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Help Your Child Learn to Read: Phonological Awareness Games for Preschoolers- Segmenting and Blending

child reading

In my previous blog posts, I walked you guys through what Phonological Awareness is, why these skills are vitally important to the development of reading in children, and the five areas of Phonological Awareness that are vital to reading success. As a refresher, these skills include Rhyming, Segmentation, Blending, Isolation, Deletion, and Substitution. Today we…

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Using Pictures & Illustrations with Beginning Readers—Is it Helpful or Hurtful?

Learning to read can be such a difficult task for young readers. Research shows that beginning readers who use pictures and illustrations to assist with learning to read have several advantages. However, when addressing reading difficulties, those illustrations can sometimes hinder progress. Using illustrations helps with children learning to decode (sound-out) words, make predictions, sequence…

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Reading 101: The Importance of Phonemic Awareness

By Renee Cayer B.A. Did you know that children need to have a strong understanding of spoken language before they can understand written language? This article discusses the importance of phonemic awareness—-the ability to differentiate and manipulate letter sounds— that will surely lead your child to reading success! What is Phonemic Awareness? Phonemic awareness is…

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Animal Rhymes

Rhyming activites are a great way to improve phonological awareness. Phonological awareness refers to an individual’s awareness of the phonological structure, or sound structure, of spoken words. It is essential for future reading skills. Click here for some great animal rhymes ranging in skill level! “I’m stopping for a moment just to say ‘How-do-you-do?’ I’ve just…

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A Daily Dose of Laughter in a Book

We all know how important a daily dose of laughter is! Here are some funny books for several age ranges. Good Night, GorillaAuthor: Peggy RathmanAges: Infant-4 yrs. 10 Minutes Till BedtimeAuthor: Peggy RathmanAges: Infant-4 yrs. Sheep in A JeepAuthor: Nancy Shaw Margot AppleAges: Infant – 4 yrs. Lilly’s Purple Plastic PurseAuthor: Kevin HenkesAges: 4 –…

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Reading to Children

Ever wonder what to say to a young child who can’t answer you with words? Read a book. Even the youngest child loves the sound of voices. Reading books to little ones at an early age is important. Reading children’s stories out loud is one of the best activities an adult can do with a…

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Typical Pre-Reading Skills Development

3-4 Years Spontaneously Produces Rhyme: The child sings and chants rhyming words without awareness of what rhyme is. Ex: Child is pretending to read a book and says “pig wig jig” 4-5 Years Ability to Identify Rhyme: The child identifies that some words have the same ending sounds or sound the same at the end.…

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