The weather is a wonderful topic to spark learning with little ones! Whether we’re tracking the weather with a paper chain, reading books about the weather, or learning through hands-on weather activities, it’s a topic that always seems to weave throughout our day in one way or another. Today, I thought I would share one…
Teaching Letters and Sounds | Free Printable!
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!…
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…
10 Days of Freebies: Rhyming Cards
Welcome back, my friend! We are up to Day #4 of our ten days of freebies to celebrate How Wee Learn’s 10th Anniversary. 🎉 Today is a beautiful freebie—soft, watercolor art rhyming cards—because learning to read should be a beautiful experience. These rhyming cards are ideal for anyone starting out on their learning-to-read journey! How…
Children’s Nursery Rhyme Books: 6 Picks for Preschoolers
Did you know that the ability to rhyme is one of the strongest predictors of early reading success? It’s true! Rhyming is one of seven phonological awareness skills that little ones need to know before they can learn to read. With all of the rhyming and repetition in children’s nursery rhyme books, they are perfect…
The Preschool Bundle!
If you have a child or are a teacher for children between the ages of 3-5 years old, you are in the right place! For you I have a brand new bundle that is completely … FREE! Wahoo! You just can’t beat that! As a Certified Teacher and Reading Specialist I wanted to help those…
What is Phonological Awareness? And How Do I Teach It?
Get ready, my friend, because today we are diving into one of my FAVOURITE topics: What is Phonological Awareness? And why, the heck, is it one of Sarah’s favourite topics? Phonological awareness, in a nutshell, is the understanding of how sounds are put together and can be manipulated and changed in oral language. It includes…
Count-ing Syl-la-bles through Play!
Do you remember how we are working through my Beyond the Alphabet: Play into Reading Readiness eBook? Remember how we are playing with one of the seven phonemic awareness activities each week? Remember how I forgot to share one with you last week? Whoops. Sorry friends. Lofty goals I have!! I just really needed to…
Rhyming is Fun and Easy! Except When It’s Not…
Does it make me geeky to admit that I love rhyming activities? I do. And at a recent family gathering, a certain sister brought to my attention that I was, in fact, quite geeky. I truly had no idea. Isn’t that funny? I have always thought of myself as more natural living and free-spirited. This…