Reading Ready by Age 2: Monthly Activities

Julie Haden —  : Feb 27, 2014 — Leave a comment

You can prepare your child before the age of two to become an early reader. In my upcoming blogs, I will recommend activities for you and your pre-two-year-old child. You will learn fun activities that are age appropriate and will build skills as your child reaches each monthly milestone.

Seeing your child read at the age of two and a half is quite exciting! It was for me with my own daughter. The ability of a child so young to read and spell words is amazing. Nothing will prepare you for the first realization that your young child is reading.

Bella reading at age 2.My first experiences include my daughter in the checkout line at the grocery reading the names of different candies. People would ask, “Is she reading that?”

After seeing Bella begin to read at such an early age and later watching students in my own practice with the same capacity, I now truly believe that children as young as two can begin to read and even spell words given the right training. My upcoming series will introduce you to some of the activities I used with my daughter as she grew and matured in her first two years.

These activities will include fun games such as consonant/vowel babble copycat at six months – where your child initiates a sound, like “ma,” and you repeat that same sound – and then eventually you initiate a sound, and your child repeats the sound. Or at nine months, beginning to create for your child a first wordbook to document the first hundred words that your child learns and says. Your child will love to look back at their first wordbook when he or she is six or seven.

So my series of blogs will start with activities for month one and continue with activities for each month until month twenty-four. These month-to-month activities will be fun and hands on. Look forward to hearing from you about any activities you do with your infant to help promote early reading.

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Reading games. Snow day fun!

Julie Haden —  : Feb 19, 2014 — Leave a comment

My active eight year old challenges me to find constructive and academic ways to have fun and learn on snow days that might go on for three days or more – especially when school is canceled and there is no snow!

One academic, fun solution to snowless snow days is to make your very own board game for your own child or children. For your beginner, it might be my “Letter or Sound” game. For your more advanced reader, my child and students will recommend my “Read or Spell” game to your child.

board_game_board_1 Here is a simple version of these games. On the board, the R stands for read and the S stands for spell. A different version called the “Letter or Sound” game may interest your emergent reader. This version of the game replaces the R and S with L and S. The L stands for letter and the S stands for sound.

You can make either game as elaborate as your child wants. For example, if your child loves trains, make the path into railroad tracks. If your child loves fairies, make the finish line a beautiful fairy house. She can use stickers to decorate. He might want to put original drawings around the empty spaces. The key is to allow your child to make it their own.board_game_board_1_diceboard_game_board_1_playing_pieces

To play the game you will need a die – I use a larger die to make it easier for my kiddos to roll. You will also need player pieces. These can be anything your child likes, from action figures to toy cars or trains. Here are some of the player pieces that I use with my students.

To play the “Read or Spell” game, have your child roll the die and move the number of spaces shown on the die. If your child lands on an R, give her a word to read. You can use words written on note cards or a dry erase board.  If she lands on an S, give her a word to spell. For a child still learning to write, your child can arrange letter tiles to spell the word. Letter tiles are available from a school supply store.

If you are playing the “Letter or Sound” game, give your child a letter to name if he lands on an L or ask him to say the sound of the letter if he lands on S. Use letter tiles or letters written on a dry erase board. You can mix it up by adding extra turn spaces to the board, or spaces that direct your child to “go back” or “forward” spaces.

Having your child personalize the game can be a fun snowy or rainy day activity. The real fun will begin when your child gives the game a go, and starts to read and spell. Watch as your child asks you to play again and again.

What are some reading and spelling games your child likes to play?

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Mr. President, I agree!

Julie Haden —  : Feb 13, 2014 — Leave a comment

Why do I agree? Your child will benefit from President Obama’s vision for making high-quality education available to preschoolers.

HeckmanOften I hear the question, “Why start teaching children to read so early?” Communities that are doing so are reaping the benefits. They find that preschoolers are quite capable of learning to read as well as other academic skills. The proof is in the research that shows that good quality pre-kindergarten programming provides the greatest return on investment and highest likelihood for success later in school and in life.

President  Obama recognized this in his State of the Union address last week when he asked Congress to make high quality pre-kindergarten education available to every four-year-old. His proposal, when it comes to fruition, will be an incredible opportunity to have all four-year-olds well prepared for school.

What would high quality preschool look like? First, teachers would be well qualified and it would show in their teaching. Their children would thrive not just academically but more importantly, emotionally. In my experiences as a classroom teacher with kindergarteners, the children who had good quality preschool experiences were more confident and secure in kindergarten. Learning came easier. Isn’t that the point, our children feeling safe, and achieving more academically and then in life?

State of the Union, 2014

What is most exciting about President Obama’s proposal is that all children would have a high quality preschool experience. Their early learning experience would have a positive effect on classroom learning for the rest of all children’s lives.

At roadmap2reading we recognize and agree with the President’s call to Congress. Our series of reading apps will help prepare your child for future academic challenges and help he or she get ahead of the game in reading skills when they start kindergarten.

What preschool experiences are preparing your child to read and to be ready for kindergarten?

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Why apps to help your two-year-old become an early readers?

Julie Haden —  : Feb 5, 2014 — Leave a comment

… because your child should have the opportunity to become an early reader! My own child and my clients as young as two have benefited from my games and activities – yours can too!

The original Letter Sound BoxThe idea for Letter Sound Box, our first app, grew from a game I have played with my preschoolers and kindergarteners for years. This is “the” game that they beg me to play again and again. (“What toy will I get next? Is it my turn?”) Simply it is a box with a lid with a hole at the top big enough for your child to reach a hand in and pull out a three-dimensional object.

This game’s focus is to teach letter sounds. For example, you might start working on the letter “c” with your child. Fill the box with objects that begin with the hard letter “c” sound, like in cat, car or cookie.

Then ask your child to pull an object from the box, say the name of the object, and then place it into the “c” bag. As your child masters letters, mix objects with up to three different letter sounds into the box. This is a great way to start your two year old on the way to learning letter sounds.

Our app, the Letter Sound Box plays on the same concept. Its goals are to help your child:

  1. master letter sounds
  2. become a reader quickly because after learning just four letter sounds your child will be prepared to read and spell real words in the app.
  3. find reading fun through positive reinforcements such as sounds like cheering, visual cues like winking or smiling, and rewards for hard work like souvenirs collected in an in-app treasure box.
  4. remain challenged by progressing though our series of apps that reinforce and build on each other. For example once your child masters the Letter Sound Box app, Word Builders is ready with the next challenge.

The Letter Sound Box appWhy are we making apps for your two year old to begin the journey to becoming an early reader? Because at roadmap2reading, we know that your two-year-old or older preschooler has the potential to begin an early passion for reading and learning.

What motivates your child to want to read?

 

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Julie’s Recommends New Books for your Preschool Reader

Julie Haden —  : Jan 28, 2014 — Leave a comment

  • The Tortoise & the HareTortoise & the Hare is by the renowned children’s illustrator and recipient of five Caldecott medals, Jerry Pinkney. This particular version tells this classic story almost entirely through illustrations. The drawings are exquisite and tell the story on their own. Your child will love to tell you the story as they learn to assign meaning to each page.
  • Thumpy Feet Thumpy Feetby Betsy Lewin is a great book for your cat or animal lovers. Your child will love making the sound affects as you read how the cat “smacks” its mouth while it eats or “lick, licks” as she grooms herself. Great bedtime story as the cat goes to the point of “snoozy, snooze” by the end of the story.
  • The Story of Fish and SnailThe Story of Fish and Snail by Deborah Freedman is a great story your child will adore as Fish tries to convince Snail to have an adventure with him – to have the courage to jump “off the page” of the story into the unknown world of dreams. You and your child will enjoy this story of friendship and bravery made even more compelling by startling illustrations.
  • The Mighty Lalouche by Matthew Olshan and Sophie Blackall is a book your five to eight year old will appreciate. Set in Paris is focuses on a postman who loses his job and decides to take up boxing. An unlikely candidate due to his small stature and personality he challenges larger boxers with his speed and agility. Wonderfully playful drawings help to tell a story of persistence and believing in oneself to solve many problems.  It is a lesson in following what you love.
  • Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf is an adorable story about a girl who gets a squash at the farmer’s market. Sophie becomes attached to the squash – to the point of caring for it like a baby doll. The story evolves into a beautiful ending that focuses on the magic of loving and the mysteries that come from letting go.

Your emergent and independent readers are likely to return to these books again and again.

What new books are you reading with your child?

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Reading and writing go hand in hand!

Julie Haden —  : Jan 21, 2014 — 1 Comment

When learning letter sounds and identifying letter names, your child is also ready to add handwriting into the mix. Here are a few ways to do this:

  • Teach your child how to make letters that have similar curves. For example, c, o, a, d – since all have similar ways of being made. Start by mastering making lowercase letters first and then tackle the uppercase letters since your child will be writing primarily in lowercase letters.
  • Use an arrow as a marker for your child to demonstrate the direction in which to form the letters. As directionality becomes second hand, making additional letters will become easier for your child.

Zaner Bloser Manuscript Model 2010Zaner Bloser Manuscript Model – 2010 (A-Z and Numbers)

  • Have your child say the letter name and sound as they make each letter. This will help further reinforce that a letter has three components: a name, a sound and a way of making it. For example, c goes cah as your child writes the letter c.
  • Use tactile activities to help make practicing letter writing fun for your child. Some examples are forming letters with shaving cream on a cookie sheet or in sand on a sand tray, and tracing a letter that you write on very fine sandpaper.
  • Use small golf pencils to help encourage your child to use the correct pencil grip. Its small size will encourage your child to use the correct pincer grip which makes forming the letters so much easier and gives your child greater control over the pencil. It also will help your child more successfully maneuver their fork and spoon while eating, an added bonus!

These are a few ways to make letter formation part or your child’s reading learning too – letter name, sound, and formation go hand in hand!

What are some ways you encourage letter formation with your child?

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How to create reading rituals at home!

Julie Haden —  : Jan 14, 2014 — Leave a comment

reading in bed 2014 01 v2Cultivate your early reader by creating rituals that promote reading.  Here are a few rituals that can help keep your child motivated and make reading fun.

  1. Create a reading nook in your child’s favorite spot. Depending on your child, this might be a private spot in her room or a public spot near the rest of your family.
  2. Read to your child before bedtime. Let them know that you read then, too. Talk about the books you are excited to read. Your enthusiasm can inspire them to want to read just like you. Put a reading light in your child’s room to encourage reading in a soothing way. This is especially helpful for your older reader who might need bedroom rituals to promote sleeping. Reading is a great way to settle your child’s body and mind.
  3. Start a book club and read the same book together or separately. Discuss elements of the story together. What did you like best about the book? What did you think about a particular event or character in the book? You can even have your child invite their friends to join and to read the same book.
  4. Make a record of all the books your child reads, so he can make book recommendations to his friends and keep a tally of how many books he has read. Goodreads is a great app to use as a tool to keep track of books that you have read, plan to readgoodreads_logo, or are currently reading. In addition, you can search for books for your child and learn more details through other reader reviews and a summary.
  5. Subscribe to a few magazines that your child loves. (See my blog of magazine recommendations.) Your child’s excitement when that first magazine arrives and eagerness for each monthly issue will amaze you!
  6. Read aloud to your child using books at a higher reading level. It is a wonderful way to improve listening comprehension. You can determine the right reading level by having your independent reader read a book of their choice to you. Books, where on average your child misses ten words per page, are good candidates for you to read aloud. You can read aloud to your non-reader or emergent reader to expand vocabulary and work on comprehension. Every page or two, ask your child key questions about what you have read. Questions such as, why did the dog feel sad when he was lost in the forest? Or what state was the family traveling to on their trip to the beach?

These are just a few ways to create rituals that foster your child’s love of reading. What are some reading rituals you have created with your child?

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Top five board books! The most chewed list for your early readers!

Julie Haden —  : Dec 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

Board books come to mind when I reflect on the beginning of my daughter reading. These books are important to your babies and toddlers because without your help they can choose and explore them in a very developmentally appropriate way. Appropriate because these books are sturdy, generally no more than ten pages, and can handle little hands’ roughhousing.

Here are my top five recommended board books for your child:

 1.)  Goodnight Moon Goodnight Moonby Margaret Wise Brown offers a great story that helps your child develop a good sleeping ritual. The story progresses as the mother bunny puts her baby bunny to sleep by saying goodnight together to everything in the bedroom. Its cadence and rhyming patterns provide great practice for these prerequisites to early reading.

bear hunt2.) We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury takes your child on a family adventure to find a bear. It plays on courage and allows you and your child to act out and pretend you are going on a bear hunt through sound effects and dramatic reenactment. Together you can swishy swashy through the tall grasses and splash through the water until you find the BEAR! (We’re not scared.)

3.) Five Little Ducks Five Little Ducksby Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey is an invitation to sing. As you read to your child, you may find yourself putting a tune to the words. Your child will begin to learn basic math skills – adding and subtracting to five as the mother duck looks for her ducklings as they leave one by one and then come back. You may hear your child recite the book back to you – a success at the beginning of becoming an independent early reader.

The Runaway Bunny4.)  The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown encourages your child to use her imagination to be anything she aspires to be. The story plays on the love between a mother bunny and her child. Additionally, Clement Hurd’s beautiful illustrations will challenge your child imagination as they look for the missing bunny in the pictures as he tries to run away from his mother.

5.). Barnyard Dance Barnyard Danceby Sandra Boyton will make you and your child dance with delight as you read the book that gives instructions like “stomp your feet” and “clap your hands.” All the dancers in the book are barnyard animals, so your child can bounce with the bunny and strut with the duck.

These books are short with great attention getters to keep your child engaged, motivated and asking you to read them again and again – all preliminaries to early reading. You just might find that one of our most chewed board books becomes your child’s favorite.

Please let us all know some favorite board book your child loves reading again and again.

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Toy trends can benefit your early reader!

Julie Haden —  : Dec 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

A recent article points to toy trends that can benefit your child, and confirm that roadmap2reading apps are on the right track.

Trend – gender neutral games. Your child has the freedom to explore without the usual themes of princesses for your girl or trucks for your son. Our games are like taking a trip to the beach or into the forest, and will appeal to your child regardless of their gender.

Trend – games for young preschoolers. We have designed our apps to help your two year old successfully navigate, as they get ready to read. They allow you as the parent to collect data on your child’s progress and for your child to feel successful and have fun while learning to read. Also, an adjustable recommended time limit of 30 minutes helps you keep track of how long your child has been playing.

Trend – games with instant gratification. Your child may be accustom to receiving instant gratification when playing games. While playing our games, instant gratification includes your child adding treasures to their treasure box just for playing. In addition, our games provide positive motivators throughout to encourage learning even if your child misses an answer. Instead, our games redirect your child in a way that is constructive and positive.

Our apps recognize the changing trends for toys that your children play – qualities that they will experience while playing our apps. Your child as young as two, whether boy or girl, will enjoy escaping to a world of reading that is fun, engaging, and motivating.

Click here for an informative article about toy trends: toy trends link

Which games does your child play that are gender neutral and for young preschoolers?

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Magazines and your early reader

Julie Haden —  : Nov 23, 2013 — 2 Comments

Why are magazines important to encouraging your child’s imagination and reading? Magazines offer short and easy to read articles with content that is sure to peak your child’s interests. Plus, your child will likely experience the thrill that my daughter feels when one of her many magazines arrives in the mail.

The Ranger Rick magazine is all about animals – their habitats and behaviors. Each issue will introduce your child to neranger rickw habitats and animals, for example a virtual excursion down the Amazon to study tree frogs. Your child will enjoy learning how other children’s parents have jobs that take them into these habitats around the world or are doing interesting projects to improve the environment right in their backyard.

Another gZoobooksreat magazine for your animal lover is Zoobooks. Each issue focuses on just one animal species, for example wolves. The magazine offers your child a quick way to become an expert on a monthly featured animal. Your early reader will cherish the Zoobooks photographs for collage projects. Later he or she will fall in love with Zoobooks as a source of information for their elementary school five-paragraph essay assignments.

For your scientist or artist, Ask is an excellent magazine. Each issue has a theme, for example: “How does a computer work?” Each issue includes simply explained, short, well-illusasktrated articles on the theme. Interspersed are cartoons and commentary by animal characters that moderate each issue, short biographical sketches of relevant and unusual historical figures, and theme-related puzzles and craft projects. Just to mix it up, each issue includes off-theme, quirky articles. Past articles have described how to grow square watermelons and an unusual species of fish with teeth on its skin.

Finally, HighligHighlightshts is a classic favorite among most kids. Your child will love the activities in this magazine, especially the arts-and-crafts projects and challenging visual puzzles. Like other magazines, its fact-base paragraphs about dinosaurs and unusual animals will fascinate your child. However, the substance of the magazine is fiction that will entertain your child while teaching them how to thrive in a world full of differences and moral challenges.

What is most important for your child is that they are enjoying what they are reading while discovering the world and new ideas.

What children’s magazines do you recommend?

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