Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur - Book Review

Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur by Lillian Hoban (Harper Collins & I Can Read Books Publishers), 1995

This book is based on the beginning reader series by I Can Read Books and it's publishing partner Harper Collins. The books in this series are categorized by reading levels (Pre-K to Grade 4+). Levelled books help emergent readers by providing simple concepts and stories through the use of easy-to-recognize vocabulary and simple sentences/text. 

Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur by Lillian Hoban (Harper Collins & I Can Read Books Publishers), 1995

This month in our reading block for preschool, we have been reading winter-themed books. Today, we read a really great book called Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur. It talks about a boy's friend who is different from others. The dinosaur, Betsy is Joe's companion and when they set out on an adventure, they face problems with acceptance from others, impatience, and unkindness. Upon encountering these problems, Joe and Betsy return to their homes to realize that it is okay to be different. I like this book as it targets the differences and equity issues we face every step of the way in our day-to-day lives. Being different is okay and self-acceptance is the first step to being a confident and strong person in the real world. Below are some activities that you can do with your child while reading leveled books:

1. Prior Learning Activities:
• Look at the cover picture(s) and discuss what is on the cover. Look at the pictures for clues and use key words to describe what you see (i.e. boy, dinosaur, snowing, snow, etc.)
• Read the title aloud and try to predict what the book may be about.
• Discuss the topic and it's relevance to your child's real life. For example, talk about snow and it's affects in our lives.
• Introduce the vocabulary in the book by writing it down on chart paper and have it open for display. Before you begin reading, go over the words by sounding them out.
• For an older child, you may write or discuss the learning objectives of the book (what will be learned; this requires you to read the book in advance).
2. During Reading Activities:
• Allow your child to read the text, while you listen for support.
• Read aloud to your child and let them interact with you (ask questions, point out things in the pictures or discuss the feelings/emotions they may experience about the story's context).
• Another way to get your child to participate is by asking the 5W questions (who, what, when, where, and why). Avoid close-ended questions that require yes or no answers. Ask questions that may lead your child to ask you another question or prompt for more knowledge.
• Discuss different characters and their personal traits (i.e. kind, unkind, sad, excited, etc.).
• Look at the page numbers (if the book has any and count the page numbers from beginning to end to find out the number of pages in the book).
• Predict what will happen next when you reach the problem or climax of the story. You can also predict what will happen next during various stages of the story.
3. After Reading Activities:
• The best after reading activity is checking for comprehension. Ask questions and/or prompt your child to ask specific story related questions. Keep it simple in the beginning and build up the complexity of the questions as your child grows as a reader. To build on comprehension and understanding of the text, do a story map or a brainstorming bubble that discusses the main ideas and supporting details of the story.
• This would a good time to practice the Phonics or words related to the story. Looking at prefixes (common ones include pre-, dis-, un-, non-, re-) and suffixes (common ones include -ed, -ing, -er, -s, -es). Another fun word study is looking at words that rhyme with the words in the story.
• Your child can do a sketch or snapshot of the story after reading. Some examples of things that your child can draw are characters, story setting, story problem/solution, and/or ending.
• Make a story timeline by listing events of the story from the beginning to the end. 
• You can also summarize the story events by having your child retell the story.

Happy Reading,
Annie

Letter B Literacy Activities

This week in our Literacy block, we have been focusing on the Beginning Consonant: the /b/ sound.

© Everything Family Guide

Differentiation: We started off by differentiating between letters and numbers. We sorted through our felt words and numbers bag to make a bucket of words and another bucket of numbers. Skill: differentiate between letters and numbers.

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Word Wall: I made vocabulary cards for our word wall, where we will be adding /b/ words daily. For the introduction to this activity, I asked my child to repeat the sound of /b/ after me. Say: "There are lots of words that begin with the /b/ sound. The "Bbbbig Bbbblue Bbball is Bbbbouncy." Emphasize the /b/ sound by dragging the "b's" in the previous sentence. I made accompanying pictures to help my child identify the words easily. You can also use stickers or print-out pictures. Skill: vocabulary development and sound practice.

© Everything Family Guide

© Everything Family Guide

Writing Practice: Practice writing the letter b on paper, on white board or with chalk. It's always fun to change the median of practice to make it interesting for the little ones. Skill: writing practice using a tool (i.e. pencil, marker, chalk, etc.).

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Surprise Bag or Bucket: Fill a paper bag with b-sound objects. Before pulling out the object from the bag, have your child close their eyes and feel the object with their hands. Then have them describe what the object feels like, without looking or peeking in the bag. Use descriptive words like soft, hard, smooth, etc. Finally, the child will make a prediction about what they are holding, before pulling it out. You can play with your child or have your child play this game in a play group taking turns pulling things out of the bag. Skill: vocabulary development and prediction skills.

Letter B Bucket © Everything Family Guide

Games: Make a letter b sensory bin by adding an assortment of toys and objects. Play "I Spy" looking for objects that have the letter b sounds.
 

Sensory Writing: Fill a Ziploc bag with homemade paint. I make mine by adding a bit of flour, food color and gel Vaseline. Sometimes I add in some glitter to add an element of surprise. Seal the bag and tape it to a window. Let your child explore the paint with their fingers by making the letter b and other fun shapes :) Skill: sensory experience and writing practice.

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Vocabulary Play: Do your kids love playing ball? Here are a few vocabulary-rich and speech development ideas for playing with a ball (w/FREE PRINTABLE)

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Letter B Crafts: Make crafts inspired by the Letter B.

Letter B Themes © Everything Family Guide

Bingo Balloon Art © Everything Family Guide

Play-based learning: For this activity, we chose to play with a toy that starts with the letter B: Blocks. Blocks are fun for all ages and you always have fun playing with them. They don't require any batteries and are a great cooperative or independent learning activity. You can also add rich-vocabulary to your play experience by modeling the activity with related words. Here are some ideas to play with blocks in a fun learning way:

• Practice playing with blocks and putting them together by hand, if it is your child's first experience. Watch your child play with the blocks and follow their lead/copy their movements or sounds. You can also demonstrate putting them together using specific words to describe as you are playing. (Vocabulary: blocks, big, small, connect, together, put together.)
• For cooperative play, build a block tower together as fast you can (you can time the activity using a kid's timer app or an alarm). Keep going until all the blocks are out or until the tower topples over. If the block tower is still standing, then you can knock it down together after building it all the way. If your child is having fun, then play all over again. (Vocabulary: blocks, tower, tall, up, down, build, fall, knock it over).
• For independent play, build your own tower beside your child's tower creation. While building, model the vocabulary words through play. As you are putting the blocks together say words like 1 block, 2 blocks, 3 blocks, 4....)
• This is the best activity: build a block train, block city, block roads, block houses or buildings. This will keep you and your child busy for a while. To make it more fun, you can add figurines or soft toys to your creations. When everything is complete, then your child can walk his dog through his block creation or climb a figurine to the top of the building.
• Here are some fun ways to learn math through block play:
• Add blocks as you build and say the numbers aloud. (1 block, 2 block,...)
• You can do color patterns (such as blue, red, blue, red, blue) while stacking or building your block tower.
• Learn about size or other characteristics of blocks by stacking or building with small, large, tiny, fat, curvy, or pointy block pieces.
• Learn to add or subtract with blocks. You can put together a building of five blocks and then take away two, now count the left over blocks to know how many are left over. This is just one of the ways to add or subtract using blocks. You also count how many blocks are in your child's finished creation afterwards. Or you can assign challenges to older kids by telling them to make a shape using a certain number of blocks (i.e. Make a car with 12 block pieces).

We are having a bbbbery great week, how about you?

Annie

Preschool: Learning Time-Telling

Since we are learning numbers in preschool, I thought it would be a great idea to introduce the concept of time.  I bought a really cool clock puzzle which allows the child to link the numbers on the clock. 

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Here are some great introductory activities for learning about time: 

1. Advanced Prep: I took a small notebook and wrote a number on each page to make a number reference book. Why did I write only a number on each page? Little kids learn through simplicity and struggle with confusing and new concepts. So I wrote the numbers on a separate page each to show how each number progresses one after another. It's a great visual aid. I plan on adding small corresponding pictures (i.e. dots, stars, etc.) with the number to enhance the visual aid.

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2. We discussed the concept of time by talking about things like day/night, evening/afternoon, tomorrow/today, before/after, now/later, etc.

3. We read a really cool book about time called "The Clock Struck One: A Time-Telling Tale" by Trudy Harris.

4. We sang the poem "Hickory Dickory Dock" together.

5. We went over the numbers by reading them out loud on the clock and on the number reference book. Then we identified the numbers by matching them to corresponding pictures on the clock puzzle. 

6. We practiced some more by placing the numbers in a number line. 

7. Finally, we matched the numbers on the number reference book to the numbers on the clock puzzle and solved the time puzzle.

© Everything Family Guide

Learning to read time is a handy skill to have and the only way to learn is through loads of practice.

Good luck! 

Annie

Take-off with Effective Early Learning

What is a Preschool Program?

• Preschool is a exactly what the name entails: it's a schooling or educational system that caters to children before the age of 5 or 6. It starts as early as the age of 3 and can go up to the age of six, right before your child enters a full-time school program (Kindergarten to Grade 12; private, public, charter, or home-school).
• Some preschool programs are full-time from morning to evening and some only run up to noon. It all depends on your child's needs and your personal schedule.
• A preschool curriculum is either based on a pre-designed research program or it is designed by teachers/coordinators at the preschool.
• Most of the preschool programs are based on seasonal and/or monthly themes. This helps your child identify and relate their learning to real-life (i.e. in the winter time, your child will learn about snow, cold, winter animals, etc.).
• Parents have the option of providing preschool at home or sending their child to a private/public preschool program.
• Benefits of Preschool:
• While in Preschool, your child will learn social, emotional, physical, and intellectual skills to succeed in their school years.
• Early learning in Preschool helps to prepare your child for school and beyond.

Preschool at Home - Studies show that children aged 0-5 should spend as much time at home as they can, with their parents for a healthy body and mind development. Separation at an early age may cause anxiety which leads to frustration, boredom and lack of interest in learning. While your child's at home, you can take the curriculum at your own pace and cater to your child's needs. After all, who knows your child better than you: the Parent. We have watched them grow, helped them walk, fed them, changed their diapers, potty-trained them, taught them life skills and values, and much more. We have watched them experience a wide range of emotions from scared, anxious, angry, sad, frustrated, happy, energetic to excited. We have watched them fall, then get back up and we have been there to lend them a hand all the way. Anyways, the best at-home Preschool program is designed by an educated or informed parent (someone who has read, researched, planned, and/or attended professional development classes). Why did I use such specific terms? Being a teacher, I understand the UTTER IMPORTANCE of teaching content that is well-planned and has been looked at from all point of views before presented to my students. Personally, I love my career and take my parenting just as seriously. As my son's teacher, I bring my enthusiasm and passion of certain subjects into our Preschool program. For example, my love of literacy is something that he has picked up as well. He listens, reads, shares, talks, discusses, inquires, and shows a keen interest in everything. Overall, my point is that a learning program at home should have a sense of direction, even if it changes and grows in only one category. Take your time and be the best you can be for them!  

Private/Public Preschool programs have many benefits and some disadvantages as well. A good preschool program will be based on a solid research-based programming and teaching/learning. Their staff will be trained in the research-based programming. The preschool center will have toys and learning resources that cater to their visions or objectives. You can be sure that your child will go to school on specific days with a specific schedule. This will allow you to have some time off or start work professionally. The major cons with private/public preschool programs is the quality of programming and the ratio of teacher versus children in a classroom. In an ideal scenario, the ratio of 1 teacher to 10 students is recommended. But that is not always the case. The preschool classrooms sometimes end up having around 20+ kids with only one classroom teacher to supervise them and several part-time assistants (if they have the budget for that and most of these assistants are not trained according to the program's visions). This in my opinion is not the ideal scenario for a parent to send their child to for their first experience of a social learning environment. But some of us are trapped with the pressure of expenses and ever-rising prices of housing, groceries, bills, etc. Most parents cannot afford the financial commitment of sending their kids to private preschools or to school them at home. That's why it is equally important to be prepared when choosing the right preschool program for your child.

There are tons of articles and directories that list the names of best or worst preschool programs on the internet. But your best bet is to do your own research. You can start off by setting up an appointment or a trial period for your child to try out various preschools. This will give you a chance to observe how he/she may react to the preschool programs. You can also talk to the teachers and other parents about specific questions or concerns. Fairly, this will give you much to consider when choosing the right preschool programs for your child. If you don't feel comfortable then it is important to have a list of preschool in your desired neighborhood ready. If you are uncertain about taking your child to different preschools, then the parents will have to go on their own before choosing the right one for your child to try out.

© Everything Family Guide

Below is a FREEBIE that I have adapted for my preschooler's learning at home. It is designed for a 3 or 4 year old child, who is getting ready to transition into a Kindergarten program in the upcoming year(s). The theory is based on the Prekindergarten Prepares website. This schedule is pretty basic and can be applied to any preschool program at home.

I hope you like it!
Annie

PreK Science - Life Cycles Series (w/PRINTABLES)

My kids loved learning about life cycles, especially baby animals. For this series, we will be looking at the life cycles of different living things. Today, we will start with the life cycle of a chicken; eggs to a full-grown chicken. The 'Chicken' life cycle is a part of the Countryside theme.

© Everything Family Guide

What are Life cycles? 
Life cycles are the study of a living thing (like an animal, person or plant) that is constantly changing, growing or evolving. Metamorphosis is another word used to describe the process of a life cycle. To morph is to change from one stage to another. Similarly, living things go through various changes/stages in their lives from birth to death. This is the process of a life cycle.

What is KWL Chart?
A KWL chart before a science lesson is the best way to assess your child's knowledge retention and learning. I recommend drawing the chart on a large piece of chart paper and then the adult/teacher fills it in as you progress through the activities. The KWL chart consists of three components that take place before and after a lesson.

• What you already know? (Activating prior knowledge or scaffolding; to see how much is known).
• What you would like to know? (This is the best time to address the learning objectives), and
• What was learned? (This is filled at the end of each lesson or unit of study; this is a review summary of what learning objectives were learned).

Some possible KWL responses may include: 

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Here is a copy of the KWL chart for your science plans:

Life cycle Learning Activities:

• Read a book about the life cycle of a chicken. "Cluck, Cluck Who's there? is a great fiction story by James Mayhem. The reading level for this book is at grade one. So it's also great for a beginning reader.

• Make your own life cycle chart. 
• Make a Chicken-themed word wall to practice vocabulary and phonics development. Here is a print-out of chicken-themed words and phonics practice sentences for you to get started:

• Draw a chicken or make chicken related crafts.

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• Watch a video online about the life cycle of a chicken. Here is a really cool "Story of Penny" on YouTube (The video is kid-friendly and animated).
• Study and label the structure of an egg; egg white, shell, yolk, and cracked shell.

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• Talk about an egg from a healthy eating perspective: source of protein, full of nourishing of vitamins and minerals, and over-consumption may lead to high cholesterol. 
• Discover the different ways to eat an egg: scrambled, boiled, sunny side up, or poached.

This month, we will be focusing on animals that live in the countryside or in a farm/barnyard. So watch out for other updates!

Annie

PreK Social Studies - Mapping Skills

We have been busy mapping things as we are cooped up in our homes due to extreme Winter conditions. It is been fun constructing and learning about maps!

My Town by Sindy McKay 
© Everything Family Guide

Before we begin, let’s look at the description of a map: 

A map is a portrait of a place or a guide for when you are lost. It shows you how to get from one place to another. Sometimes, we look at maps to find things that we are not familiar with. At other times, we look at a map to learn about a place and all of its geographic locations. Maps and Geography go hand in hand. Geography is the study of lands and its various features like water bodies (rivers, lakes, seas, and the ocean) and landforms (grasslands, hills and mountains). The Global map does not change much as the land stays as is, but local/town maps are always changing or growing, as new communities are built. Global maps list the name of continents, countries, islands or large bodies of water like the sea or large lakes. Local/City or Town maps list the names of streets/roads/highways, rivers/lakes/ponds, small towns, landmarks (historical or monumental structures) or other government services (hospitals, parks/recreation or schools/universities) offered within that city or town.

The best way to learn and teach about a map is to start small. For this activity, we will be making a map of our home. To get started, you need a ruler (17 inches or longer), skinny-tip marker, pencil, and a large piece of paper like a poster paper (The larger the paper, the better it is to teach the concept of mapping; a smaller piece of paper will make everything look squished and confusing for the little ones). This activity may take a few days, as you cannot possibly finish all tasks in one day.

Vocabulary:

• Map
• Mapping 
• Compass Rose
• Legend
• Global Map
• City or Town Map
• Line
• Label
• Direction
• "Bird's View"

Activity Ideas (with skills learned):

Day 1: You will need to sit down with a book that talks about maps; the book could be a fictional or non-fiction one. We read the book called "My Town" by Sindy McKay. You can also pour through old city maps together, to give your child an idea about maps and how they look. 

Skill: Identifying what a map looks like.

© Everything Family Guide

Day 2: Practice drawing a line or lines using a ruler. This is a skill in itself as it requires practice and your child will not be able to do it the first time. Sometimes, the ruler may move and other times they won’t be able to hold a pencil and ruler to draw a line (you will need to hold the ruler, while they draw and vice versa). Practice drawing straight lines and connecting the lines to make boxes. The boxes don’t have to be perfect so please take it easy on the little one. 

Skill: Drawing a line with a pencil with the use of a ruler.

Day 3: Conduct a walk through the house and name different rooms in the house. Talk about how to get from one room to another room. Say: In order to get to the kitchen, we have to cut through the dining room. What is this room called? It's a spare bedroom or guest room. 

Skill: Identifying places (i.e. rooms) and understanding directions (i.e. how to go somewhere from one point of location to another).

Day 4: Talk to your child about the "Bird's View" and how you will be drawing a map as if it was viewed by a bird from above. You will need to draw the map for the first few places/rooms within the house. You will be demonstrating how to draw a line using a ruler and constructing the various rooms. Talk about what you are doing as you draw, so that your child can be engaged in the activity. Say: I am going to make the walls to the closet and then add a hallway that leads to the rooms in the house. Afterwards, let your child help you draw the lines, while you hold the ruler in place. 

Skill: Drawing and constructing a map.

Day 5: Once the mapping exercise is complete, you need to label the different rooms in the house. Talk about the different rooms in the map and label them as you discuss where each room is. 

Skill: Review the contents of a map and learn about labeling objects in a picture.

Day 6: Cut out pictures of furniture items from old furniture store flyers or catalogues that you have lying around your home. Glue the pictures of the furniture items in the designated rooms of the house. 

Skill: cutting and identifying where things go in a home.

Here is the completed project: 

© Everything Family Guide

Day 7: Make a simple Compass Rose (East, West, North, and South)

We made a simple Compass Rose by drawing a plus sign with arrows (for direction; north points upwards). After we drew our map, we talked about things that were in the North corner of the house map. We then talked about how to get there by using directional words. Say: How do we get to the main bedroom from the door? We turn right at the living room and head straight North to the main bedroom. 

Skill: learn to draw a compass and learn the four direction words.

© Everything Family Guide

Day 8: Make a simple Legend/Key (symbols and descriptions)

The whole idea behind making a simple Legend/Key is to get your child to understand their purpose on a map. A legend is a reference guide that represents certain symbols or pictures on a map and explains their meaning. All legends are unique to the map they represent. There is no limit on how extensive or long a legend can be. You can add important landmarks, places or things on a map and then describe them with a word(s) on the legend. For example, a line on our map represents the walls. Say: What do the lines on the house map represent? The lines represent the walls and how the house is divided into different rooms. Skill: Learn to read legends and their representations on a map.

© Everything Family Guide

Assessing to see if your child acquired the necessary mapping skills:

Game #1 - This is a Q/A game and can be played by 2 or more players. We asked and answered questions by ringing a hand bell for our turns. Here are some sample questions from our game:

How many rooms or doors in the house? How many steps does it take to get from the main door to the bedroom? How many emergency exits in the house, including windows and doors? 

Every Q/A game will be different as all houses are not the same. I wrote my questions on a sticky note, so that we can always come back to the answers for review and discussion.

© Everything Family Guide

Game #2 - You will need a dice and the completed map project. To play, roll the dice and drop on the map. Wherever the dice drops in an area of the map, that person has to go to the specific room in the house and count to 5 before returning to their tables. Record who went to which room on a piece of paper divided into a column chart. The player who misses and the dice rolls off the map, loses a turn. The player who goes to the most rooms wins.

Later on, we will add more types of map activities related to this blog post (like the map of our street and surrounding areas/services, map of our city, studying a weather map and a going on a scavenger hunt using a treasure map). So be on the lookout for updates, Thanks!

Annie

Map your world and your life to make everything simple and easy to see.

Series of Themed Play - Ball (with Printable)

"Series of Themed Play" will teach your child about related vocabulary and actions that go along with each play scenario.  During play, your job as a parent is to clearly speak the vocabulary and demonstrate a sample action that goes along with the words. Then you will let your child try it out for a few minutes, until they get bored or lose interest. The "Series of Themed Play" activities are targeted to help your baby, toddler and/or preschool with their speech and language development. For this blog post we will be playing with a ball.

© Everything Family Guide

Little kids squeal with delight while they are playing with a ball. It's always fun and gets your child moving. Here are some play and vocabulary-rich activities that you can delve into with your child:

Vocabulary Development - Sound out "B" letter words that are related to the word "Ball":

• Bouncy, big, blue, balloon, bubble, baseball, basketball, bat, beach ball, bowling ball, bulge. 

Adjectives/Action words that are related to playing Ball: 

• Roll/Rolling, Catch/Catching, Throw/Throwing, Bounce/Bouncing, Dribble/Dribbling, Kick/Kicking, Play/Playing, Serve/Serving, Strike/Striking (hit with a bat), and Down/Up.

Characteristics - Talk about the defining features of a Ball:

• Texture/Feel: soft, hard, smooth, rough, bumpy
• Size/How it looks: big, small, blue, red
• What is it made of/Materials: rubber, felt, plastic
• Sounds: bump, thud, clunk, ping

Playing with the ball (Say simple sentences like "Roll ball, throw ball, catch ball, ball up, or ball down"). Before we begin, it is probably safer to start with a large, soft and squishy ball for BEGINNER practice or during play with babies and toddlers. Here are some varied play ideas for ball play:

• Roll the ball back and forth to each other. Say "roll", "back", "forward", "ball".
• Another rolling activity that is similar to Bowling is also fun. You need a plastic ball and some stand-up toys like plastic figurines. Or you can clean up some plastic recycling bottles and use them as bowling pins. Set up the bottles at the far end of the room and then roll the ball towards the bottles to topple them over.

© Everything Family Guide

• Tapping or dribbling the ball on a hard surface like a bouncy ball or a little basketball. Then aim to throw the ball in a store-bought hoop or old cardboard box. Say: "dribble", "bounce", "throw".
• Go to an open outdoor area to teach your child to catch and throw a ball. Say: "catch", "throw", "retrieve".
• Hang up a net in an open outdoor area. Stand on the opposite side of the net and serve or throw the ball on the other side. Once the ball reaches the other side, the receiving person will throw it back by hitting it with their hands (similar to Volleyball) over the net. Say: "serve", "throw", "over", "under".
• You can teach your child to swing a ball with a plastic bat (like baseball or cricket). You can take turns serving the ball or swinging/striking with the ball with a bat. Say: "swing", "strike", "ball", "serve".

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• Finally, the all-around kids' favorite game is Soccer or Kicking/Passing a ball. For this specific activity, I have bought a small foldable net that you can set up anywhere for scoring a goal or during soccer game. Teach your child to share by passing the ball to each or to other players of the game. If the game is played in an outdoor open area, mark the ends of two sides as the goals and then try to kick the ball to the opposing side to make a goal (like soccer). Say: "kick", "goal", "pass".

Here are some kids books that talk about the various types of balls, stories about playing ball & games that involve ball play:

• Where is Baby's Beach Ball? by Karen Katz
• A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
• Balls by Michael J. Rosen (Non-Fiction about ball games and their histories)
• Elmo's World: Balls! by John E. Barrett
• Little Basketball, Little Soccer, Little Baseball, and Little Football (all 4 books by Brad Herzog).
• Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
• Toddler Storybook: Ball by Ros Asquith
• Play Ball! by Santiago Cohen
• What is Round like a Ball? by Lisa Campbell Ernst

So here you have it; "Ball Play". It is a free and exciting object that you can play with and does not require any batteries or technology. You can play any game with a ball whether it is an organized sports game or just for fun. Best of all, it's suitable for all ages!

Have fun playing,
Annie
(Encl. Printable Vocabulary Cards)

Read-Aloud and its many Benefits (with FREEBIE)

Read aloud is an activity where an adult will read to a child to assist them with their reading development. Many educators know the benefit of read-aloud in the classroom and encourage parents to do the same at home. The best time for read-aloud at home is when your child is relaxed and calm. Traditionally, many parents read-aloud to their kids before going to bed at night. You can also read to your kids in the wee-morning hours of the day, as their attention and knowledge retention is peaked at that time.

What is read-aloud?
Read-aloud is an activity where an adult or child will read aloud a text in a clear and loud voice. The adult lets the child finish reading before making any corrections. It is recommended that a child reads every day for 15 minutes. This can be in the form of read-aloud or quiet reading.

What is the parent's role during read-aloud?
A parent's commitment and involvement are key when it comes to reading aloud with your child. The parent guides their child as he/she reads or reads the complex/struggling parts for them. You are your child's guide and teacher during read-aloud. So tread carefully through each component of the text and read each word clearly, paying close attention to pronunciation. If, as a parent, you are unsure of how things should be done, then you should read the book beforehand. This gives you time to come up with ideas for questions, understand important messages or themes of the story, spot key vocabulary, and/or the personal characteristics of the story's characters.

© Everything Family Guide

What types of books to choose for read-aloud?

• Poetry is the best book choice for read-aloud. Use age appropriate poetry books like Nursery rhymes or "The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury" by Jack Prelutsky. Poetry reading teaches the child to read simple text with rhymes, rich descriptive terms, and multiple meanings. It allows your child to think about something with a different perspective which leads to a great discussion to build their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
• Picture Books are beneficial for readers of all ages. They are especially suitable for little guys aged 3 to 8, as it allows them to depict the meaning or theme of the story by looking at lively illustrations. Picture books are great to use for retelling or summarizing stories. Occasionally, I let my pre-reader to tell me the story of the book just by looking at pictures in his own words. This skill builds on vocabulary and reading comprehension development.
• Audio Books are great to use for a change. It is always refreshing to hear a story from someone else’s voice or point of view. Audio books are related to read aloud as the reader follows along with the author or story reader. You can give your child a pointer like a Popsicle stick with a googley eye stuck to the top (my son loves it!).
• Factual or Non-Fiction Books are also good to teach read-aloud. Kids are naturally very curious and love to learn about things in the world. Choosing a topic that interests them goes a long way. For example, if your child loves dinosaurs, then it's a great opportunity for you explore prehistoric dinosaurs and their characteristics. Factual books are a good opportunity for your child to develop their vocabulary.
• Finally, Cookbooks are also great to build on read-aloud skills. Have your child look at the pictures and read instructions out loud before every step so that you can progress together. For little readers, it is important for the parent to read-aloud the text to make it easier.

What are some activities that you can do before, during, and after read-aloud to make it a more effective learning experience for your child?

• Brainstorming - the best way to start a book is by looking at the picture on the cover page or by reading the title. Title and the picture help your child infer what the book is about.
• Inferring - as you read the story, you can infer or make predictions about what will happen next. It is also good to infer or make a prediction before a problem in the story can be solved or how are some other ways that a story can end.
• Asking Questions - the best way to ask questions is through inferring. The best types of questions are open-ended questions that lead to more questions and opens the channel for discussion.
• Discussion - I love to take a break during reading to discuss about a topic or theme that is related to what we are reading. This is an opportunity to scaffold/activate prior learning about a topic. For example, if you are reading about winter animals, then one topic can be about how winter weather helps certain animals survive the winter atmosphere or environment.
• Summarizing or Retelling - It is important to summarize what you read at the end with a lesson you learned, the morale of the story or how the story turned out by going over main points or story themes.

How to make Read-aloud fun and interesting for your child? Match everything you do with the story text and the pictures.

• Match your voice to the characters in the story.
• Make animal, movement sounds or other sound effects (i.e. howling of the wind, the crow of the rooster, birds chirping, opening of the door, etc.).
• Act out the story or various parts of the story as a form of reader's theater (where readers tell the story using vocal expression).
• Always ask questions to keep your child engaged.

Reading aloud to your child is a great learning experience and you can start from an early age. In the beginning, some children may persist or some may like the book read to them at a different time in the day. Finally, I cannot begin to say that the love of reading that you instill in your child's heart is forever.

Fun fact: if you read to your child every day for 15 minutes that equals to 5475 minutes or 91.25 hours in one year.

On a side note: it is okay to read your child's favorite book more than once.

Freebie: I have made a read-aloud chart that you can print in plain and color to track all those reading session and to instill a love of reading.

Have fun reading, 

Annie