When it comes to teaching letters and sounds, I should really be saying ‘sounds then letters,’ because teaching sounds actually comes first! The ability to hear and manipulate sounds is called Phonological Awareness, and it is the first step in teaching a child to read. In fact, phonological awareness is even more important for…
What is Phonological Awareness? From Rhyming to Reading
As you likely know, I am a huge proponent of waiting until children are developmentally ready to learn skills. It is not developmentally appropriate to teach most 3-year-olds to read. But it is developmentally appropriate to teach most 3-year-olds to rhyme. And rhyming is the very first phonological awareness skill that little ones should learn!…
Summer Alphabet Games & Activities
With some absolutely beautiful weather this week, summertime—and all that it stands for—is calling me! It’s a time for fun in the sun, loads of play, and exploring this incredible world of ours. It’s also the perfect time to do some one-on-one learning with little ones. No matter how incredible a teacher is, there is nothing…
Phonological Awareness Games… with Building Blocks!
Are you ready to build some strong pre-reading skills? Well, block off some time in your schedule for play—because I’m going to show you how to use building blocks to play some fun phonological awareness games! Not unlike building a block tower, a strong foundation is also necessary when building a reader. Before we teach…
DIY Tactile Letters with Free Printable
Happy Wednesday, my friends! Today, I would like to share a neat little tactile letters activity with you. This activity is wonderful for children who are learning their letters and sounds, as it really reinforces the letter shapes and gets your child to think about the letters in a mindful, focused way. For the activity,…
Gross Motor Alphabet Games for Kids
These little ones of mine love to learn on the move! They like to touch things, reach and stretch, run and jump, and use all of those great big muscles they are forming. And guess what? Using gross motor alphabet games is a fabulous way to really retain that letter learning. In fact, How Wee…
Preschool Alphabet Activity: Letter Hunt Sensory Bin
I just recently became a big fan of sensory bins. Crazy, right? Literacy activities have always been my go-to with my 3-year-old, but I never thought to combine the two to create a fun preschool alphabet activity. I think you’ll love this combination as much as I do, especially if you want to provide more…
Learn Letters with a Watermelon Seed Activity
I first did this watermelon-themed activity with Sammy when he was learning his letters eight (eight!!!) years ago. Now that little Norah is ready to learn letters (and with summertime officially arriving this week—woohoo!), it’s the perfect time for another go. In fact, this summer will be sprinkled with all sorts of fun literacy activities…
Calendar Activities
When I was teaching Kindergarten, I remember feeling so successful after calendar time. Really, if everything else that day fell to pieces, I would still feel like my little ones had learned so many important skills – just from our calendar activities! Now that I am homeschooling my own little ones, we do ‘calendar activities’…
Days of the Week Activity for Preschoolers
Today, I’m excited to share a lovely days of the week activity with you! I’m a big fan of paper chains—they are fabulous for practicing fine motor skills, patterning, learning letters and sounds, counting down to a special event, or even playing in nature. And now, my dear friend, they are also for practicing the…