Becoming+a+Successful+Reader

The ability to read is an integral part of our world. Everything from road signs to instruction manuals to recipes entails reading. For our children, there are two fundamental predictors of reading success:  1. Your child's knowledge of letters (recognition) 2. Your child's phonological awareness (ability to hear a sound and identify it)

Every day of Kindergarten, we will be working with your child to develop these skills to foster their love for reading. There are also some fun and easy activities you can do with your child at home to support their learning:  __**Letter Recognition: **__
 * Teach your child to recognize and name the letters of his/her name. As your child writes his/her name, have him/her say each letter out loud.
 * Have your child point to and name the letters in words they see frequently (stop, go, cereal)
 * Have your child make some alphabet letters out of clay or play dough
 * Create labels for objects at home (chair, door, bed)
 * Play "Fish" with alphabet cards
 * Make a letter page. Have your child cut out pictures from a magazine that start with that letter and glue them to the page.
 * Read alphabet books together
 * Make alphabet cookies
 * Have your child use alphaget shaped food or items to spell out his/her name or to make a message


 * __<span style="color: #520a52; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Phonological Awareness: __**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Sing the alphabet song
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Practice rhyming words (man, pan, can, etc.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Play rhyming games (Do "man" and "pan" rhyme? How do you know? OR Do "man" and 'cat" rhyme? Why not?)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Sing rhyming songs such as "Row,row,row your boat", "Twinkle, twinkle little star", etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Play "I Spy" by sounding out the name of the item you spy (I spy a c-a-t)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Play "Count the Sounds"; choose a word (cat) and clap out each sound. Have your child repeat.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Make up silly rhyming songs together

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">When you show enthusiasm for words and letters, your child will become excited as well. Consistant practice of these simple activities will greatly boost your child's reading success!