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Getting Ready for Reading and Writing

Songs

Games/Hands On Activities

Device Apps/Sites

To Help Prepare Young Minds and Bodies

Songs

All children love games and songs. The repetition (rote learning) of these is how letters and sounds are learnt without a lot of effort.

One of the most foundational of songs is the ABC song. To learn it just sing it over and over for fun.

Nursery Rhymes are good for learning rhyme and rhythm.

Rhyme is a good tool for reading, spelling, poetry and music. Rhythm is good for reading, coordination and music.

Finger Play songs are also fun and promote coordination and Mathematical skills.

At this age all age appropriate songs should offer something beneficial. Songs may contain positional language. E.g. The Playschool Song – ‘There’s a bear over there, and a chair as well….’, the nursery rhyme The Grand Old Duke of York talks about up, down and half way. Some songs teach Maths E.g. ‘One, two, three, four, five, Once I caught a fish alive…’ ‘The Ants Went Marching’.

Hands On Activities/Games

A few classics will be listed here as well as a few knew ideas. Games are meant to be fun. Particularly with verbal games only play for a little while, don’t make it work.

  • Puzzles: good for learning in so many areas including Maths and English.

  • Make a Rock Band with pots and pans. Play with the kids. Learn about quiet and loud, hard drumming and soft drumming, fast and slow, how to keep a beat. I recommend putting them away and getting them out yourself and making it a special play time not one that is available all day. Use different materials to make different sounds. E.g. Plastic and metal.

  • Finger painting: This can be done with water, shaving cream, water soluble paint, goo, mud, sand, etc. Children can have freedom or challenges can be assigned. Trace the lid. If it is a rectangle, say rectangle and describe the shape as they are tracing it (corners, sides, straight, etc). Make swirls, use two hands, do dots, etc.

Cooking: this provides opportunities to explore sequencing/order, measurement, comparison language, patience, fine motor, hot and cold, etc. Cooking is a very valuable activity.

  • Child Reading: Use a book that is mainly pictures and have your child read to you. Encourage the use of adjectives and ask them questions such as:

What the characters are thinking and feeling?

Why did they do that?

What will happen next?

Was that fair or right?

Use this time to also develop family values.

Parent Reading: When reading to your child involve them and make it interactive and fun. Let kids be part of it by allowing them to turn the pages, and help their imagination run wild by using voices appropriate to the characters of the story. Pay attention to pictures and words, ask questions about what will happen next, clarify unfamiliar words to develop vocabulary, and check for understanding to deve

lop comprehension. Look for engaging books that encourage rhythm, rhyming, repetition, matchingand/or

identification of objects (animals, vehicles, body parts, shapes, colors, numbers, etc.).

  • Visit museums, parks, cultural events. Keep these things as simple as possible. The more complicated you make it the less likely you will do it again and the more likely the experience will be tainted by stress.

  • Construction activities. Depending on where your child is at, try drawing a picture or an idea of what is going to be constructed. Talk about what will be needed. Get all the materials ready before starting. While the construction is happening use words such as first, next, then, finally, important, etc. When it is built have fun with it. Discuss if it turned out the same as the picture. If it was made again what would you add anything or take anything away? Is it lasting? How could it be made to last longer?

  • Sorting toys using various criteria: size, colour, type, etc. This is great for logic and Maths, but has applications for links to observations in Science and Grammar in English. Letters of the alphabet could even be sticky-taped to the tops of cars, dinosaurs, etc.

  • Playgroups: these are fabulous because so much is provided and the mess is not at your house. They are also brilliant for assisting to develop social skills.

  • Shows: let your child put on a show for you, sing songs etc.

  • Toys and activities that require problem solving. These usually also develop resilience and persistence, fine motor and communication skills. E.g. shape sorters, large Duplo blocks, blocks for stacking and balancing, pegboards, basic puzzles with knobs (animals, shapes, vehicles, etc.), and play dough with accessories.

  • Use a variety of surfaces. Including horizontal, diagonal and vertical surfaces. As well as surfaces that are metal, plastic, carpet, cold, warm, sort, hard etc. Interaction with various directional surfaces develops wrist strength which is important for handwriting and typing. It assists the development of skills such as coloring, drawing, typing and writing. Examples include:

Foam shapes/letters that can be used in the shower or bath.

Magnetic shapes/letters for the fridge or a magnetic board.

Easels for drawing, painting, writing, etc.

Chalkboards – these can easily be made and attached in a shady place outside.

Butchers paper taped to the side of the house or a fence, even under the table!

  • Toys that kids can get on.

Being able to get on or in something and make it move is magic for a child. It also develops strength, coordination, persistence, resilience, problem solving, etc. I am not talking about battery operated machines that seem popular these days. Those types of toys rob children of an opportunity to develop at a critical age and stage in their lives. Examples of these types of toys include:

  • Peddle cars

  • Bikes

  • Swings

  • See-saws

  • Scooter boards

  • Sit and Spin toys

  • Push cars

  • Rocking horses

  • Inflatable hopping horses

  • Activities that require both hands to work together.

Before using one hand well and in a balanced way, children need to be able to use two hands together and alternately. If they can do this they are more likely to have increased success with fine motor skills such as writing, cutting, gluing or colouring.

Examples of activities that promote using both hands together:

  • Catching a ball

  • Push passing a ball

  • Lifting large light objects

  • Activities where one hand holds an object (stabilizes it) and the other completes a task. E.g Mr or Mrs Potato Head, doing up buttons, wind-up toys, toys or clothes with zips, claps, etc, lacing activities etc.

  • Activities that encourage pretend play. These are so fun and adorable. Setting up a house, a vet surgery, a café, a shop, etc all encourage pretend play. Children are full of creative ideas and their imagination is incredible. Buy or make food, outfits, etc. Some items that will enhance the success of these activities include: kitchen sets, children’s table and chairs, dolls dress-ups, brooms, shopping carts, money, pretend food/merchandise, animals, doctor’s kits, etc.

Activities that feel “weird”. Exploring and experiencing various textures and being able to handle a variety of sensory experiences is of value to a child. Some of these include: soft, hard, wet, slimy, bumpy, spikey, slippery, sticky, etc. Ways in which some of these experiences can be provided include playing with shaving cream, slime, paint, cooked pasta, chalk, kinetic sand, bubble wrap, carpet, sensory balls, soap, honey, etc.

  • Pencil Grip Activities: Many children struggle with the pincer grip. The following activities assist in strengthening these fingers.

Pegging: have a mini clothes line and let your child hand socks etc. Use pegs to pick up

pompoms.

Tweezers: use tweezers to sort through rice to pick up little stars, treasures etc.

Threading: hold punch around a picture or shape and thread string or ribbon around it.

  • Listening Skills: Always encourage your child to look at the person who is talking. Have listening eyes, ears and body. That means stop what you are doing and give your attention to the speaker. Ask specific questions to check for understanding or ask your child to demonstrate that they have understood.

  • Play ‘Eye Spy’ in the car using letter sounds. E.g. I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘t’ (say sound not name). Tree, telephone pole, table, truck, etc.

  • Rhyming Games: These game have various levels. Rhyming words are words that have the same end sound (they don’t have to have the same end letters).

Begin with simple rhymes and only compare two words like hat, cat.

Parent/Teacher: “Do you know a word that rhymes with hat?”

Child/Student: cat

Parent/Teacher: mat

Child/Student: pat

Parent/Teacher: sat

Child/Student: that

Easy word families like ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘op’ ect are good places to start. Progress through ‘ame’, ‘ix’, ‘ime’ ipe’ etc.

  • The Odd One Out

Sing: ‘One of these words is not like the others,

One of these words doesn’t rhyme the same,

Can you tell which word is not like the others,

Before we finish the game?’

E.g. hat bat dog (the odd one out is dog)

It is easier to identify the word if it is at the end. It is most difficult to identify the word when it is in the middle.

  • Close Rhyming: when reading a rhyming book allow your child the opportunity to guess the second rhyming word. E.g Inside a house, there lived a _________ (mouse).

  • Sight Words: put 3 or 4 words you would like your child to learn (check out the Dolche Word List) on the floor or wall. The child can hit them with a fly squatter, bounce a ball on them, through mini bean bags at them, etc.

  • Flashcards: are always great for literacy and tie in well with flashcards - the ones with pictures on one side are ideal for the younger ones, and the more you repeat them the better.

  • Labels: put labels on things to say what they are. Table, chair, fridge, etc.

  • Libraries: often have free reading programs and story times.http://www.starfall.com/

Technology

Technology will include anything with a screen. It is important to note that screen time should be limited and purposeful. Some helpful ideas:

  • Only watch TV on purpose with a purpose.

  • Have clear rules and reasons for what you are doing.

  • If at all possible what the programs with your child and discuss their content.

  • Choose specific appropriate shows.

  • Many people believe that screen time should be limited to no more than 10 hours per week. Keep an eye on screen time.

  • Make sure your child has outside time, creative play, etc.

  • It is worth noting that captioned TV shows can be especially helpful for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, studying English as a second language, or having difficulty learning to read.

  • Don’t forget that you can stream shows on hand held devices through an Apple TV, or similar, to your TV.

My Favourite Websites and Links

Below are links to TV show attached interactive websites

Sid the Science Kid http://pbskids.org/sid/

Between the Lions http://pbskids.org/lions/

Apps (search the name at the App store)

Reading Raven

Montessori Crosswords

Apps that Target Sight Word Recognition

Reading Eggs Sight Words

Readable Books

Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s

Read Me Stories: This FREE app features a new book every day!

Sight Words List

Sight Words

Phonics Genius

Reading Eggs Sight Words

Meet the Sight Words

Starfall Learn to Read

WordWorld

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