Reading tips & strategies: Playing with the sound of words (ages 2-8)

As your children are getting ready to read or developing their reading skills, it's great to play with the sound of words. Each word is made of small blocks of sounds. In order to learn to read, we need to be able to break words into the smaller parts. Focus on these sounds (not letter names) and play with these sound parts. As Reading Rockets explains:

As the foundation for all written words, letters are important because they are the symbols for the small actions your mouth makes as you say words. What's equally important, however, is that your child learns the sound associated with each letter. These individual sounds are called phonemes, and children who know about the connection between a letter and its phoneme have an easier time learning to read.

Parents can help children get ready to read by playing with the sound of words. Play some of these silly games as you're at the store or cooking dinner. 

image from PBS Kids for Parents

Play with rhymes: Rhyming games help children recognize how parts of words can be similar. You can sing songs or read stories with rhymes. But you can also play guessing games with everyday objects. Maybe it's a version of "I spy" using rhyming: "I spy something that rhymes with bear." 

Be silly with nonsense words: Kids love-love-love being silly. Encourage this, and use nonsense words that play with small sounds of words. These types of words help kids learn to blend together words, using these sound chunks. Maybe if you sneeze, try saying "achoo-a-boo-boo-boo!" Do you see how that helps emphasize that small part of the word?

Listen for sounds: Help your child listen for beginning sounds in words and then play with them. Can they make this even sillier: Silly Sally sings songs all Saturday -- by extending all the sss's? What about Mommy makes mud pies? This sort of goofy playing actually helps children realize that the beginning sounds are important parts of words.

Swap sounds around: For a more advanced game, try removing or swapping sounds. What is ‘beat’ when you take away the T sound? Bee! Maybe they can use this to make up silly nicknames for their pets or stuffed animals.

Read more ideas on PBS Parents at How to Start Playing On-the-Go Literacy Games.

Playing with language and words will help children develop their confidence and phonics skills. How do you help grow your readers? Send me a note, and let me know what works for you! 

©2021 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Reading tips & strategies: July 2021

 Each reader is different, but we all share a desire to explore, engage and discover stories around us. As part of relaunching my blog, I'd like to share quick suggestions of reading tips and strategies. I truly believe that we discover the magic of reading by getting recommendations from trusted friends in our lives. Think of me as your own personal librarian.

image from Reading Rockets

Comprehension: Understanding what you read

Comprehension is the real goal of reading -- it's understanding what we read, and connecting it to our broader understanding of the world. But how do strong readers do this? How can we help our children strengthen these skills? Reading Rockets sets out a few good tips in its series Reading 101: A Guide for Parents. Try these:

* Draw on prior knowledge: Before you read, do a picture walk and talk about what you know already. What connections can you make, just from looking at the title, cover and some of the pictures?

* Form mental images: Do you see a movie in your head as you read? Good readers often form mental pictures as they read, and this helps them put together the action or ideas in a story.

* Summarize & retell: Talk about what you see as the important parts of the story. Who are the main characters, and what problems are they facing? Talking through this will help your child learn to weed out unnecessary information.

Making Reading Relevant: Read, Learn and Do!

Reading can make our real-world experiences more meaningful, whether it's learning about something in our natural environment or getting inspired to draw & create artwork. Look at this short post from Colorín Colorado, a wonderful resource supporting families of English Language Learners. 

Are storms coming to your area this summer? Read a story like The Buffalo Storm, by Katherine Applegate. Pair it with a nonfiction book like Magic School Bus: Inside a Hurricane or National Geographic's Storms! Then get prepared for storms coming your way -- put together a storm kit with flashlights and extra batteries. Brainstorm a list of how to keep calm and be prepared -- maybe practice with stuffed animals who are scared of lightning.

Making reading meaningful and relevant will help children develop their confidence and comprehension skills. How do you help grow your readers? Send me a note, and let me know what works for you!

©2021 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books