Teaching your preschooler to read seems to be a hot topic at the moment. I know many parents in the Home Ed community wonder how they are going to do it and worry that their children may fall behind.
If you are a home educator, then you have like been told too many times not to worry because most children learn to read themselves around 7. However, as a parent that wants the whole world of knowledge to open up to her daughter, I've spent the past year slowly teaching Kairi to read.
The two main parts of reading we have worked on are early sounds and blending. The early sounds are single letters sounds such as 'S' 'A' 'T' etc. Kairi can do round 20 single letter sounds now and is slowly learning how to blend and read some CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words. So I thought I'd share with you 7 resources we have used.
Jolly Phonics App
I believe the app may no longer be completely free now, but when we started with this last year it was perfect. Kairi started off by playing with the app for 5 mins every time we were on the train, once she was used to the app, we started with our first sound 'S'. I read the short story that went along with the sound and then played it while Kairi would look at the picture of the 'S' being formed. We would then learn the song and the actions. (Snake is in the grass - Wrrigle arms like a snake).
Twinkl's Hot Air Balloons
Our next step was to get some of the sounds into the house. We really wanted something that Kairi could look at daily and we could use without prep too. We printed of Twinkl's hot air balloons which we use as a reminder but also as games. Once every few days we will say something like 'Kairi, can you find us a 'd'?' and she will go off to point to it.
Jolly Phonics 'Hot Dots' Books and Games
As I already mentioned, we loved the Jolly Phonics app, but we didn't realize that there is a whole world of Jolly Phonics products. At our local toddler group, we came across a board game where you match the pictures up with the beginning sound and in the charity shop, we came across the 'hot dots' books. These books come with a 'pen' that will tell you whether or not you have the correct sound, this is great for children who are happy to learn and explore on their own.
Printable Sound Fans and flash cards
These have been the best resource in our house. The Phonics and Feelings fans I found on Twinkl for the girls. I printed them out, laminated a few and popped them into my bag. The un-laminated once have stayed at home. These are great for on the go as I can pop them out when ever we have 5 minutes and we can go over them (usually about twice a day). We started off with only 5 sounds and now have around 20 on there, it only took me about 15 minutes to cut and put together with a treasury tag but has been our most valued resource. Don't forget to grab your FREE Sound Fan and Flash Cards. (Different to the Twinkl ones.)
Read Write Inc Phonics Kit
I was sent this by the wonderful Cherry at The Newby Tribe, I love how it is full of things to do. From flash cards and reading books to a parents guide and a wipe clean pen. This kit covers all areas of reading and form letters.
Teach your Monster to Read
This seems to be very popular in the home ed community. With the website being free and the app only being £5 we figured that we would give it a go, Kairi immediately loved it (and I secretly had lots of fun too). In the game you are helping the monster to read so you can fix his ship, to make the game more appealing you choose your own prize so you are winning something you want and have the incentive to continue.
Letter Land
I remember Letter Land from when I was a child. Lucy Lamp Lady, Munching Mike and the gang, these were the best lessons (well, that and Magic Pencil!) but I was surprised to see it on my girl's Kindles and it was around 20 years ago that I watched it. Kairi loves it, I can often find her exploring Letter Land with Munching Mike and repeating what he says.
Click the picture below to grab your FREE Sound Fan and Flash Cards.
