the player has the card, he gives it to the asking player. If not, he tells the player to "go fish" and the asking player draws a card from the pond. If a player gets the card from either another player or the pond, he gets to take another turn. As players make matches, they lay them down (I have my kids make matches of 2 but the "official" rules for Go Fish call for matches of 4). Continue playing until all matches have been made. The player with the most matches wins.
Easy words Medium words Hard words
Memory
Sight Word Memory* (black line masters below)
(sight words)
Print and cut apart 1 set of playing cards (each set includes two copies of each word). To play, lay all cards face down in the middle of the playing area in a grid fashion (rows and columns). If the 36 cards in the set are too many for your group, select the desired number of word pairs and place them face down (put the rest away). Children take turns selecting two cards and turning them over. The child reads the word and collects the cards if they match. If they don't he turns them back over and play continues with the next player. When a player makes a match, he gets to take another turn. Continue playing until all matches are made. The player with the most matches wins.
Winnie the Pooh--easy words Monsters Inc--medium words Lion King--hard words
Princess--easy word Spiderman--misc words
(sight words)
Print and cut apart 1 set of playing cards (each set includes two copies of each word). To play, lay all cards face down in the middle of the playing area in a grid fashion (rows and columns). If the 36 cards in the set are too many for your group, select the desired number of word pairs and place them face down (put the rest away). Children take turns selecting two cards and turning them over. The child reads the word and collects the cards if they match. If they don't he turns them back over and play continues with the next player. When a player makes a match, he gets to take another turn. Continue playing until all matches are made. The player with the most matches wins.
Winnie the Pooh--easy words Monsters Inc--medium words Lion King--hard words
Princess--easy word Spiderman--misc words
Practicing Letters and Sight Words
Below you will find the like to one of my FAVORITE resources- 75 fun ways to practice spelling. While this comes from a blog where a mom was helping her first grader with spelling, I find that these techniques work great for children practicing letters and sight words as well. I am a firm believer that learning should be fun. With 75 choices, you are bound to find something here that your child will enjoy.