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Osmo has a variety of games and tools to help children learn to read and to support the components of reading. One of my favorite games is Osmo Words. Children can learn at different levels and their progress is tracked so parents and teachers know how they are doing.

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Osmo's groundbreaking system fosters social intelligence and creative thinking by opening up the iPad and iPhone to the endless possibilities of physical play.

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K–2 literacy program offers comprehensive, adaptive activities

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Lalilo by Renaissance | Practice and instruction on Foundational Literacy skills

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Sign up and invite parents remotely for home access to phonics and reading lessons.

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Excellent tool for enjoyable practice of phonics skills. Modeled initial play of some of the little games so students understood the goal. No ads, so no distracting side elements. Students loved progressing through the lands, building their ship and flying to a new planet.

There is also a newer 4th level, called REading For FUn which my stronger 1st and 2nd graders love. This has a very different feel but is still super engaging.

Teachyourmonster.org has just released a Numbers game which is targeted to K4-Kinder students. It emphasizes number bonds and subitizing and it FABULOUS. They are adding more levels, but it has been a massive hit with my young students, who celebrate out loud often as they master a level. It is very calm in feel, which I like.

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Teach Your Monster to Read Review for Teachers | Common Sense Education

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Excellent tool for enjoyable practice of phonics skills. Modeled initial play of some of the little games so students understood the goal. No ads, so no distracting side elements. Students loved progressing through the lands, building their ship and flying to a new planet.

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Starfall ABCs could be a great way to introduce your whole class to a letter of the day or week. Students can view the pictures and animations with you demonstrating the activities or calling on volunteers to complete them. Students also can work individually on teacher-assigned or self-chosen letters. They may enjoy copying the premise of Starfall ABCs to create their own pictures and songs to teach a letter to their peers, which would further reinforce learning.

Continue reading

Starfall ABCs is an app that introduces preschoolers to letter sounds and early spelling skills. Students select a letter from Starfall ABCs' main page and watch it make a grand entrance (V's are vacuumed in, and T's come in on a train). The starring letter is sounded out, and several screens follow with images of objects or animations featuring things that start with the letter (pink pigs, zigzags). Many letters are supported by games of matching letters or selecting the letter that doesn't belong (e.g., F, f, or x?). Students also can place letters in the right order to form a word and have it sounded out slowly. A silly tone keeps interest high -- for example, turtles play tunes at the end of a train. A separate grouping of vowels introduces some of the variety in vowel sounds. The menu on the side of the home screen lets kids also explore colors, numbers, shapes, songs, and seasonal activities.

Starfall ABCs is a solid early learning app with a thorough approach to presenting the alphabet to preschoolers. Students hear the sounds of each letter repeated often and can both hear and see how each letter is used in words. Each word has some cute animations they can trigger, followed by interactive games such as puzzles and mazes, as well as chances to see words used in sentences. It's a colorful, effective introduction to the alphabet. One potential downside is that the app presents only short vowel sounds, leaving out the variation in the full range of what vowels do in words. That's a difficult part of learning to read and write in English, and, like many simple early reading apps, Starfall ABCs does explicitly label the vowel sounds as being "short" but has no content to address any other vowel sounds. Also, the look and feel is a bit old-school and the activities are fairly static, but they get the job done.

Starfall's free website is well-respected for its learn-to-read activities, and the Starfall ABCs app is a streamlined way to access some of the site's content on mobile devices for free.

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Starfall ABCs Review for Teachers | Common Sense Education

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Starfall ABCs could be a great way to introduce your whole class to a letter of the day or week. Students can view the pictures and animations with you demonstrating the activities or calling on volunteers to complete them. Students also can work individually on teacher-assigned or self-chosen letters.

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Duolingo is the world's most popular way to learn a language. It's 100% free, fun and science-based. Practice online on duolingo.com or on the apps!

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This activity will accommodate the needs of learners at various developmental levels by allowing them to connect the pictures in the correct place and to use other strategies to make this activity easier or more challenging to fit the students needs. To make it more challenging the teacher can ask the students to either draw their own pictures instead or write the words.

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What parents can do to help at home

Hold a conversation and discuss what your child has read. Ask your child probing questions about the book and connect the events to his or her own life. For example, say "I wonder why that girl did that?" or "How do you think he felt? Why?" and "So, what lesson can we learn here?".

Help your child make connections between what he or she reads and similar experiences he has felt, saw in a movie, or read in another book.

Help your child monitor his or her understanding. Teach her to continually ask herself whether she understands what she's reading.

Help your child go back to the text to support his or her answers.

Discuss the meanings of unknown words, both those he reads and those he hears.

Read material in short sections, making sure your child understands each step of the way.

Discuss what your child has learned from reading informational text such as a science or social studies book.

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Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to (1) decode what they read; (2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and (3) think deeply about what they have read.

One big part of comprehension is having a sufficient vocabulary, or knowing the meanings of enough words. Readers who have strong comprehension are able to draw conclusions about what they read - what is important, what is a fact, what caused an event to happen, which characters are funny. Thus comprehension involves combining reading with thinking and reasoning.

Target the Problem: Comprehension

What the problem looks like

A kid's perspective: What this feels like to me

Children will usually express their frustration and difficulties in a general way, with statements like "I hate reading!" or "This is stupid!". But if they could, this is how kids might describe how comprehension difficulties in particular affect their reading:

It takes me so long to read something. It's hard to follow along with everything going on.

I didn't really get what that book was about.

Why did that character do that? I just don't get it!

I'm not sure what the most important parts of the book were.

I couldn't really create an image in my head of what was going on.

A parent's perspective: What I see at home

Here are some clues for parents that a child may have problems with comprehension:

She's not able to summarize a passage or a book.

He might be able to tell you what happened in a story, but can't explain why events went the way they did.

She can't explain what a character's thoughts or feelings might have been.

He doesn't link events in a book to similar events from another book or from real life.

A teacher's perspective: What I see in the classroom

Here are some clues for teachers that a student may have problems with comprehension:

He seems to focus on the "wrong" aspect of a passage; for example, he concentrates so much on the details that the main idea is lost.

She can tell the outcome of a story, but cannot explain why things turned out that way.

He does not go behind what is presented in a book to think about what might happen next or why characters took the action they did.

She brings up irrelevant information when trying to relate a passage to something in her own life.

He seems to have a weak vocabulary.

She cannot tell the clear, logical sequence of events in a story.

He does not pick out the key facts from informational text.

He cannot give you a "picture" of what's going on in a written passage; for example, what the characters look like or details of where the story takes place.

How to help

With the help of parents and teachers, kids can learn strategies to cope with comprehension problems that affect his or her reading. Below are some tips and specific things to do.

What kids can do to help themselves

Use outlines, maps, and notes when you read.

Make flash cards of key terms you might want to remember.

Read stories or passages in short sections and make sure you know what happened before you continue reading.

Ask yourself, "Does this make sense?" If it doesn't, reread the part that didn't make sense.

Read with a buddy. Stop every page or so and take turns summarizing what you've read.

Ask a parent or teacher to preview a book with you before you read it on your own.

As you read, try to form mental pictures or images that match the story.

What parents can do to help at home

Hold a conversation and discuss what your child has read. Ask your child probing questions about the book and connect the events to his or her own life. For example, say "I wonder why that girl did that?" or "How do you think he felt? Why?" and "So, what lesson can we learn here?".

Help your child make connections between what he or she reads and similar experiences he has felt, saw in a movie, or read in another book.

Help your child monitor his or her understanding. Teach her to continually ask herself whether she understands what she's reading.

Help your child go back to the text to support his or her answers.

Discuss the meanings of unknown words, both those he reads and those he hears.

Read material in short sections, making sure your child understands each step of the way.

Discuss what your child has learned from reading informational text such as a science or social studies book.

What teachers can do to help at school

As students read, ask them open-ended questions such as "Why did things happen that way?" or "What is the author trying to do here?" and "Why is this somewhat confusing?".

Teach students the structure of different types of reading material. For instance, narrative texts usually have a problem, a highpoint of action, and a resolution to the problem. Informational texts may describe, compare and contrast, or present a sequence of events.

Discuss the meaning of words as you go through the text. Target a few words for deeper teaching, really probing what those words mean and how they can be used.

Teach note-taking skills and summarizing strategies.

Use graphic organizers that help students break information down and keep tack of what they read.

Encourage students to use and revisit targeted vocabulary words.

Teach students to monitor their own understanding. Show them how, for example, to ask themselves "What's unclear here?" or "What information am I missing?" and "What else should the author be telling me?".

Teach children how to make predictions and how to summarize.

More information

Find out more about comprehension issues with these resources from Reading Rockets, The Access Center, and LD OnLine:

Other recommended links:

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Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to (1) decode what they read; (2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and (3) think deeply about what they have read.

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KIDSPARKZ - Preschool activities, themes, songs and printables for preschool teachers and parents.

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This website offers resources to assist families with developing vocabulary at home through interactive activities such as reading, using new words in conversation, and exploring the world around them. These activities meet the needs of families who may have a communication, cultural, or family/housing dynamic that may be challenging to support learners in the home by allowing students to learn at their own pace and level and keeping them engaged.

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Talking to and reading with your pre-K child are two terrific ways to help them hear new words. Conversations and questions about interesting words are easy ways to get new words into everyday talk.

Even very young children love to hear and learn new words! Help your child expand their word bank and knowledge of the world by using interesting and vivid words instead of simpler language in your everyday conversations. For example, instead of saying, "this pizza is good" you might say, "this pepperoni pizza tastes spicy."

Reading aloud exposes your child to lots of vivid language that is not found in books for beginning readers. When you come upon a new and interesting word, take the time to stop and ask your child what they think that word might mean in the context of the story. Then offer a kid-friendly definition of the word and connect it to a similar word and a shared experience.

Word learning and vocabulary growth takes time and patience. Don't expect your child to learn a new word after one conversation or one read aloud. True word learning happens after being exposed to words several times. We all learn about words throughout our lifetime. You're getting your child off to a great start by developing an early interest in words.

Try these vocabulary activities at home!

Read aloud every day

Reading aloud to your child and having your child read books on their own is the best way to increase their vocabulary. Books provide words they won't encounter in everyday conversations as the language of books is more complete and formal than talking. A great story also provides context and illustrations for learning a new word.

Bring in the nonfiction

Nonfiction and informational books (such as the picture books by Gail Gibbons and Sneed Collard) offer young children a treasure chest of new and interesting words about our world. If the book has a glossary, spend some time discussing the words with your child, and as you read aloud stop as often as needed to think about new words and how they connect to what your child already knows about.

Grocery store vocabulary

Use the items on the grocery shelf to give your child practice finding something above their belly button, below their nose, on the bottom shelf, and between other items on a shelf. Opportunities to use superlatives, those little endings that help describe size, are all around the grocery store. Have your child find a big fruit, a bigger fruit and the biggest fruit in the produce section. What's the smallest item in the cart? The largest item?

Explore your world

Visits to a museum, the zoo, the botanical garden, historical sites, and even your neighborhood park are terrific opportunities to introduce your child to new words. Spend some time looking at the signage and identifying new words, then connecting them to what you see right there.

Talk about new words during read alouds

Talking to and reading with your child are two terrific ways to help them hear and read new words. Conversations and questions about interesting words ("The book says, 'The boy tumbled down the hill,' and look at the picture! How do you think he went down the hill?") are easy ways to get new words into everyday talk.

Sharing a new word with your child doesn't have to take a long time: just a few minutes to talk about the word and then focus back on the book or conversation. Choose which words to talk about carefully - choosing every new word might make reading seem like a chore. The best words to explore with your child are ones that are common among adult speakers but are less common to see in the books your child might read.

When introducing new words to your young learner, keep the following four helpful hints in mind:

First, provide a simple, kid-friendly definition for the new word:

Enormous means that something is really, really big.

Second, provide a simple, kid-friendly example that makes sense within their daily life:

Remember that really big watermelon we got at the grocery store? That was an enormous watermelon!

Third, encourage your child to develop their own example:

What enormous thing can you think of? Can you think of something really big that you saw today? That's right! The bulldozer near the park was enormous! Those tires were huge.

Lastly, keep your new words active within your house.

Over the next few days and weeks, take advantage of opportunities to use each new vocabulary word in conversation. Kids often need to hear a new word in context ten times or more before they "know" that word.

Vocabulary apps

Reviews provided by Common Sense Media.

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Vocabulary: Activities for Your Pre-K Child

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Talking to and reading with your pre-K child are two terrific ways to help them hear new words. Conversations and questions about interesting words are easy ways to get new words into everyday talk. Even very young children love to hear and learn new words!

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These graphic organizers (vocabulary webs) help the student learn new vocabulary words and connect those words to other words that they already know.
The activity will accommodate the needs of learners at various developmental levels, especially those with language delays, by giving them extra help learning new words and remembering them, using those webs as visual aids.

Word Web Examples | Using Word Webs for Vocabulary (speechandlanguagekids.com)

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Definition and explanation of the component.

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Shanahan, T. The National reading panel report: Practical Advice for Teachers. Learning Point Associates. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED489535.pdf

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Definition and explanation of the component.

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Shanahan, T. The National reading panel report: Practical Advice for Teachers. Learning Point Associates. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED489535.pdf

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This website has amazing resources to assist families with developing phonemic awareness at home. They also have resource and books in Spanish and different level books to meet the needs of families who may have a communication, cultural, or housing dynamic that may be challenging to support leaners in the home.

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This website offers resources to assist families with developing phonics at home through interactive games . Most of these games meet the needs of families who may have a communication, cultural, or family/housing dynamic that may be challenging to support leaners in the home by allowing students to learn at their own pace and level, and keeping them engaged.

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About the game

Covers everything from letters and sounds to reading full sentences.

Designed in collaboration with leading academics.

Complements all synthetic phonics programmes used in schools.

Computer version is 100% free.

Watch the Teach Your Monster to Read trailer

At home and school

Our games are designed to complement programmes used in schools.

Find out how

Create a monster and take it on an adventure through a magical world.

Lots of blending, segmenting and tricky words.

Your monster travels to exciting places, meets fun characters, plays games and wins prizes as they learn the first steps of reading.

Three games that cover the first two years of learning to read. From matching letters and sounds to enjoying little books.

Minigames help children to develop speed and accuracy of letter and sound recognition.

Teach a monster today!

Try the game

Reviews

"This App is AMAZING!! When my youngest was just starting to read, we found this App and within 2 weeks she was a full blown reader!! She's 8 now and can read past the 5th grade level! Well worth it!" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Home School Parent, USA, Google Play

"We love this app so so much! The concept of "you learn better if you teach" really is true! Highly recommend!!" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Teacher, USA, Amazon

"Great app for teaching letter recognition and sounds as well as putting them together and beginning to read. My kids really enjoyed playing this game." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Parent, USA, Appstore review

Download on Apple, Android and Amazon devices today!

Award winning educational games for children

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Teach Your Monster to Read: Award-winning phonics and reading games

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Teach Your Monster to Read - The ground-breaking game that makes learning to read fun!

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Reading Rockets (2023). Phonological and Phonemic Awareness. WETA.

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Definition and explanation of the component.

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Shanahan, T. The National reading panel report: Practical Advice for Teachers. Learning Point Associates. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED489535.pdf

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Definition and explanation of the component.

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Shanahan, T. The National reading panel report: Practical Advice for Teachers. Learning Point Associates. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED489535.pdf

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National Center on Improving Literacy (2020). Fluency with text. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Improving Literacy.

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These resources will assist families with developing fluency by matching students to the right book level at home, using guided oral reading, timed repeated reading, and others.

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Learn about fluency assessment, the importance of fluency in building comprehension skills, finding the right book level for kids, effective classroom strategies like reader's theater and choral reading, and more.

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Record it
Have your students create their own audiobooks and share them with the class.

The activity will accommodate the needs of learners at various developmental levels by allowing them to create those videos at their own pace and allowing them to be creative and share freely.

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By the end of first grade, kids should be reading books at their grade level with ease and expression.

Your child's teacher will give "timed reading passages" where kids read a story and are timed for one minute to record how many words they can read in that time. By December, most first graders can read 50 words correct per minute. And by the end of the school year, children should be reading 70 words per minute.

Try these fluency activities at home

Choose the right books

Help your child choose books that he can comfortably read. The "five-finger test" is a useful guideline for beginning readers. As your child reads, count the number of words he cannot read per page. In general, there should be five words or fewer that give him trouble on each page. If a book contains several pages on which you count more than five words that he can't read, consider reading that book to your child until he develops more reading skill.

Listen every day

Once you've found a collection of books that your child can read, listen to your child read every day. Be patient - new readers often read slowly! Offer help when your child gets stuck, and always give lots of praise and encouragement.

Reread favorite books

Building fluency takes a lot of practice! Keep a collection of books that your child can read quickly and easily. Encourage your child to reread favorite books over and over again. With each reading, you may notice your child reading a bit easier, a bit faster, and with a bit more confidence and expression.

Read to your child every day

Model your own fluent reading as you read and reread books with your child. Even though your child may be able to read on her own, continue to find time each day to read books to her that are just beyond her reading level. She will enjoy listening to more advanced stories, and she will hear a great example of fluent reading - how you change your expression throughout a story and read with ease. Your child will hear how you raise your voice at the end of question sentence or how you change your voice for different characters.

Family poetry jam

Start with playful, rhyming poetry about topics that are familiar to your child like animals, food, and bedtime. Nursery rhymes and Mother Goose collections are early favorites. Read the poetry aloud slowly. Emphasize the sound of the words and the rhymes. Read dramatically to emphasize the breaks and phrasing of the poem. Have fun with the colorful language and word play. Reread the poem several times. Once a poem is familiar to your child, take turns reading! First you read one line or one stanza, and have your child read the next. See if you can do that while maintaining the rhythm of the poem. Learn more in this article, Poems at Home (in English and Spanish).

Reader's theater

You don't need a script or costumes or props. Just choose a favorite picture book that your child is familiar with, and one that has lots of dialogue. Take turns reading the passages aloud, using dramatic voices and gestures appropriate to the story. This activity can get pretty silly right away, but it's a great way to practice expression in reading aloud.

Record it

Another fun way to practice reading and build fluency is to have your child create her own audio books. This can be done simply with a tape recorder or audio recording feature or app on your phone. Your child might need a few "takes" to get his reading just right. Sharing your audio recordings with family and friends is a great motivator!

Paired or "buddy" reading

Take turns reading aloud. You go first, as your reading provides a model of what good fluent reading sounds like. Then, ask your child to re-read the same page you just read. You'll notice that your child's reading will start to sound more and more like yours. Do this for several pages. Once your child is comfortable enough, and familiar enough with the book, take turns reading page for page.

Echo game

Choose a book at your child's reading level and read a sentence aloud using appropriate expression and pauses. Then, have your child mimic you, reading the same sentence and using the same expression and pauses. Repeat the game every few paragraphs as you read through the book.

Choral reading

Choose a book at your child's reading level and read a page or passage together in unison. You may have to slow your reading down a little to keep pace, but don't slow down too much. Encourage your child to copy your pace and expression.

Practice fluency 3 ways: echo reading, partner reading, and repeated reading

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte. Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper.

How to coach your child to read fluently

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte. Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper.

Sight words

Sight words are common words kids have to recognize instantly without sounding them out. Many sight words are tricky to read - they aren't spelled the way they sound. The activity and videos below discuss how sight word recognition supports fluency, and offer easy ways to help your child learn them. Here's a list of common sight words for first grade.

Sight word spy

Tell your child that sight words are "hiding in plain sight" everywhere around us. Your child's "mission" is to spot the sight words out in the world (in the grocery store, on a sign, cereal box, or movie poster) and announce "aha, I found you! This silly game can get your child excited about recognizing words - as well as a boost of confidence from knowing how to read them.

Getting stuck on sight words

Many striving readers struggle with sight words. Reading expert Linda Farrell suggests this teaching sequence: first, be sure your child knows all the letter names, then all the letter sounds - and then you can introduce a few short high-frequency words such as was. Choose words that don't have regular phonetic spelling. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

More fluency resources

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Fluency: Activities for Your First Grader

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By the end of first grade, kids should be reading books at their grade level with ease and expression. Your child's teacher will give "timed reading passages" where kids read a story and are timed for one minute to record how many words they can read in that time.

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Clapping Names
Introduce the students to the nature of syllables by leading them to clap and count the syllables in their own names.

The activity will accommodate the needs of learners at various developmental levels because it allows them to practice syllables with their own names, which is something they are already familiar with.

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You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Phonemic Activities for the Preschool or Elementary Classroom

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Activities that stimulate phonemic awareness in preschool and elementary school children are one sure way to get a child ready for reading! Here are eight of them from expert Marilyn Jager Adams.

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Word Families
Create word families with your students, by giving them the first word, such as cat, then they can name all the "kids" in the cat family, such as bat, fat, sat, rat, pat, mat, hat, and flat. This will help them hear patterns in words.

The activity will accommodate the needs of learners at various developmental levels by allowing them to get familiar with words they already know and are comfortable with.

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That's a complicated sounding term, but it's meaning is simple: the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the sounds in spoken language. Phonological awareness is really a group of skills that include a child's ability to:

Identify words that rhyme

Count the number of syllables in a name

Recognize alliteration (words with the same beginning sound)

Segment (break) a sentence into words

Identify the syllables in a word

The most sophisticated phonological awareness skill (and the last to develop) is called phonemic awareness - the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. When playing with the sounds in word, children learn to:

Blend individual sounds to make a word

Stretch out a word into its individual sounds

Swap in a different sound to the beginning, middle, or end of a word to make a new word

Strong phonemic awareness is one of the strongest predictors of later reading success. Children who struggle with reading, including kids with dyslexia, often have trouble with phonemic awareness, but with the right kind of instruction they can be successful. Learn some of the warning signs for dyslexia in this article, Clues to Dyslexia in Early Childhood.

Parents can make a big difference in helping their children become readers by practicing these pre-reading oral skills at home. Try some of the simple rhyming and word sound games described here.

Try these speech sound activities at home

Rhyme time

"I am thinking of an animal that rhymes with big. What's the animal?" Answer: pig. What else rhymes with big? ( dig, fig, wig)

Road trip rhymes

While you're out driving in the car, spot something out the window and ask your child, "what rhymes with tree or car or shop?" Then switch roles and have your child spot something and ask you for a rhyme. This can turn into a game of nonsense rhymes ("What rhymes with tree stump?") but that's great for practicing sounds, too!

Word families

Word families are sets of words that rhyme. Start to build your family by giving your child the first word, for example, cat. Then ask your child to name all the "kids" in the cat family, such as: bat, fat, sat, rat, pat, mat, hat, flat. This will help your child hear patterns in words.

Silly tongue twisters

Sing songs and say silly tongue twisters. These help your child become sensitive to the sounds in words.

Tongue ticklers

Alliteration or "tongue ticklers" - where the sound you're focusing on is repeated over and over again - can be a fun way to provide practice with a speech sound. Try these:

For M: Miss Mouse makes marvelous meatballs!

For S: Silly Sally sings songs about snakes and snails.

For F: Freddy finds fireflies with a flashlight.

Syllable shopping

While at the grocery store, have your child tell you the syllables in different food names. Have them hold up a finger for each word part. Eggplant = egg-plant, two syllables. Pineapple = pine-ap-ple, three syllables. Show your child the sign for each and ask her to say the word.

"I spy" first sounds

Practice beginning sounds with this simple "I spy" game at home, on a walk, or at the grocery store. Choose words with distinctive, easy-to-hear beginning sounds. For example, if you're in the bathroom you can say, "I spy something red that starts with the "s" ssss sound ( soap)."

Sound scavenger hunt

Choose a letter sound, then have your child find things around your house that start with the same sound. "Can you find something in our house that starts with the letter "p" pppppp sound? Picture, pencil, pear "

Which letter sounds do I teach first?

Reading expert Linda Farrell recommends that you begin with teaching the letter names, and then focus on the letter sounds that are closest to their letter names (such as /v/). And here's a great tip for teaching the trickier letter name-letter sound combinations - use arm motions. In this video, Linda demonstrates motions for /x/ and /y/. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

Sound games

Practice blending sounds into words. Ask "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.

First sounds

When you're reading together with your child, pick a word from the book and say it with emphasis on the first sound. Pick another word and compare them. "Zzz-zookeeper and rrr-rhinoceros. Can you hear what sound zzz-zookeeper starts with? Is it the same as rrr-rhinoceros?

Jump, skip, hop!

Create simple picture cards that you draw or cut out of magazines. Have your child, identify what's in the picture, and then break that word into its individual sounds. For example dog is d-o-g, three sounds (phonemes). Three sounds? You and your child do three jumping jacks, skips, or hops (followed by a high-five). You can also do this game outdoors without the cards, just call out simple words for your child.

Snail talk

Tell your child you're going to communicate in "snail talk" and they need to figure out what you're saying. Take a simple word and stretch it out very slowly (e.g., /fffffllllaaaag/), then ask your child to tell you the word. Switch roles and have your child stretch out a word for you.

"I spy" blending

Here's an easy phoneme blending game you can play while talking a walk. For blending, you can say, "I see a sign that says s-t-o-p" Then your child has to blend the sounds to guess your word - stop. (Remember to say only the sounds in the word - not the letters.) Keep the words short, moving from two to three to four sounds depending on your child's skill level.

Sound counting

Using LEGO bricks, beads, or pennies, say a word and have your child show you how many sounds the word makes. For example, top = t-o-p = three sounds, so your child would place three objects in a row. Then have them tap each object as they say the sound. Remember, your child is just showing you the sounds they hear. So the word bike would be = b-i-k (silent e) = only three sounds.

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Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: Activities for Your Kindergartener

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Phonological and phonemic awareness are important pre-reading skills, related to the ability to hear, identify, and play with the sounds in spoken language - including rhymes, syllables, and the smallest units of sound (phonemes). Children with strong phonological awareness skills are ready to become readers.

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Definition and explanation of the component.

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Shanahan, T. The National reading panel report: Practical Advice for Teachers. Learning Point Associates. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED489535.pdf