Pre-Reading Skills: Print awareness (helping kids make the connection between printed letters and words and the ideas and stories they represent), vocabulary building, print motivation (interest in reading, in books, and in how they work) If you think he’s up to the challenge, you may even want to cut the text from the illustrations (if the book’s design allows this). Then see if he can match the text with the pictures. He may not be able to read the words, but if you’ve read the book together enough times, he may recognize the look of the words for each page. Pre-Reading Skills: Sequencing (being able to tell a story in order), print motivation Let your child make her own book of environmental print. Provide newspapers, magazines, safety scissors, glue, and a sheaf of blank paper stapled together. She can cut out familiar logos and symbols, paste one on each page, and read you her book. Pre-Reading Skills: Print awareness, beginning letter awareness Pre-Reading Skills: Phonological awareness (understanding that words are made up of different sounds), letter knowledge, spelling To extend this activity, you can provide an item that does not have a rhyming match and have your child draw a picture of something that would rhyme with it. Pre-Reading Skills: Phonological awareness Once your child sequences the cards, ask to hear the story that goes with them. It may not always be what you expect, but it’s fun to see what your child comes up with. Pre-Reading Skills: Sequencing, narrative skills (the ability to tell a story), reading comprehension Pre-Reading Skills: Narrative skills, vocabulary Don’t push your child to match the two sets; the idea is to get the child familiar with the look of the words for common items, eventually making the connection on his own. It won’t be long before your child is showing you that he recognizes his words from seeing them around the house. Pre-Reading Skills: Print awareness, vocabulary
I Spy: Use language-based clues, such as “I spy something that starts with T” or “I spy something that rhymes with ‘duck’.” If that isn’t enough information for your child, add more details, such as “I spy something that starts with ‘T’ and has four big wheels” (a truck).Word Families: Take turns choosing a starter word—this can be the “kid” in the family if you like—and then coming up with as many rhyming words as you can. They can be nonsense words, too. Just list words, or invent a whole family: “I am ‘frog,’ my mom is ‘fog,’ my dad is ’log,’ my brother is ‘cog,’ my sister is ‘wog,’ my grandma is ‘jog’ … "
Pre-Reading Skills: Phonological awareness, vocabulary
