#3-Learning How to Read Begins with the ABCs

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

Learning the ABCs lays the foundation for all future reading skills. Memorizing letter names and letter sounds (known as phonemic awareness) at a young age is the BEST way to ensure that children are good readers down the road. Children who know their letter names and sounds automatically will find learning to read fun and easy, but children who struggle to memorize letter names and sounds will find learning to read laborious and difficult. This is something I have seen as both a classroom teacher and as a parent, but don’t just take my word for it.

ABC Flashcards with Jack

Alphabet Knowledge Predicts Later Reading Ability

The research shows that children who start kindergarten with a strong foundation in their knowledge of the alphabet and early literacy skills will find learning to read to be easy and fun, but students who start off already behind will find learning to read difficult and discouraging.

The findings of Developing Early Literacy Skills: A Meta-Analysis of Alphabet Learning and Instruction (a peer reviewed article at NCBI – US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health) show that,

“Children’s knowledge of letter names and sounds is the best predictor of their later reading and spelling abilities,” (Hammill, 2004; Scarborough, 1998; Schatschneider, Fletcher, Francis, Carlson, & Foorman, 2004).

They also point out that,

“Preschool and kindergarten students with poor knowledge of letter names and sounds are more likely to struggle with learning to read and be classified as having reading disabilities,” (Gallagher, Frith, & Snowling, 2000; O’Connor & Jenkins, 1999; Torppa, Poikkeus, Laakso, Eklund, & Lyytinen, 2006).

By creating a language rich environment with lots of opportunities for oral language development, helping children to memorize important vocabulary words, and teaching them letter names and letter sounds, children will have a strong foundation in literacy that will make learning to read easy, natural, and fun!

Age to Start

In my experience, the ideal time to start teaching children the alphabet is between 6-8 months of age. Are you thinking, “Really? Why so young?”

Children’s brains start EXPLODING with growth at 6 months of age. This continues until the age of about 3 when synaptic pruning occurs at a rapid rate. Think “use it or lose it”.

So when you start teaching your child the alphabet at a young age, their brain will put knowledge of the alphabet at the center of its framework and build everything else around it. But if you wait until your child is older, they will have to find a new place to put this information. The best way to commit new information to long term memory after synaptic pruning has begun is to connect it to existing knowledge. If there is no existing knowledge, repetition (especially with movement) is the only way to make sure the new information is stored long term.

What this means is that if you start teaching the ABCs when your child is young, you can teach a little bit over a long period of time, but if you start when they are older, they will require more repetitions and the repetitions need to connect to prior learning whenever possible.

How to Teach the ABCs to Babies and Toddlers

Teaching babies and toddlers the alphabet is easy because they are very interested to learn it. Once you show them what these “symbols” mean, and then they identify them in books, on signs, in the kitchen, and everywhere, they will feel like they can connect to and understand the world around them.

Teach the letter name, letter sound, and word simultaneously. Teaching all three simultaneously shows children how intrinsically linked all three are.
Allow for a silent period. If you start teaching your child the ABCs between 6-8 months of age when they aren’t capable of producing speech, it may take them 6-8 months or until they are able to vocalize what they are learning. This is the silent period of language acquisition where children are observing and taking it all in. (*Note: The silent period is something I learned about in my linguistics classes referring to a child learning a second language, but I have observed it in my own children learning their first language as well.)
Praise any right answer. If your child vocalizes the letter name, sound, or word associated with that letter praise him or her for getting the answer right because each answer is right! This praise will motivate children to continue with more vocalizations.
Watch a variety of ABC videos. I certainly hope that you enjoy my homemade ABC Video, but I highly encourage you to create a playlist on YouTube of your child’s favorite ABC songs.
Fill your house with ABCs. Posters, rugs, magnets, books, toys…you name it, just fill your house and make the ABCs a fun and engaging part of your little one’s day. Listed below I have a section called Additional Resources where I share some of my favorite resources, check out my blog: 10 Best Resources for Teaching the ABCs, and of course check out my teachers pay teachers store for flashcards, videos, and more.
Read lots of ABC books. Go to the library often and pick out a ton of ABC books, find which ones your children enjoy the most, then buy a few sturdy ones to read over and over.
A little bit over a long period of time is best. Don’t worry about teaching the ABCs every day, just try to fit it in a few times a week or even just a few times a month when the timing is right. Wait until your child is happy, in a good mood, and ready to learn. I love using feeding time for teaching. You may find that there are periods where your child wants to learn about the ABCs every single day, but then will completely lose interest for a few months and that’s okay too.

I started teaching Ophelia her ABCs with a crude homemade set of flashcards when she was about 6 months old, and she loved learning her letters! (I’ve since updated them, and they’re available here.)

How to Teach the ABCs to Preschoolers and Older Children

If you wait until your children are older to teach them the alphabet, the knowledge they need to learn will still follow the same progression, it will just need to look different to fit the needs and interests of an older child. Also, starting at the age of 3, synaptic pruning occurs, so if you’re teaching the ABCs to a 4, 5, or 6 year old, they will need many more repetitions to help rewire their brains to make room for this new information.

Because we were in the middle of a lot of life changes when Elliot was young and also due to his personality and not being able to sit still and focus, we didn’t really start using flashcards and videos to teach the ABCs until he was about 3-4 years old. He actually started learning alongside Ophelia when she was first starting to learn at 6-8 months. After about two years of exposure, Elliot started reading at the age of 5. He is currently in the 3rd grade and at the top of his class reading at a 6th grade level!

One of the things he LOVED doing was making ABC books. We would sit at the computer together and find print outs for each letter of the alphabet. He loved it when we would personify the characters and make them talk. 🙂

Play ABC videos in the background. YouTube has many ABC videos geared for older children that feature things like these alphabet transformers and Minecraft characters. Use what your child is interested in to custom make your own ABC playlist. Don’t expect your child to sit and watch the ABC videos with full attention, but if you play them in the background when he or she is quietly playing, you would be surprised how much is absorbed.
Make it physical and fun! Spread ABC flashcards on the floor, pretend the floor is lava, and then jump from one letter to the next (shout the name or sound of the letter as you step on it) going from one part of the room to the next. Make hopscotch letters with sidewalk chalk outside. Place all flashcards upside down on the floor, flip a card over, keep it in a pile if you know it right away, and get a prize for how many cards piled up (small candies or minutes of choice time). Go to Pinterest, use your imagination, and have fun with it!
Use technology. Children can be very motivated to play educational games if you limit screen time. There are many great apps and games for older children who are learning the alphabet that you can find by looking in the app store. Starfall has some amazing resources many of which are free. Check out my blog: Best Teaching Apps for Children 0-6 for some more app ideas.
Read to your child. Many of the simple ABC books will be too babyish for your child, but you can find some great ABC books geared for older children like this Star Wars ABC book and this Superhero ABC book. Also, go to the library often and read piles and piles of books with your child. As you’re reading, you can point out certain words and the letters they start with.
Teach someone younger. If your child has a younger sibling, friend, pet, or even stuffed animal, have your child be the teacher. He or she can use flashcards, videos, and books to help teach their pupil!
Make it kinesthetic and tactile. If your child has the dexterity to start writing letters, this can help to reinforce learning the letter names and sounds. Get a large baking sheet and cover it with shaving cream or sand. Then have your child trace the letter with his or her finger.
Use white boards and dry erase markers. Either write the letters yourself and have your child erase them, or have your child write his or her own letters. You could also do a letter search by writing 5- 10 letters and then have your child try to find the ones you call out. Write-on-wipe-off ABC books are fun too.
Use sign language. When children are a little bit older, they can start manipulating their fingers to make sign language letters. This will be just challenging enough for them to be exciting. Here’s a great video to use!
Separate capital and lowercase letters. Focus on using capital letters for letter names and lowercase letters for letter sounds and spend more time working on letter sounds.
Try to do something every day. Children starting at an older age will need more repetitions and have a shorter amount of time to master letter names and letter sounds before they start to read so try to set aside time as often as you can for learning to occur.

My ABC Flashcards

I created these ABC flashcards because I couldn’t find what I was really looking for anywhere else. Each of my flashcards features the upper and lowercase letter (using my own hand drawn font), a simple and easily identifiable picture, and the word associated with that picture. In addition, the vowels are all short, the /k/ sound is used for the letter c and the /g/ sound is used for the letter g, and there are no confusing digraphs, diphthongs, or r-controlled vowels as you will find in so many other flashcards on the market. I have created these flashcards in a variety of sizes and have many more flashcards and videos on my teachers pay teachers store, so check it out!

ABC Horizontal Flashcards

ABC Flashcards (4 per page)
ABC Flashcards (2 per page) – These are my favorite!
ABC Flashcards (1 per page) – These are great to put around the ceiling especially near the diaper changing table.
Black and White ABC Flashcards (4 per page) – Have fun coloring your own set!
Black and White ABC Flashcards (1 per page) – These would be fun for preschool age children to color.
ABC Poster
ABC Video

Materials to Make My Flashcards

You can certainly just print these flashcards out on card stock and use them as is, but babies love to chew on things, and laminating them and putting them together with some rings will ensure their durability. *Before and after laminating, I cut the corners so they are rounded.

Printer – A good basic printer like this will do the job, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of printing, I would recommend something like this.
Card Stock – I like to make sure I always have plenty of this around for all of my flashcards, posters, and other needs.
Laminating Sheets – I like having this in stock at all times because not only is it great for laminating flashcards, but for making favorite things books and saving favorite pieces of art work.
Laminator – I have a basic laminator like this, and it works great for all types of paper and projects. When laminating, you want to leave at least an eighth of an inch of laminate around the edges so it won’t peel.
Paper Cutter – You will LOVE having this around for cutting school pictures and so much more, but it’s great at cutting 4-5 pieces of card stock and 3-4 stacks of laminated card stock.
Three Hole Punch – This hole punch is really sturdy and can handle a whole stack of paper. I like angling my flashcards so I get right in the center of each of the top corners.
1/2 Inch Loose Leaf Rings – When making flashcards, I have found it’s best to use two rings on top to keep everything organized and easy to flip through, and this size is best.

Additional Resources

In addition to my homemade resources, these are the things I have purchased that have made a HUGE impact on my children’s learning. I recommend the first three at least as MUST HAVES. If you use these resources often, your child will learn the ABCs so fast it will make your head spin! (Check out my blog: 10 Best Resources for Teaching the ABCs for a more detailed and comprehensive list with pictures.)

- *Preschool Prep – This company makes REMARKABLE videos and I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the whole pack. They have a wonderful letter name video and a letter sound video that is highly engaging for little ones and really enforces learning all of the letter names and letter sounds.
- *ABC Bath Letters – Making the letters a toy is a great idea! During bath time you can talk to your little ones about letter names and letter sounds in a fun and silly way. (For example, “Look at my dancing A, she likes to stand on my head!”)
*Starfall – This amazing online resource has everything you need to teach your child pretty much everything he or she needs to learn pertaining to reading and math through grade 2. I love starting out with the interactive ABCs that are great for teaching letter names, letter sounds, and vocabulary. This part is free, the rest of the site is $35/year, and SOOOOOOOOO worth it. Here’s a video of Ophelia using Starfall. They also have numerous apps.
Leapfrog Fridge Magnet Set – This is great for children starting at about 12-18 months, or whenever they are walking and developing fine motor skills.
Alphabet Apple – This a fun way for young children to reinforce learning the letter names and sounds in a way that makes them feel like they have their own computer.
Robot Letters – If you are teaching an older child the ABCs, especially one who likes robots and transformers, this is a great resource!
Dr. Suess’s ABC – This book has been an absolute favorite with each of our kids (probably because I love it so much). Find whatever ABC books YOU love to read, like Chica Chica Boom Boom, Elmo’s ABC Book, this textured ABC Alphabet Fun book, Sandra Boynton’s A to Z, The Alphabet Book, or anything else you can find at garage sales, thrift stores, and hand-me-downs.
Endless Alphabet App – I would say that this app is best for children 2 and older and is a GREAT way to reinforce letter names and sounds.
Storybots – My kids LOVE these videos! They are great for older children and reinforcing letter names and words that start with that letter. They have a great ABC app and tons of other great learning videos.

*Consonants with More Than One Sound Flashcards

I originally included these flashcards in my blog #7-Unlock the Final Stages of Reading with Advanced Phonemic Awareness, but I thought it would be helpful to include them here as well in case your child was ready earlier. I find that the best time to talk to children about consonants that make other sounds is when they are curious or when they make a mistake. For example, if you ask your child what sound the letter c makes, and they say /s/ as in “circus” instead of the common sound of /k/ as in “cat”, you can say, “Yes, the letter c can make the /s/ sound as in circus, but usually it will make the /k/ sound as in cat. That’s why we call it a copycat letter. It actually doesn’t make its own sound but either borrows the /k/ sound or the /s/ sound.” Click here to visit my teachers pay teachers store for this resource and more.

Consonants with More Than One Sound Flashcards

In Conclusion

Teaching your children the ABCs (especially at a young age) is one of the best gifts you can give to them. In doing so, they will have a solid foundation in the skill of reading which will make it that much easier to develop a love of reading. Children who love reading can access the entire world, they can follow their passions independently, and they can be free to unlock the doors to any destiny they desire.

Ophelia and Julian Reading Books

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read at my teachers pay teachers store which includes flashcards, videos, posters, and more.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and complex consonants.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 18, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

#4-Memorizing Words (Before Sounding Them Out) Leads to Reading

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

memorizing words is what good readers do

While teaching my own five children how to read, I have discovered that memorizing words before learning how to sound them out is a HUGE (and often overlooked) part of learning how to read.

When children memorize words, they learn that letters come together to form words and that these words have meaning.

Elliot and Ophelia Exploring My Homemade Flashcards

How I Discovered the Importance of Memorizing Words

When my daughter Ruby (my first of five) was 6 months old, I started showing her the Your Baby Can Read videos (They are now called Your Baby Can Learn because people got mad about the claims that babies could read and so they had to rebrand themselves). They were simple, engaging, and effective. While watching the videos together, she was always engaged, but she never vocalized anything until after about 10 months. (This is the silent period of language acquisition where children are little sponges taking everything in, but not yet speaking.)

Then at about 12-14 months old, she expressed an explosion of language! She started out by saying the beginning sounds of the words and eventually words by the dozen. By the time she was 15 months old, I would write down words from the video and she would read them! Then I started adding more words pertaining to things she liked: cat, walk, moon, mom, dad, Ruby, etc. and after repeated exposure, she would read those too.

People who saw her do this would be blown away, but they would say, “She’s not reading those words, she just memorized them.” And I would say,

“YES, MEMORIZING WORDS IS A PART OF READING!!!”

We are so trained to think that words need to be sounded out, and yes, that is a part of reading too, but once a word has been sounded out over and over again, it becomes MEMORIZED.

Ruby Loves Reading

Age to Start

The ideal time to start teaching children to memorize words is between 6-10 months of age and ideally before a child is 3. (If your child is older than 3, don’t worry! He or she will follow the same progression just with certain modifications.) At 6-10 months of age, neurons in the brain start to form connections that will lay the foundation for how the brain is organized. By the time children are 2-3 years old, they have more neurons than they will ever have in their entire lives. After this, synaptic pruning occurs as the brain becomes more specialized based on the child’s environment.

Reading with Julian

First Words Flashcards

I selected words for my flashcards that would be useful for a baby or young child to know. Words like clap, wave, hug, and kiss are actions that little ones like to perform. Simple nouns like ball, cup, cat, and dog are things that young children are likely to be familiar with and see in their every day environments. I also included these same words with suffixes so that children can build an understanding from a young age that words with suffixes may look different but still carry the same core meaning.

The words for the flashcards are written in a font that I personally created. First of all, I wanted to create a font that is representative of how we teach children to write. I also wanted to be able to fill in my letters with simple bold colors that would create a pleasing image.

I purposefully do not include images with these words because I want children to memorize the shape of the word as if it were an image itself. By showing children the video along with the flashcards, they will learn what the words mean while still keeping the focus on the shape of the word.

First Words Resources

I chose simple words that use some sort of action and purposefully didn’t include a picture so that children will learn to memorize just the word. When children are learning about letter names and sounds, it’s important for them to see that these letters and sounds come together to form words and that these words have meaning. Yes, they are getting that concept with the word from the flashcard, but using these first words resources really reinforces that concept.

Materials to Make My Flashcards

Printer – A good basic printer like this will do the job, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of printing, I would recommend something like this.
Card Stock – I like to make sure I always have plenty of this around for all of my flashcards, posters, and other needs.
Laminating Sheets – I like having this in stock at all times because not only is it great for laminating flashcards, but for making favorite things books and saving favorite pieces of art work.
Laminator – I have a basic laminator like this, and it works great for all types of paper and projects. When laminating, you want to leave at least an eighth of an inch of laminate around the edges so it won’t peel.
Paper Cutter – You will LOVE having this around for cutting school pictures and so much more, but it’s great at cutting 4-5 pieces of card stock and 3-4 stacks of laminated card stock.
Three Hole Punch – This hole punch is really sturdy and can handle a whole stack of paper. I like angling my flashcards so I get right in the center of each of the top corners.
1/2 Inch Loose Leaf Rings – When making flashcards, I have found it’s best to use two rings on top to keep everything organized and easy to flip through, and this size is best.

First Words Video

I highly recommend printing out my flashcards to use while watching my First Words Video. In the video, I repeat each word three times and allow pauses so that children can have a chance to say each word the second and third time. After each word, I have video clips showing my children acting out the meaning of each of the words. The video is 30 minutes long and and loops through all of the words three times with videos of my children singing a song inbetween sets.

First Words Video

How to Teach Your Baby or Toddler

I recommend starting to use these resources when your child is between 6-10 months of age and to do so while they are learning their ABCs. You will see the most dramatic amount of growth if you can start before the age of 1, and by the age of 3 at the very latest.

Start with the video first. I have found that the best time to show the Words Video is while my children are eating. As you show your child the video initially, he or she might not show a tremendous amount of focus and attention, but as the video becomes familiar, you will notice it holding your child’s attention for longer periods of time.
Add the flashcards. After your child is familiar with the video, start introducing the flashcards. Try to get through as many as you can but don’t force it. You may find that your child has favorite words and it’s okay to only include those favorite flashcards in the pack.
A little bit over a long period of time is best. Don’t try to cram everything into one day creating the “perfect lesson”. Doing a little bit over a long period of time is the best way to get something committed to long term memory. Keep little baskets around your house with flashcards so that when the moment is just right, they’re easy to grab.
Show the flashcards while watching the video. Once your child is familiar with the words and video, use them together!
Use wait time. In my video I ask, “Can you say____?” and “What does this say?” After each question, I pause to give children a chance to say the word. When you do this with your child using the flashcards, make sure you allow just the right amount of wait time. If the pause becomes really long, just say the word and move on.
Point out these words in daily life. Remember some of your child’s favorite words and use them often during the day. Words like kiss, clap, wave, and ball should be easy to incorporate throughout the day.

How to Teach Preschoolers and Older Children

If you have children are 4+, and you haven’t started to teach them how to read yet, don’t fret! It is still possible to use these resources to teach children them how to read. The approach will just need to be a bit different and focus on more engaging and hands on activities in order to make it interesting and appealing.

Have the video on in the background. An older child may not be as motivated to sit down and watch this entire video, but you can play it in the background while they are playing. Wait until your children are building with legos, doing puzzles, or drawing, and then have this video on in the background so they can at least hear it. You may find them pausing their play to watch the video here and there and that’s perfectly fine. You could also have it on during meal time.
Teach a younger sibling, friend, or even stuffed animal. If you’re teaching your one year old and your four year old at the same time, you can pretend like both you and the four year old are really just teaching the one year old. You could also pretend that you’re teaching a stuffed animal who doesn’t know how to read words.
Write and wipe. Kids LOVE using dry erase boards and markers. You can write the word and have them erase it, of have them copy the word from the flashcards and write it down.
Flashcards timed. Show your child the flashcards repeatedly until he or she can say most words correctly. Then time a first read through, making sure it’s nice and slow. This will motivate the child to beat his or her original time.
Loose cards and pocket chart. Take the flashcards off from the rings and hand one card at a time to your child. Have them place the cards into the pocket chart while trying to sort them in some way (by color, by type of word…is it an action? verb or is it a thing? noun)
I spy. Spread all of the cards out on the floor and say, “I spy with my little eye a yellow word that starts with the letter c.” If they don’t get it, give another clue by acting out the word (like clapping your hands for clap) or giving another clue (like meowing for cat). They can either gather the words they find in a pile or put them in the pocket chart.
Make a Path. You can spread out the words in a long line in any order. Then pretend that the floor is lava and tell your child that the words are stones that will save him or her from the lava. As he or she hops from word to word ask him or her, “What word are you on now?” or “What word will you be stepping on next.”
Charades. Hold the flashcards away from you so you can’t see the word but your child can. Then tell your child that he or she must act out the word and you will have to guess it. You can make a rule that words can’t be used but sounds can. And of course they can use props from around the house or even draw a picture!
Point out words while reading. The best way to teach children how to memorize words is by reading quality literature. You’ll notice that your child may have favorite words that you can point out while reading. Feel free to make your own set up flashcards based on your child’s individual favorite words.

Additional Resources

Children will memorize words that they see over and over and over again. This is best done through repeated reading. Here are some of the books I have enjoyed reading repeatedly with my little ones. I like making reading part of my routines like going to bed, morning reading, and reading before rest time.

Ophelia LOVES Reading!

Words Books

Baby’s First Words – I LOVE how this book is thick, has a sturdy puffy cover, and has simple images surrounded by white with one word below to describe it. This is great for building vocabulary and teaching children new words. The Hinkler company is amazing and everything they make is great.
First 100 Words – This book has an array of boxes on a page with many pictures with a word underneath falling into a variety of different categories. It’s a great tool for teaching the names of things.
Let’s Talk – Children will love pressing the buttons that make sounds for the corresponding pictures. It’s a great way to bring these basic words to life.
Tails – This is one of my favorite books of all time. It is SUPER sturdy and every page is brightly colored, flashy, and has some sort of movement you can facilitate. What a great way to teach words! There’s also a similar book called Heads that is equally amazing.
Bard’s Rhyme Time – Finding books with a rhyming pattern makes figuring out the last word super easy. I love the flaps in this book and pausing before the last word to give my little one a chance to say it.

Bedtime/Morning Time Books

Pajama Time – Anything by Sandra Boynton is great for babies. I love turning this book into a little song. All of our kids have LOVED this as part of their bedtime routine.
The Going to Bed Book – This is another Boynton book and another family favorite.
Maisy Goes to Bed – This book is interactive and very cute. There is also a Maisy cartoon show which helps little ones to become even more familiar with the books.
Bedtime Peekaboo! – This board book is very short and simple with pages that fold out. I love reading it at night with my little ones.
10 Minutes till Bedtime – This is another all time favorite book. There is minimal text, but so many details to point out in the pictures that make it a different experience every time we read it.
Hey! Wake Up! – This Sandra Boynton book makes a great morning routine with it’s cute characters and rhyming text.

Sight Word Videos

I love how these videos personify each word by making it come to life and act out the meaning of the word, which is the most important part. Get the entire collection of Preschool Prep videos here (I can’t recommend these enough!).

In Conclusion

Memorizing words is a very important part in the first stages of reading because children need to see that letters are used to make words and that words convey meaning. In addition, memorizing words is a much bigger part of reading than people think. Once children memorize the first set of words from my flashcards and video, they will be ready to memorize additional words and “read them” in the context of quality literature.

If you read rhyming text, do repeated reading with the same books over and over, point to words occasionally as you’re reading with your child, pause to let them fill in the words they know while pointing to them, and make reading fun and part of your daily routines – your child will memorize words and be on their way to independent reading!

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read at my teachers pay teachers store which includes flashcards, videos, posters, and more.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and complex consonant sounds.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 17, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

#5-Building Vocabulary with Numbers, Colors, and Shapes

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

Building Vocabulary with Colors, Numbers, and Shapes (Part 4 in a Teach Your Child to Read Series)

By teaching children numbers, colors, and shapes, it will give them the basic vocabulary to start understanding written text and lay the foundation for learning how to read. Reading isn’t just sounding out letters on a page, it is about finding meaning in written words. I have chosen to focus my initial vocabulary development on these categories because numbers, colors, and shapes are EVERYWHERE in a child’s environment.

Age to Start

The ideal time to start teaching children about numbers, colors, and shapes is between 8-12 months of age. At this time, the neurons in their brains are exploding with growth! But if you don’t start until your child is older, that’s okay too! Just start with wherever you are.

How to Teach

The way something becomes committed to long term memory is consistent repetition over a long period of time. The reason I love starting to teach my children how to read when they are super young is that it really doesn’t take much effort at all. By spending a few minutes here and there throughout the day teaching your child about numbers, colors, and shapes, after about 6-8 months, they should know them really well.

I like keeping several sets of my flashcards around the house and incorporate them into my daily routines. When my little ones start eating solid food, I find that this is a great time to watch videos and do flashcards. I love using the videos on KidsTV123 and Busy Beavers to teach numbers, colors, and shapes. I also link to several other resources at the end of this article that will make teaching fun and easy.

Ophelia Counting Bears in a Mini Muffin Tin

Numbers Flashcards

Learning that one object represents one thing (one to one principal) is the KEY to understanding all future math. When using these numbers flashcards, practice pointing to each object as you count them.

Numbers Flashcards

These numbers flashcards only go to ten, but I HIGHLY recommend going as high as your child’s attention span allows. Once children reach 10, go to 20, then 100. Have them practice counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s and talk about even and odd as well. This will help them to really excel in math as they get older.

Numbers Video

This 12 minute numbers video uses shapes, words, and images from my flashcards in conjunction with live video footage of my children showing different examples and talking about the attributes of each shape.

Numbers Video

Additional Numbers Resources

Meet the Numbers – This DVD is absolutely AMAZING at helping children to learn numbers. The images are simple, engaging, effective, and will hold your little one’s attention.
Ten Little Ladybugs – The raised ladybugs and the holes in the pages make it irresistible for little fingers. The rhyming text makes it very predictable to say the next number
First Numbers – Of all the number books we have in the house, this has been a favorite with every single one of our children. I love how it uses interesting images for each number and how it also shows larger numbers like 20, 50, and 100.
Magnetic Numbers – These magnetic numbers are a great way to teach numbers using a hands on resource. You can put them on your fridge or use a magnetic white board with these.
1-100 Numbers Poster – My kids LOVE this poster! It’s a great tool to teach children numbers up to 100. Make sure to hang it at their eye level.
Counting Car – This counting car from Lakeshore Learning is a GREAT way to teach children how to count.
Number Robots – This is for more for an older child, and is a great resource for reinforcing number with transforming robots.
Number Peg Boards – Peg boards are super fun as is, and these peg boards are a great way to learn about numbers and counting.
Learn Numbers with Little Red Penguin – Little ones will love this cute board book where they lift the flaps to learn about numbers 1-10.
123 Counting – Designed for babies, this fold out/stand up book has high-contrast black and white images and patterns that are easily recognizable for babies.
Usborne Very First 1 2 3 – This book only goes up to number five, but is a great introduction for little ones to numbers.
Count to 100 – I LOVE this book! Teaching children to count to 10 is great, but showing them what 100 means is AMAZING!
How Big is a Million? – Showing young children the concept of one million is phenomenal, and this cute book with a penguin does a wonderful job! It also comes with a poster.
First Numbers Sticker Book – This would be a resource for a bit of an older child to use independently. Using stickers is a great way to reinforce skills.

Colors Flashcards

Colors are a very easy attribute that children can readily recognize. As children are developing their vocabulary, describing the colors of things is a very easy thing for them to do that will build their confidence in language development. When children are familiar with the color words, start asking them what things are that color. “What things are red?” When children are holding an object, ask them what color it is. If they don’t know or say the wrong thing, tell them right away what it is.

Colors Flashcards

These colors flashcards cover the basic colors that children will encounter in their environment. Once your child has mastered these colors, I definitely recommend teaching more. Using crayon labels is a great way to learn the names of more colors!

Colors Video

This 11 minute colors video uses colors, words, and images from my flashcards in conjunction with live video footage of my children showing different examples and talking about each color.

Colors Video

Additional Colors Resources

Meet the Colors – This DVD is absolutely AMAZING at helping children to learn colors. The images are simple, engaging, effective, and will hold your little ones attention.
Flaptastic Colors – This is the type of book you’ll want to have multiple copies of around the house! It is great for teaching little ones about colors and the interactive nature and extensive examples make it very engaging.
Curious Kittens: A Colors Book – The yarn that runs across each page is a true delight for babies to play with and a great way to learn colors.
My First Sorting Bears – Children can sort these cute little bears onto the color mats. I’m sure that children will like playing imagination games with these critters too!
Color Discovery Boxes – These color boxes come with a bunch of really cool objects that can be sorted by color.

Shapes Flashcards

Learning about shapes lays the foundation for geometry. First, children should learn the names of the shapes and then they can learn about their attributes. Once children are familiar with the names of the shapes, you can start talking about their attributes by asking questions like: How many sides does this shape have? Are all of the sides equal in length? How many corners (vertices) are there? Are the sides across from each other going the same way (parallel)? Do you see any right angles?

Shapes Flashcards

These shapes flashcards cover the basic shapes that children will encounter at a young age. Yes, there are sooooooo many more shapes to learn, and you should talk to your child about those once they master these, but these shapes are a GREAT place to start. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is a great resource for young children who are ready to learn more. Just check out their geometry section.

Shapes Video

This 16 minute shapes video uses shapes, words, and images from my flashcards in conjunction with live video footage of my children showing different examples and talking about the attributes of each shape.

Shapes Video

Additional Shapes Resources

Meet the Shapes – This DVD is absolutely AMAZING at helping children to learn colors. The images are simple, engaging, effective, and will hold your little ones attention.
Shape by Shape – This book uses die-cut shapes to teach basic shapes like a triangle, crescent, semicircle, oval, and diamond by posing a simple question, “Do you know who I am?” Each page is vibrant with a minimal amount of text that allows the focus to be on the shape.
My Very First Book of Shapes (by Eric Carl) – This book uses Eric Carl’s chunky painting style to teach shapes if a very bright and colorful way.
Shape Sorting Center – Children can sort real life examples of shapes on to these shape sorting mats.
Pattern Blocks – Not only will children love playing with these shapes making beautiful patterns, but they will learn about shapes and their attributes through play.
3-D Geometric Shapes Tub – These colorful solid plastic shapes are a fun hands-on way for children to learn about 3-D shapes.
Learn Shapes with Little Red Penguin – Little ones will love this cute board book while they lift the flaps to learn about shapes.
Lift the Flap Shapes – This bright lift the flap book gives children lots of practice naming basic shapes in a fun and engaging way.

Materials to Make My Flashcards

Printer – A good basic printer like this will do the job, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of printing, I would recommend something like this.
Card Stock – I like to make sure I always have plenty of this around for all of my flashcards, posters, and other needs.
Laminating Sheets – I like having this in stock at all times because not only is it great for laminating flashcards, but for making favorite things books and saving favorite pieces of art work.
Laminator – I have a basic laminator like this, and it works great for all types of paper and projects. When laminating, you want to leave at least an eighth of an inch of laminate around the edges so it won’t peel.
Paper Cutter – You will LOVE having this around for cutting school pictures and so much more, but it’s great at cutting 4-5 pieces of card stock and 3-4 stacks of laminated card stock.
Three Hole Punch – This hole punch is really sturdy and can handle a whole stack of paper. I like angling my flashcards so I get right in the center of each of the top corners.
1/2 Inch Loose Leaf Rings – When making flashcards, I have found it’s best to use two rings on top to keep everything organized and easy to flip through, and this size is best.

In Conclusion

Oral language development is tied into reading more than people would think. As children interact with their environment, they need a guide (you) to help them provide them with the names of everything and to explain the world they are just learning about. Teaching numbers, colors, and shapes will give children some really basic descriptors that will help immensely with oral language development and will build background knowledge to create strong readers.

Reading with Ruby and Elliot

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read at my teacher’s pay teacher’s store which includes flashcards, videos, posters, and more.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and complex consonants.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 16, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

#6-Teaching Phonics with Three Letter Word Families

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

Teaching Phonics with Three Letter Words (Part 6 in a Teach Your Child to Read Series)

Phonics is a crucial part of learning how to read and involves using letter sounds to form words. I have found that using rhyming word families (words that have the same ending and ending sound) is a great way to do this because it’s pattern driven and predictable. Before children start sounding out words, it’s best that they be really really familiar with letter names and sounds (short vowels and one sound for each letter to begin with).

Age to Start

After children have a solid understanding of letter names and letter sounds, know that words are made up of letters that carry meaning, and have a good vocabulary, it’s a good time to start teaching them how to sound out three letter words using word families. Some children are ready to start this as young as 2-2.5, and others won’t be ready until they are 3-4. The important thing is to make sure they have a solid understanding of the previous skills and show an interest.

How to Teach

To teach three letter words, it’s very important for children to see the difference between the NAMES of the letters and the SOUNDS of the letters. (*Please review my ABC video and ABC flashcards often to make sure this is really understood.)

As children start to sound out words, it’s important to have the focus be on the SOUNDS that the letters are making.

When I was a teacher, there was an amazing reading program called Fundations that would have children tap out each sound using their fingers. So, for example with the word cat, you would tap your thumb to your index finger saying the c sound, then tap your thumb to your middle finger saying the a sound, and finally your thumb to your ring finger saying the t sound. Then you slide your thumb across your three fingers and say the whole word. (See a video demonstration of tapping out sounds here.)

When my daughter Ophelia was 2, I had a little magnet letter station set up and together we discovered that if you flip a 6 cup muffin tin over, it makes a great platform for teaching three letter words. (You could also flip over a regular baking sheet.) I would set some letters aside, and we would build words together. At first, I built the words ahead of time and then tapped out each sound as I read the word to her. Once she had seen me do it over and over again, she started to say the letter sounds with me, and eventually she said them on her own. After that, we would build words together.

Building Words with Muffin Tins and Magnet Letters

If we were going to build the word dog, I would say something like this, “Let’s spell the word dog. Do you know what letter the word dog starts with? That’s right! It starts with the letter d. Now, what vowel makes the short o sound? That’s right, o! Now, what letter makes the g sound? That’s right, g! We spelled dog!” She loved doing this magnet letter muffin tin activity, and we did it often.

Here is a video of my nephew, Tristan, learning his three letter words at age 2.5 with magnet letters and muffin tins.

After Ophelia had mastered three letter words, we found an eight cup muffin tin and spelled four letter words. This was a great time to bring up words with digraphs like shop and chip. We also started talking about long vowel words in addition to some of the trickier sounds like the long and short oo, r controlled vowels, and diphthongs from my phonemic awareness resources. We also enjoyed spelling favorite words like her full name, the names of family members, and so on.

Here is a video of my daughter, Ophelia, learning about three letter words using magnet letters.

My son Julian (2.5 at the time), on the other hand, hasn’t enjoyed the muffin tins and magnet letters as much as he has coloring over my words, or erasing my words, and this has really helped him to learn about sounding out words while he memorizes them. We also enjoy using Starfall’s word machine.

Here is a video of our oldest daughter Ruby (age 9) teaching Julian (age 3.5) three letter words using magnet letters and a muffin tin.

Word Families Flashcards Set #1

I currently have the flashcards you see below as well as a smaller version includes both set #1 and #2. Print out these flashcards and use them to help you teach your child how to sound out three letter words.

Word Families Flashcards Set #1

Word Families Letters Set #1

Print out these letters and use them to teach your child how to build three letter words. I recommend storing each word family in a small baggie and taping a label to the front of each bag for easy storage and use.

Word Families Letters Flashcards Set #1

Word Families Video Set #1

In this video, my son Julian and I use fun hands on manipulatives to put together and read the words in each word family. Find it on YouTube or as a part of my three letter words bundle.

Word Families Video Set #1

Word Families Flashcards Set #2

Print out these flashcards and use them to help you teach your child how to sound out three letter words.

Word Families Flashcards Set #2

Word Families Letters Set #2

Word Families Letters Flashcards Set #2

Word Families Video Set #2

In this video, my son Julian and I use fun hands on manipulatives to put together and read the words in each word family. Find it on YouTube or as a part of my three letter word families bundle.

Word Families Video Set #2

Materials to Make My Flashcards

Printer – A good basic printer like this will do the job, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of printing, I would recommend something like this.
Card Stock – I like to make sure I always have plenty of this around for all of my flashcards, posters, and other needs.
Laminating Sheets – I like having this in stock at all times because not only is it great for laminating flashcards, but for making favorite things books and saving favorite pieces of art work.
Laminator – I have a basic laminator like this, and it works great for all types of paper and projects. When laminating, you want to leave at least an eighth of an inch of laminate around the edges so it won’t peel.
Paper Cutter – You will LOVE having this around for cutting school pictures and so much more, but it’s great at cutting 4-5 pieces of card stock and 3-4 stacks of laminated card stock.
Three Hole Punch – This hole punch is really sturdy and can handle a whole stack of paper. I like angling my flashcards so I get right in the center of each of the top corners.
1/2 Inch Loose Leaf Rings – When making flashcards, I have found it’s best to use two rings on top to keep everything organized and easy to flip through, and this size is best.

Additional Resources

To maximize the use of my word families flashcards, I highly recommend you acquire some of the following teaching tools. Based on your child’s age and his or her interests, you will find different resources that will be appealing. Sometimes the best way to figure this out is through trial and error!

Magnet Letters and Muffin Tin – Using these two resources together will make learning three letter words fun and easy. Using my flashcards as a guide, have your child build three letter words on the bottoms of the muffin tins.
White Board and Dry Erase Markers with Built in Erasers – I recommend attaching this white board to the wall and using dry erase markers to write three letter words for your little one to erase. The board I have recommended is magnetic, so you can put the magnet letters on it too. With these resources, you can write three letter words on the white board and have your child erase them while reading them.
Sidewalk Chalk – Write three letter words on your sidewalk in a hopscotch pattern, and have your little one hop on them and read them.
Change-A-Sound Flip Books – I LOVED using these flip books to teach my children how to sound out words. I like how they have sections where the beginning, middle, and ending sound change in the word. The pictures are also great for building vocabulary.
Phonics Flip Books – These 34 flip books focus on patterns such as long and short vowels, digraphs, and blends.
Starfall Three Letter Words – Starfall is an AMAZING resource for teaching your little one the ABCs, basic math, and how to read. They have an amazing three letter word interactive game that is so fun for kids.
Montessori Crosswords – Fun Phonics Game for Kids – This app is great for teaching three letter words using pictures and boxes for the letters. I like how you can choose between upper and lowercase as well as cursive.

Usborne Books

I LOVE Usborne books! The pages are super durable, the stories are interesting, the vocabulary development is phenomenal, and the people at Usborne GET reading. They know that children should start young…I’m talking babies…and provide PLENTY of resources to get your little ones interested in reading.

Phonics Readers (20 Book Collection) – These phonics books blow anything I have ever seen out of this world! In some phonics readers, they focus so heavily on one certain sound that it overpowers the text. Not so with these! If you flip to the end of the book, there’s a section for parents that explains what the focus is and how to use the books which is great! Every book in this series is so well done. I mean, this is quality literature for sure that your little readers will learn how to decode with repeated reading. The rhyming text makes figuring out the last word very predictable. I like pausing to give my little ones a chance to say the last word as they are learning how to read.
- The series includes: Bug in a Rug, Goat in a Boat, Llamas in Pajamas, Raccoon on the Moon, Cow Takes a Bow, Snail Brings the Mail, Bee Makes Tea, Underpants for Ants, Crock Gets a Shock, Crow in the Snow, Fox on a Box, Ted in a Red Bed, Ted’s Shed, Hen’s Pens, Fat Cat on a Mat, Goose on the Loose, Frog on a Log, Toad Makes a Road, Mouse Moves House, and Big Pig on a Dig
My First Reading Library (50 Book Collection) – This is the best set of books you could ever buy! I have totally used all of these books to teach my children how to read from a young age. I love how each book has two levels of text. One page has minimal text for the child to read, often in the form of a word bubble, and the other page has more text for the parent to read. When your child is ready, he or she can read both pages!

Scott Reading Julian His Favorite Usborne Phonics Book

In Conclusion

Teaching children to sound out three letter words is the beginning of their independent reading journey. With each of my children, once they get to this part after building a strong foundation with letter names and letter sounds, understanding that words have meaning, and building vocabulary, reading seems to take off as if by MAGIC. It’s like they have broken the code and are in the same fervor as Helen Keller’s water scene where she finally understands that the letters Anne Sullivan is putting together in her hand are words that represent things in her world. Help your child break the code for learning how to read…with phonics.

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read on my teachers pay teachers store which includes flashcards, videos, posters, handwriting, math resources, and more.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and complex consonants.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 15, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

#7-Unlock the Final Stages of Reading with Advanced Phonemic Awareness

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

If you teach letter names and letter sounds really really well (with one sound for each letter), and then have children build three letter word families, they will be ready for the next stage which is learning about the more advanced phonemes in our English language. Sure, children can probably use context clues to figure out a lot of these rules, but by specifically teaching them about the tricky parts, it will take away they mystery and help them go from good to great readers.

Phonemic Awareness

Studies show that,

“The two best predictors of early reading success are alphabet recognition and phonemic awareness.”

When first teaching children the ABCs, I highly recommend associating only one sound to each letter, but once children have mastered that, it’s time to introduce them to ALL of the sounds the letters make. (Find all of the resources that you need right here at my shop.)

Auditory Exposure

Before children learn how to SPELL the letter arrangements that make these sounds, they need to HEAR and IDENTIFY them. Children are exposed to these sounds through oral language, but by having these spelling patterns pointed out at a young age while reading quality literature, it will make learning how to read all of the tricky words in our English language SO much easier.

There is a misconception that children need to wait until they are a certain age before being taught about the complexities of the English language, but the reality is that their brains are yearning for this information at a much younger age like when their brains are peaking at the age of 2-3 years.

The Remaining Sounds

After learning the basic sounds from the alphabet (one sound for each letter, short vowels), these are the remaining sounds in the English language.

Long Vowels – In addition to teaching children about the 5 long vowel sounds, I also want to introduce them to common spelling patterns.
R Controlled Vowels – When a vowel is followed by an r, it makes a different sound.
Digraphs – Digraphs are two letters that come together to form one single sound.
Long and Short /oo/ Vowel Digraphs – Two vowels that come together to make one sound. For example, the /oo/ in moon is long, and the /oo/ in book is short.
Diphthongs – These gliding vowels start with the sound of the first letter and glide to the next.
Complex Consonants – Although children may be familiar with the other sounds these letters make, it is a tricky concept that some consonants make more than one sound.
Blends – Blends aren’t super tricky because even though two consonants are blending together, you can still hear each individual sound. However, I have included them here because it’s great additional practice for tapping out the sounds for longer words.

Age to Start

The ages that I have introduced my children to this level of phonemic awareness has varied based on their abilities and interests. I would say let their curiosity guide you to find teachable moments. My daughter Ophelia, who was reading by age 2 was very curious and very aware of the differences in sounds, so I would tell her the rules at a very young age. My sons Julian and Elliot didn’t really show an interest until they were about 4-5 years old. When they were reading and stumbled upon a word that didn’t seem to fit the standard rules, I would point out the rule for why it sounded the way it did.

How to Teach

It’s really best to start gradually. With my children, once I saw that they had a solid understanding of the short vowels, I started to sneak in some long vowels too. So, for example, when we were reading through my ABC flashcards and we would say that, “a is for apple”, I would also add, “a is for apron too”.

Teaching the remaining letter sounds can seem overwhelming, but if like the rest of my resources, you start young and do a little bit over a long period of time, your child will master the remaining letter sounds and have a great foundation for learning how to read. I recommend introducing one set of flashcards at a time, but most importantly, get to know these flashcards YOURSELF so that you can point out the rules while reading quality literature together.

It’s very important to have regular reading time when your child is at this stage. Reading should be fun, not a “set your timer” sort of chore. I find that by having a reading ready environment with tons of books in baskets easily accessible in every room, it makes reading easy to do. I love cuddling up with my little ones, getting some snacks, covering up with a favorite blanket, and getting really animated while we read our favorite books.

Reading with Elliot

I also love resources like this Leapfrog Fridge Phonics Letter Magnets and this Preschool Prep Letter Sounds DVD because they teach children all of the sounds that each letter makes at once. While this is too overwhelming for your 6 month old baby who is just starting to become familiar with the alphabet, it’s great for your toddler or preschooler who is ready to master a deeper level of understanding about ALL of the sounds that letters can make. Preschool Prep also makes a really engaging Meet the Digraphs DVD that is a GREAT way to introduce your child to digraphs.

Long Vowels Flashcards and Video

Long vowels are tricky because in our English language there are soooooooo many ways to spell them. Teaching children the common ways to make these long vowels will help them immensely as they start to read. When you start using these flashcards, focus first on the the picture and the word. Once your child is familiar with the picture and the word, then you can start talking about the rule that makes the vowel long. If your child is ready for a challenge, start talking about other words that fit that rule. It’s all about layers, and teaching a little bit at a time over a long period of time is what works best.

Long Vowels Flashcards

Long Vowels Video

Digraphs Flashcards and Video

Digraphs are tricky because they are two letters that come together to form one single sound. When children don’t know about digraphs, it can make sounding out words like phone and them very difficult. As with the other vowels, you may not be familiar with all of the digraphs, and so once again, it’s totally fine to learn alongside your child!

Digraphs Flashcards

Digraphs Video

Complex Consonants Flashcards and Video

I find that the best time to talk to children about consonants that make other sounds is when they are curious or when they make a mistake. For example, if you ask your child what sound the letter c makes, and they say /s/ as in “circus” instead of the common sound of /k/ as in “cat”, you can say, “Yes, the letter c can make the /s/ sound as in circus, but usually it will make the /k/ sound as in cat. That’s why we call it a copycat letter. It actually doesn’t make its own sound but either borrows the /k/ sound or the /s/ sound.”

Blends Resources

Blends aren’t really that tricky of a concept. In a blend because you can still hear each letter sound, they just well, blend together, but I decided to include them anyways, because I think it’s a great way for children to revisit the decoding skills they learned with three letter words with longer words.

Materials to Make My Flashcards

Printer – A good basic printer like this will do the job, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of printing, I would recommend something like this.
Card Stock – I like to make sure I always have plenty of this around for all of my flashcards, posters, and other needs.
Laminating Sheets – I like having this in stock at all times because not only is it great for laminating flashcards, but for making favorite things books and saving favorite pieces of art work.
Laminator – I have a basic laminator like this, and it works great for all types of paper and projects. When laminating, you want to leave at least an eighth of an inch of laminate around the edges so it won’t peel.
Paper Cutter – You will LOVE having this around for cutting school pictures and so much more, but it’s great at cutting 4-5 pieces of card stock and 3-4 stacks of laminated card stock.
Three Hole Punch – This hole punch is really sturdy and can handle a whole stack of paper. I like angling my flashcards so I get right in the center of each of the top corners.
1/2 Inch Loose Leaf Rings – When making flashcards, I have found it’s best to use two rings on top to keep everything organized and easy to flip through, and this size is best.

In Conclusion

By learning about ALL of the sounds in the English language, children will have the code to unlock reading hard wired into their brains. When children are familiar with these sounds and how they are presented in text, it is best to reinforce this understanding by pointing them out while reading quality literature. So make reading fun, fill your house with quality literature and easily accessible books, read often, and have fun! Happy reading!

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read at my teachers pay teachers store which includes flashcards, videos, posters, and more.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and other consonant sounds.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 14, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

#8-Reading Comprehension Strategies Lead to Independent Readers

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

When you interact with books before, during, and after reading using quality literature that engages your child, they will learn one of the most important aspects of reading which is comprehension. When children understand what they are reading, it makes them want to read more! Creating a love of reading is the ultimate goal of learning how to read. Children who struggle to decode words and comprehend text will find reading laborious, difficult, and no fun. Help your child lay the foundation for learning how to read by following all of the blogs in my Teach Your Child to Read series and enjoy watching them become independent readers who love reading!

Reading Comprehension Strategies

When children are reading a book, it is so much more than just decoding words on a page. The more children interact with the books they read, the better their comprehension will be. When you read books together, use these reading comprehension strategies to help your child gain a deeper understanding of what they are reading and show them what it means to interact with books.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Before reading the book, check to make sure your child knows about some of the main features of the book. For example if there was an elephant on the front cover, you could ask, “Have you ever seen an elephant before? Do you know where elephants live besides the zoo?”
Making Predictions: Ask questions that get your child to think about what will happen next. This helps them to become engaged while reading the book to see if their prediction will be right or not. Do this before and during reading.
- What do you think will happen at the end of the book?
- Do you think the main character is going to learn a lesson?
- What do you think will happen next?
Making Connections: Help your child become engaged with reading by making connections before, during, and after reading a book.
- Text to Self: “Has this ever happened to you? Can you think of a time when you _______ like the main character?”
- Text to Text: “Does this book remind you of another book? This author writes a lot of silly books, I wonder if this book will be silly too?”
- Text to World: “This book is about bullying. Why is bullying a bad thing? Do you know what being adopted means?”
Story Elements: Talk to your child about the characters in the story, the setting, the sequence of events, the problem and the solution, and the lesson or moral learned at the end of the story.
Monitor Understanding: While reading, ask questions to make sure your child is understanding what is going on. This will really help with their overall comprehension.
Making Inferences: There are lots of things that are implied during reading that aren’t stated explicitly. By helping children to figure out how to “read between the lines“, they will be able to comprehend the true meaning of the text.
Different Genres: First we have fiction (fake) and nonfiction (real). Talk to your child about the text features and how they are different between the two genres. Point out how they both have titles and title pages, nonfiction books will typically have a table of contents, glossary, index, and captions and chapter books will typically have a table of contents and chapter headings. Within the genre of fiction, you’ll find many subcategories that have typical features such as fairytales, realistic fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, and historical. Discuss what is predictable about each genre like how in fantasy books things can happen that wouldn’t happen in real life.

Elliot Loves Reading Nonfiction Books

Build Your Library with These Books

In the previous blogs in this series, I have linked to my favorite books and resources that matched each category, these books that I’m suggesting now are examples of QUALITY LITERATURE that you can use to reinforce all of the skills they have learned so far. I have geared my recommendations here for young children ages 4-6 who are ready to take off with reading! Building your library with quality books will ensure that not only will your child learn how to read, but he or she will ENJOY reading! These are the books that our children have loved through and through that helped them become good readers.

Phonics Readers (20 Book Collection) – These phonics books blow anything I have ever seen out of this world! In some phonics readers, they focus so heavily on one certain sound that it overpowers the text. Not so with these! If you flip to the end of the book, there’s a section for parents that explains what the focus is and how to use the books which is great! Every book in this series is so well done. I mean, this is quality literature for sure that your little readers will learn how to decode with repeated reading. The rhyming text makes figuring out the last word very predictable. I like pausing to give my little ones a chance to say the last word as they are learning how to read.

Elephant and Piggie Books – We love ALL of these books! Elliot was a bit of a “late reader” (reading at age 5, everyone else was reading by 3, but that’s another story…) in our family and he LOVED books like: We are in a Book, The Thank You Book, There’s a Bird on Your Head, and I Broke My Trunk! These books are the new and improved Dick and Jane books from the past revamped with engaging text that is simple, easy, and fun for new readers.
Book Box Sets – There’s something super fun about getting a set of books that fit into a cute little carrying case. If children have favorite characters and then can read multiple books about those same characters, they are bringing a lot of background knowledge to the table. These phonics boxed sets are a great place for children to start reading.
Ready to Read Books – I love the large print and simple text using characters and settings that children are familiar with for children who are beginning to read independently. Here are some sets of Ready to Read books.
Books About TV Shows – We LOVE connecting reading with our kids’ favorite TV programs because it gives them a HUGE wealth of background knowledge to read the books on their own. Often times, books about TV shows will have way too much text for a new reader, but our children have enjoyed picture reading or reading them repeatedly with us until they’re ready to read them on their own. We’ve enjoyed Dora, Backyardigans, Maisy, Daniel Tiger, and more.
Shel Silverstein – We love reading Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic as read alouds and our kids (once they’re about 3-4 years old) LOVE them. They are so funny!
Captain Underpants – These books are not what is typically considered “quality” because of the potty humor, but kids LOVE them, and I think that is most important. Our son Elliot was a bit reluctant to start reading, and these books gave him the final push and motivation to start really reading when he was 5. He LOVED reading the little cartoons and pictures, doing the flip-o-rama pages, and all of the potty humor.
Share Your Interests – I’m mostly a nonfiction reader, and I really enjoy learning about biology and how the body works, so I LOVE reading these Basher Books about chemistry, biology, the periodic table and more. My husband really likes reading illustrated classics like Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn, and Swiss Family Robinson as well as anything by Neil Gaiman.
Follow Their Interests – Each of our children have expressed different interests at different ages, and we make it a point to purchase books for them that match their interest. Right now for example, our son Julian (2) is really into cars and trucks, our daughter Ophelia (4) loves Daniel Tiger, Elliot (6) is really into Pokemon, and Ruby (7) devours chapter books at an amazing rate and right now is learning about Manga.

In Conclusion

What is the point of teaching children how to read? At first, we are the ones filling their brains with lessons about the world, but once they know how to read, they can access everything and anything in the world that they seek. By creating a fun reading atmosphere, making a reading a special priority, filling your house with quality books, and making sure your child understands what they are reading, not only will your child learn how to read easily, but a whole world will open up where they can become immersed in whatever they are passionate about.

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read at my teachers pay teachers store which includes flashcards, videos, posters, and more.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and other consonant sounds.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 13, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

#9-Reinforcing Reading with Writing

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

Reinforcing Reading With Writing (Part 8 in a Teach Your Child to Read Series)

Learning how to write is the final step to becoming literate! If children learn about letter names and sounds, how to memorize vocabulary words, and how to sound out three letter words BEFORE learning how to write, then they can focus on learning the fine motor skill of writing while REINFORCING what they already know.

Ages and Stages

I have noticed that my children have been interested and capable of writing in very different ways and at very different ages. Learning how to hold a writing utensil requires special fine motor skills that take lots of time to develop. I think it’s good to introduce children to writing at a young age if they are interested, but I wouldn’t force it.

Toddlers – Use fat crayons and markers and encourage any kind of markings on a page. I love writing words and pictures, and my 2.5 year old son Julian LOVES coloring over them. My daughter Ophelia (now just 4), never really cared for crayons or markers, but she has always loved painting.
Preschool – Start introducing a pencil and model the correct way to hold it, but don’t push it. Start practicing lines, shapes, and letter formation. Let your child watch you as you draw and color. Provide lots of opportunities for coloring, and make it fun! There are also some pretty neat toys out there like this Getting Ready to Write Gumball Grabber that will help your child build hand strength.
Kindergarten – Practice making letters and start writing words. Use write-on-wipe-off books to make letter writing fun.

Julian Loves Coloring!

My Resources

These hand drawn resources are basically my ABC resources without the color. I created this font by hand then imported it into Gimp where I cleaned it up and digitized it. I wanted to make my own font because I wanted to teach children how to read letters the way we typically write letters. I also wanted to be able to color in my letters.

ABC Black and White Coloring Poster Page

After children have learned their letter names and letter sounds, coloring them in will reinforce this skill. You can print out this coloring page, and have your child color over it or color it in using crayons, pencils, markers, or paint. When coloring with your child, it can be fun to color your own page while sitting next to him or her. This way, your child will be able to see how you do things like hold a writing utensil, stay in the lines, and choose what to color. Make sure you “think aloud” to tell your child what you’re thinking while you’re doing it. Click here for a free digital download of my Black and White Coloring Poster Page as well as my ABC Black and White Coloring Flashcards.

Black and White ABC Poster

ABC Black and White Coloring Flashcards

These one sided flashcards are a great way to reinforce letter names, letter sounds, and to introduce children to writing. You can print out one set and let your child scribble in it however he or she chooses, and then you can print out another set to color in yourself or color together. Your child will enjoy watching you color, and it’s fun to have a personalized set of flashcards. You could even laminate them when you’re done! Click here for a free digital download of my Black and White Coloring Poster Page as well as my ABC Black and White Coloring Flashcards.

Black and White ABC Flashcards

Additional Resources

Being a teacher-mom, I have been exposed to a TON of resources. The ones I link to below are simply the best of the best and have been a HUGE help as I’ve been teaching my little ones about writing.

Priddy Books Wipe Clean Resources – I have tried several different wipe clean books, and these are my favorite! Although it comes with it’s own marker, you’ll want to get some Expo dry erase markers and an eraser that can be easily wiped away.
Handwriting Without Tears – These books are hands down the best handwriting books I have ever seen. They are simple, easy to follow, and really fun for kids to use.
- Slide Stamp and See Screen – This magnetic board with wooden pieces to trace is a great introduction to making letters.
- My First School Book – Pre-K Activity Book
- Letters and Numbers Kindergarten
- My Printing Book Grade 1
- Printing Power Grade 2
- Cursive Handwriting Grade 3
Kumon – These books are great because they group letters into the types of lines and shapes needed to make them.
- My First Book of Mazes – Mazes are a SUPER fun way for little ones to get excited about writing.
- Grow to Know Uppercase Letters (Pre-K)
- My First Book of Uppercase Letters
- Tracing Lowercase Letters
- Grow to Know Lowercase Letters (Pre-K)
- My First Book of Lowercase Letters
- My Book of Writing Words: Learning About Consonants and Vowels
- Grow to Know Numbers 1-30 (Pre-K)
- My Book of Numbers
The Measured Mom Handwriting Resources – This mom knows how to teach, and she has created some amazing (and FREE) resources that are great for teaching your little ones handwriting.
Letter Tracing Apps – While letter tracing apps won’t teach pencil control, they will help to familiarize children with how to form letters. These are the apps my children have enjoyed.
- Writing Wizard – This app is whimsical, fun, and easy to navigate.
- Little Writer: The Tracing App for Kids – I love the simplicity of this app and my kids really enjoy it too!
- Handwriting Without Tears: Wet-Dry-Try for Capitals, Numbers & Lowercase – This app simulates a slate chalkboard with double lines and is a great supplement to go along with the physical books.
- abc PocketPhonics: letter sounds & writing + first words – This app is great for little ones who are still learning their letter names and sounds.
- Dora’s Skywriting app – In Dora’s ABCs: Volume 1 app, children can trace letters in the sky.

In Conclusion

The fine motor skills required to master handwriting take quite some time to develop. If children learn about letter names and sounds, how to memorize vocabulary words, and how to sound out three letter words before learning about writing, it makes learning about writing the singular focus which is far less overwhelming for children.

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read on my FREE READING RESOURCES page which includes flashcards, videos, plus more tips and tricks.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, and other vowel sounds.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 12, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps

General, Reading, Teaching

Teaching your child to read can be easy and fun, especially if you start when they are young! If you provide a language rich environment filled with lots of oral language and vocabulary development, teach the ABCs really really well, make reading fun and read often, teach them how to sound out three letter words, and introduce them to the tricky bits of our English language, you will be amazed to see your child read easily, naturally, and as if by magic. My fifth child is about to turn 3, and I am blown away to see him reading signs, peoples names, and words in books that he has never seen before.

In this blog, I will share my reading resources that I have created over the last ten years while teaching my own children to read to help any parent (or teacher) teach their child/children to read in a fun and back to basics kind of way. If you start when your child is young and follow these steps, you will be amazed at how easily your child will learn to read.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps

I will be covering these steps in more depth throughout the blog and include both resources as well as tips and tricks along the way. I tried to keep things as simple and basic as possible in this blog, but if you’d like a more in depth look at how to teach your child to read with explanations from science, research, and my own observations as to how children best learn how to read, then check out my blog series: Teach Your Child to Read.

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and other consonant sounds.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

1. Language Rich Environment (Oral Language and Vocabulary)

Surround your child with learning opportunities by creating a language rich environment. Place developmentally appropriate toys at their level so they can choose to play with them. Show them how to interact with new toys so that they have options for how to play with them. Choose educational toys that foster language development, especially toys that teach letters, colors, shapes, numbers, letters, words, fine motor skills, and encourage problem solving. This Montessori approach to learning encourages children to be independent and self directed with their learning.

Oral Language Development Tips and Tricks

Oral language development begins before babies are even born! When babies are born, they recognize the cadence and prosody of your voice, then they coo and have conversations with you, and before children start speaking, they are listening to everything you say. Read more about how oral language lays the foundation for reading here and more about how to engage your baby or young child with reading here.

Speak slowly and clearly using simple words they can understand.
Use lots of short repeated sentences.
When they start speaking, repeat back to them what they are saying sometimes adding more words into the description.
Ask questions all the time that are simple and relate to what they are doing. (Say, “What’s in your hand? Is that a ball? Can you throw me the ball? Good job!”).
Talk about what you’re doing and have them help you. (Say, “We’re going to have hamburgers for dinner. First, I need to squish them up and make patties. Can you help me?”)
Get down on the floor and play with your child! Encourage them to play imagination games and provide problem/solution scenarios that they can carry out independently.
Sing songs, especially ones with hand motions. Make up songs about what you are doing.
When you are out and about, talk to your child about everything you see and are doing.

Vocabulary Tips and Tricks

As adults, I think we take for granted all of the background knowledge we can access subconsciously. Being intentional and teaching children how to memorize specific vocabulary words to describe the environment they’re in, helps children to understand what they are doing at a deeper level. Click here for a more in depth look at vocabulary words. Also, to learn how memorizing words while learning the alphabet makes learning how to read a breeze here.

Tell them the names of things that they are interacting with and touching. (Say, “You are holding a spoon. You put the spoon in the bowl to eat your soup. Good job using your spoon!”)
Vocabulary Posters: Put vocabulary posters on the wall at their eye level and up towards the ceiling. Encourage them to point to and interact with the posters. (Say, “Can you find the circle? What color is it? Let’s find the word wave. There it is! Can you wave your hand? Look, we are waving our hands!”)
Vocabulary Flashcards: Use flashcards to teach specific vocabulary words. Wait until they are fed and happy. (I usually give them food and snuggles while doing flashcards.) Know that their attention span will not be very long at first, but will gradually extend over time. As they become familiar with the flashcards, ask them, “What is this?” while pointing to the flashcard. Allow for a little wait time and say the answer if they don’t know it. If they say the wrong answer, tell them the right answer quickly and without any disappointment in your voice.
Vocabulary Videos: Use educational videos to reinforce vocabulary. Watch the videos with your child and interact by pointing out things you see and asking questions. Make a YouTube playlist so you can have educational videos ready to go when your child needs a little distraction. I have found that mealtimes are great for watching educational videos. (As children get older, I do like having conversations at mealtimes, but when they’re little, it’s too abstract, and I just want them to eat! We’ll save the conversation for playtime.)

Vocabulary Posters

2. Phonemic Awareness (The Alphabet)

Phonemes are the individual sounds in our language and phonemic awareness is being able to distinguish those sounds. There are 44 sounds in our English language, but to start with, children only need to learn one sound for each letter. I have found that if you teach children letter names and letter sounds really really really well, it makes learning how to read a breeze.

What Makes My Flashcards Different

There are many different features that set my flashcards apart from anything else I have been able to find on the market. When I was a 3rd and 4th grade teacher, I found that many students with reading difficulties lacked phonemic awareness (the ability to distinguish and identify all of the letter sounds). As a parent, I wanted to create something that would accurately teach my children the letter names and sounds giving them a strong foundation for learning how to read. These are the features that make my flashcards unique.

ABC Flashcard Poster

They have both the upper and lower case letters on each card. This is so children can learn that they mean the same thing simultaneously.
Letters are shaped how we print them. I created my own font and made sure each letter was formed the way we teach children how to print them.
Each flashcard has a simple, interesting, and easily identifiable picture. Many flashcards use words like “ape” for “a” where kids might get confused thinking it was a monkey. I also tried to keep the images related to things children would be familiar with.
The letter and sound combination makes sense. When flashcards use the word “eye” to teach the letter “e” or the word “shoe” (which has a digraph) to teach “s”, it can be very confusing for children. My flashcards do not do this.
Short vowels and the hard g and c are used. When children are just starting to learn their letters, these are the easiest versions to begin with, and it’s best to keep things as simple as possible in the beginning.
There is a printed word below each picture. I have found that it’s important for children to learn that letters come together to form words and that words have meaning. When children memorize the shape of the letters, the image, and a word it really solidifies their understanding of the alphabet.

Tips and Tricks for Teaching the Alphabet

Follow these tips and tricks for teaching your child letter names and letter sounds and check out my blog to see my favorite ABC resources. Also, for a more in depth look at how learning the ABCs lays the foundation for learning how to read with tips and tricks as well as tons of free resources, check out my ABC blog here.

Start young! I started when my children were 6-8 months old, and it took until they were about 15 months old to show that they knew their letters. You want to at least start before children are 3-4 years old because that is when synaptic pruning occurs and the foundation for the brain has already been laid.
ABC Toys: Get ABC fridge magnets, foam bath letters, puzzles, and more so that your child can have fun playing with the letters. Talk about the letters and the sounds they make while playing.
ABC Posters: Use my posters to surround your child’s environment with the ABCs. Put posters on the wall in their room, by their bed, by the changing table, at their eye level, and near the ceiling. Interact with the posters by pointing to them and asking questions.
ABC Flashcards: Do flashcards when they are fed and happy. Ask them questions about the flashcards and give wait time. If they say the letter name, sound, or word for that letter, those are all the right answer! Use the chant, “A is for apple, a, a, apple, B is for ball, b, b, ball,” from my ABC Video.
ABC Video: Watch the video with your child until they are familiar with it. Interact with the video by pointing out things that you see and say the chant along with the video. Know that their attention span and love for the video will grow over time as they become familiar with it after repeated exposure.
Starfall: Starfall has so much of its content for free! I especially like the interactive alphabet resource.

3. Phonics (Sounding Out 3 Letter Words)

Phonics is understanding that letters make sounds and those sounds come together to make words. Once children are really really really familiar with letter names and sounds (one sound for each letter and short vowels for now), you can start showing them how to tap out sounds to make words. Sounding out words is also called decoding. Start with three letter word families, and when children are pretty comfortable decoding these words, you can start decoding four letter words and blends. I have found that 2.5-3.5 years of age is a pretty good time to start with these activities.

Tips and Tricks for Decoding Three Letter Word Families

Muffin Tin and Magnet Letters: Flip over a 6 cup muffin tin and use magnet letters to spell three letter words. I really like this classroom magnet letter kit because the vowels are a different color than the consonants and there are multiple copies of each letter. Spell the word and point to each letter saying it’s sound, c-a-t, then slide your finger underneath all of the letters from beginning to end and say the word “cat”. Switch out the beginning sound to spell the next word in the word family.
Word Families Letters: I created these letters so that you wouldn’t have to buy the magnetic letters. I recommend sorting the letters according to the word families and storing them in small plastic baggies.
Word Families Flashcards: Use my flashcards as a guide while spelling three letter words or use them to help your child practice reading three letter words.
Word Families Videos: In my videos, Julian and I model several hands on strategies for learning three letter words such as writing words in shaving cream on a baking sheet or writing the words on the pavement using sidewalk chalk and jumping on them. Use letters to build words with us while you watch the video!
Coloring Over Words: Have your child watch you write three letter words and then have them color over your words. This is a really simple activity, but has profoundly helped some of my children (especially Julian) to become good readers.
Starfall’s Word Machine: Starfall is an amazing resource and a lot of the content is free! This three letter word machine activity is interactive and fun.

4. More Complex Phonemic Awareness

The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate all of the sounds the letters make is known as phonemic awareness. Each individual sound is called a phoneme, and we have 44 phonemes in the English language. After children have learned one sound for each letter of the alphabet, they are ready to start learning about the remaining sounds.

I have found that the best way to teach these sounds is to point them out while reading quality literature and to draw attention to the rules when your child struggles to sound out a new word. I also have flashcards, posters, and videos to help you teach your child these remaining sounds.

The Remaining Sounds

Long Vowels – In addition to teaching children about the 5 long vowel sounds, I also want to introduce them to common spelling patterns.
Digraphs – Digraphs are two letters that come together to form one single sound.
Digraphs Flashcard Poster
Other Vowel Sounds
- R Controlled Vowels – When a vowel is followed by an r, it makes a different sound.
- Long and Short oo (Vowel Digraphs – Two vowels that come together to make one sound.) – The oo in moon is long, and the oo in book is short.
- Diphthongs – These gliding vowels start with the sound of the first letter and glide to the next.
  Other Vowel Sounds Flashcard Poster
*Consonants with More Than One Sound – Although children may be familiar with the other sounds these letters make, it is a tricky concept that some consonants make more than one sound, so I have included it here, but feel free to introduce this concept earlier or later based on the interest and needs of your child.
Complex Consonants Flashcard Poster

5. Reading Comprehension Strategies

Create a love of reading with quality literature, interact with books, and ask questions before, during, and after reading. Click here to learn more about how to support your child’s understanding of reading comprehension strategies here. Also, connecting reading with writing will continue to increase your child’s ability to read.

Read Words and Sentences with Quality Books: Point to words you are reading so children can learn one-to-one matching. Leave off the last word (or a word your child may know) and pause asking, “What’s this word?” Do this with increasing frequency until your child is able to read full sentences. Gradually release the responsibility of reading to your child when they are ready; don’t force it!
Ask Questions Before, During, and After Reading: Start with simple questions like, “What color is that? How many do you see? Can you point to the _____?” Then progress to questions like, “What lesson did the main character learn? Did you like that story? Why or why not? Did you ever feel like the character? What if that happened in your life, what would you do?”
Independent Readers: Once children have all of the skills needed to read, it’s time to set them loose! Teach them how to use the library to find books that match their interests and go often! Do whatever it takes to help your child develop a love of reading.
Don’t Stop Reading with Your Child: Once your child become an independent readers, make sure you still find time to cuddle up and read! Read picture books, nonfiction books, chapter books, and more together. Listen to books on tape, research their interests on the internet, follow recipes together, and more. Make reading fun!

My Testimonial

With each of my children, I created a language rich environment at a young age with lots of opportunities for oral language development. I started introducing flashcards and videos for first words, colors, shapes, numbers, and the ABCs starting when they were about 6-8 months old. I did a little bit over a long period of time. Sometimes months would go by and we wouldn’t do anything but play and read books. When they were between 2.5-3.5 years old I started teaching them how to sound out three letter words.

After that, I started pointing out the remaining sounds (long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds) while reading quality literature whenever they would stumble over a new word. All along the way we have LOVED going to the library, checking out stacks of books, and reading together. When we read together, we are always discussing the books we read (what we liked and didn’t like, what was funny, how we can relate, etc.) and asking questions before, during, and after reading.

Now, my oldest daughter is in 5th grade and testing at a 13th grade level in reading, my oldest son (who I didn’t actually start doing flashcards with until he was 3 almost 4) is reading at a 6th grade level in 3rd grade, my 1st grade daughter is reading chapter books, my preschool son loves reading any level of picture books, and my 2.5 year old son knows all of his letter names and sounds, colors, shapes, numbers, first words, and is starting to sound out words and reads new words all of the time including signs and people’s names. Here’s a video of me taking turns reading with 2 year old Ophelia.

In Conclusion

As a 3rd and 4th grade teacher and ESL coach/teacher, I saw many many struggling readers. Even though my team and I worked tirelessly to help our most struggling readers advance often with two or more years of growth, it was still not enough to bring ALL students to proficiency. Today, there seems to be a bit of an epidemic where only 35% of 4th graders are proficient according to nationwide tests. and many states are passing laws to retain students not reading at grade level by the end of 3rd grade.

Now that I’ve seen from a parent’s perspective just how easy it is to teach children how to read, I am hoping to share what I’ve learned and created to help other parents (or teachers) who want to to teach their children how to read. By providing a language rich environment filled with lots of oral language and vocabulary development, teaching the ABCs really really well, making reading fun and reading often, teaching how to sound out three letter words, and introducing them to long vowels, r controlled vowels, and vowel digraphs, children can learn how to read easily and naturally the way my own five children have. Please use, share, and enjoy my free reading resources as you teach your child to read! Have fun reading!

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read on my teacher’s pay teacher’s store that has flashcards, videos, posters, and more! If you’d like a more in depth explanation for how to teach your child to read, please check out the following blog series.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 11, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

Free First Words Resources to Help You Teach Your Child to Read

Free Reading Resources, General, Teaching

January 20, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

How We Manage a Bedtime Routine with Five Young Children

General, Parenting, Tips and Tricks

Over the years, we have tweaked our bedtime routine to help us put all five of our children to bed every night before 8:30 p.m. Without an established bedtime routine, putting our five kids to bed would totally stress me out, but as we enter our evening routine, I am filled with a sense of peace knowing that things will pretty much run on autopilot once the sequence begins, we’ll be able to give every child special attention, and everyone will go to bed easily, happily, and without complaint. (Not only that but the house will be clean and everything will be ready for the next day.)

I don’t think there’s a magic recipe for the perfect routine as long as there is a routine that both the parents and children are familiar with. This is what works for us.

The Importance of Routine

During the summer, we stick to the same sequence of events, but the timing is more flexible because we know that we can stay up later and the kids can sleep in. During the school year, our sequence of events is ruled by the clock. There is still some flexibility based on circumstances, but we basically try to follow the schedule based on time. The kids really like it too. They’ll look at the time and remind us of what step we need to be on. I really think it makes them feel empowered and safe to know what is going to happen next every step of the way.

If you need a laugh, I love how comedian Jim Gaffigan explains what a bedtime without routine might feel like in his stand up from Dad Is Fat.

“Bedtime makes you realize how completely incapable you are of being in charge of another human being. My children act like they’ve never been to sleep before. “Bed? What’s that? No, I’m not doing that.”

Establishing a New Bedtime Routine After Having a Baby

Every time we’ve had another baby, we’ve had to modify our bedtime routine. It’s always a bit weird and awkward at first, but we keep tweaking it until everything is just right. Sometimes the kids are a bit defiant or unsure of the new routine, but we keep at it knowing that in time it will become second nature to them. We also know that if something is just not working or someone is throwing a fit, we just do whatever we can to plow forward and know that we will reconvene, make a new plan, and make the adjustments needed the next night.

1. Dinner (5:00 – 5:30 p.m.)

It’s funny to think of bedtime starting with dinner, but I like to send all of my children to bed with full bellies, so the sequence for me starts here! All of my kids are such picky eaters and have their own likes/dislikes/cravings/needs, so I like to think of a general theme and then supplement with what each child will require. We typically go for a family style meal with lots to choose from so kids can pick what they want, and I like us to eat outside at the picnic table whenever possible. (Far less clean up!)

Sometimes we all sit around the table to eat, but there is always someone who needs a diaper change or throwing a tantrum it seems, so the dinner table is kind of a revolving door. Also, Scott and I are eating a really specific keto diet for weight loss, so we eat our own food. After everyone has eaten dinner, Scott and I clean up while the kids run off to play. This is a nice time for us to finally catch up with each other!

2. Family Time (5:30 – 6:30 p.m.)

After we clean up dinner, we like to spend some time playing together as a family. Even if the house is messy or there are other things to be done, we pause all chores and spend some quality time together having fun. If the weather is nice, we love hanging out in our backyard or going on an adventure somewhere in town. But if the weather is bad, we’ll stay inside and find something fun to do. Before we start the next part of the sequence (which is pajamas and choice time), we have the kids help us pick up the yard and/or house.

3. Pajamas and Choice Time (6:30 p.m.)

At 6:30 p.m., we start pajamas and choice time. Once kids get their pajamas on, they have about 30 minutes to do whatever they want (which is usually some sort of technology like watching YouTube videos or TV, playing the WiiU, or playing a game on their tablets).

Ruby and Elliot are really good about putting their pajamas on and putting their dirty clothes in their hampers. Ruby likes to be alone in her room for her choice time and Elliot usually likes to use the computer in the kitchen. Ophelia could put her pajamas on by herself, but lately she has been pretending to be a baby and wants me to put her pajamas on for her, so I do. (This is a big year for her starting kindergarten and I am totally fine if she wants to take a mental break from that.) Scott and I put Julian and Jack’s pajamas on too, and then Ophelia and Julian usually cuddle up in our bed with their tablets. Sometimes we’ll turn the TV on for Jack if he’s cuddly and sleepy, and other times he still has energy to burn and continues playing.

While this is going on, Scott and I prepare everyone’s rooms by turning on fans, lamps, and air conditioners or heaters (if needed), get tooth brushes ready, tidy up the house, do the remaining dishes, prepare after dinner snacks (chips and cheese and any leftovers from dinner), and get things ready for tomorrow (backpacks out, set the table for breakfast, etc.).

4. Our Room (7:00 p.m.)

At 7:00 p.m. we tell everyone that choice is over, plug in devices, and meet in our bedroom. During this time, there’s usually some kind of show playing that everyone will like (Storybots is popular right now and a really cool educational show) and Scott wrestles with everyone while I get Ruby’s room and Jack’s bottle ready plus do all of the last minute things that need to be done including brushing my teeth and getting my pajamas on. After all of my jobs are done, I like to tickle, cuddle, wrestle, and play with the kids too. Sometimes kids play with legos at our lego table and sometimes the sleepy or sick ones will cuddle in our bed ready for nigh-night.

This is our last chance to make sure everyone has had enough food for the day, so we will usually bring in the leftovers from dinner, some chips and cheese, and some of my homemade cookies for everyone to snack on. We give last call for chips and cheese about ten minutes before the next step in the sequence.

5. Teeth Brushing (7:30 p.m.)

At 7:30 p.m., we whisper to Ophelia to brush her teeth (because if she’s not first she will have an absolute meltdown, and we’ve made the decision that this is best for all of us) then we do a clapping pattern and chant, “Let’s go brush our teeth! Let’s go brush our teeth!” We turn off the TV, gather all dishes, turn out the lights, and meet the kids in the bathroom.

The three older ones use flossers and then electric toothbrushes to brush their teeth. I still like to brush Ophelia’s teeth every few days, but she does a pretty good job of brushing them herself as do Ruby and Elliot. Julian brushes his teeth with the big kids and then Scott brushes them again in his bed. I hold Jack on my lap and brush his teeth. He opens his mouth for about ten seconds and then it’s like wrestling with a snake, but we get the job done.

6. Little Ones to Bed (Done at 8:00 p.m.)

Ruby, Elliot, and Jack

After teeth brushing, Ruby and Elliot watch Jack in the living room while Scott and I put Ophelia and Julian to bed. To ensure that Jack won’t leave the living room, we put up a baby gate and Ruby and Elliot put one of his favorite TV shows on (currently True or Trolls). *When Jack was a newborn, I would just carry him with me while putting Ophelia and Ruby to bed and then nurse him to sleep after that until he was about 3 months old and able to be left with Ruby and Elliot.

Daddy and Julian

Scott chases Julian up the stairs, and Julian squeals in delight as he tries to run up the stairs ahead of Daddy. Then Julian throws the door open and jumps into bed. Scott gives him a flashlight while he goes to fill up his water bottle with fresh cold water. When he comes back, Julian is hiding under the covers with his flashlight while Daddy creeps into the room and hides somewhere different each night. Then, when Julian can’t take it anymore (The anticipation is too much!), he pops out of the blanket and Scott runs at him with an, “Ahhhh!” Julian loves it!

Next, he takes a drink of water while Scott finds a book to read. After reading, they look at pictures on Daddy’s phone. When they’re done, Julian turns Daddy’s phone off and says “Boom!” as he drops the phone on his chest, and then Daddy gets into his little toddler bed and snuggles him. They talk about their day, then they give a kiss, and Scott gets out of bed, gives another kiss, and then heads to the door saying, “I love you! Good night! Sweet dreams!” Julian repeats what he says and sometimes changes the words in a funny way (like he does for everything), and then Scott shuts the door and creeps slowly down the stairs.

Mommy and Ophelia

Across the hall, Ophelia and I are going through her bedtime routine at the same time as Daddy and Julian. After she leads the way up the stairs, we always race to her twin bed (her second bed) and hop under the large silky blanket. She turns on my phone and we cuddle up to watch three Kids Learning Tube videos (before these videos we would watch Dr. Binocs). Then she goes pee on the little potty in her room, and I tuck her into bed. We talk about her day and what the next day is going to be like, then I turn off her light, and we kiss each other on the cheeks at the same time and forehead (her idea).

As I back away to the door she always says things like, “I hope you get good sleep and don’t get a virus!” and then she usually keeps trying to say one more thing and one more thing as I try to find a stopping point and say, “Goodnight darling, I love you, sweet dreams!” She often says the last thing after I shut the door and so I’ll say one last thing to her on the monitor when I get to the bottom of the stairs. After she knows that I’m gone, she’ll turn on her bedside lamp and read out loud to herself for about 30 minutes before turning out her light. (Before going to school, she would often stay up until 11:00 p.m. or later reading, singing, and playing and then sleep in until 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. the next day, but now that she gets up early for school, she goes to bed at a decent time.)

When I’m done putting Ophelia to bed, Scott is usually in the living room hanging out with Ruby, Elliot, and Jack. Sometimes they’ll read a chapter book together, sometimes they’ll watch a small part of a movie each night, and other times they’ll just continue watching what they were watching with Jack. When I come out, the party’s over, and Ruby always rides on Daddy’s shoulders to bed. I follow behind with Jack, and Elliot jumps in his bed to read with Daddy.

7. Jack to Bed (8:00 p.m.)

After I tuck Ruby and Jack into Ruby’s bed, we read Jack a bedtime story. Ruby is so in love with her little brother and thinks everything he does is adorable. She loves cuddling with him, reading to him, and giving him goodnight kisses. After story time, I get Jack’s bottle, and we pass by Daddy and Elliot reading saying goodnight. I sit in my big comfy rocking chair and snuggle Jack in his silky while giving him a bottle and singing him lullabies. I keep singing as I carry him to bed, tuck him in to his crib in our closet, shut the door, and walk away. He does so well going to sleep and as of a couple of weeks ago has finally been sleeping through the night! (He used to need a bottle in the middle of the night, but would always go right back to sleep afterwards.)

8. Older Ones to Bed (Done at 8:30 p.m.)

Ruby reads to herself while she waits for me (it only takes me about 5 minutes to put Jack down), and when I come in, she puts her book down so we can chat. Whatever time I get there, I like to stay to talk to her for at least 15 minutes. She LOVES this time of the day, and so do I! We always have these really deep and meaningful conversations that just can’t happen at any other time of the day. We talk about life, what she’s struggling with, what she’s excited about, how our family is doing, what everybody is working on, future plans and dreams that we have, and so on. When our time is up, she reads to herself until she is tired (anywhere from 10-30 minutes), turns off her light, and goes to sleep.

Scott and Elliot start their time together with Elliot reading out loud. He loves reading books like Amulet, Pilot and Huxley, Press Start, Magic Treehouse, and the monster books him and I have made together. After reading, they play a video game on Daddy’s phone or watch some funny videos. Then they chat briefly about random topics (anywhere from why people in fail videos do such stupid things, how to be a programmer, or why people have jobs) and say goodnight. Sometimes Elliot will read to himself for 5-10 minutes, but usually he just wants to turn his lights off and go to bed.

9. Time for Mom and Dad (8:30 – 10:00 p.m.)

Now that Jack goes to bed on the same timeline as the others and sleeps through the night, we are thrilled to get some time to hang out together every night! On many occasions, someone will get out of bed, need an extra cup of water, have to go to the bathroom, have trouble sleeping, or any number of things, so we are flexible knowing that some nights we might get a lot of time to hang out and sometimes we might not get very much.

Depending on the day we’ve had we might want to just sit and talk, watch a movie, play a video game, or get some work done. During the week, we try to make sure we are in bed by 9:30-10:00 p.m. We may push it a bit later on the weekends if we know we can sleep in. (*On the weekends, the kids can wake up, get their ipads or turn on the TV and have choice time as long as they leave us alone!)

**Once day light savings hits, we will pull the bedtime routine back by about half an hour to get everyone to bed before 8:00 p.m. so we can make sure we get enough time to hang out and go to bed by 9:30 p.m. We wake up at 5:45 a.m. and wake up the kids at 6:45 a.m., and this extra sleep in the cold winter months is crucial to avoiding sickness!

In Conclusion

Having a consistent bedtime routine takes the stress out of putting the kids to bed. Every night we know what to expect, they know what to expect, and it runs like clockwork. If someone throws a fit or has some sort of meltdown, we use distraction, humor, and whatever other tricks necessary to get to the next step of the sequence and everything continues to run smoothly. Our bedtime routine isn’t just about getting our kids to go to sleep, it’s about meeting everyone’s basic needs, enjoying time as a family, and spending quality time with each child. This is what works for us and helps us to not only get through our bedtime routine but ENJOY it as well!

September 28, 2018/by Stacey Maaser

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