Previously, I told you my philosophy on teaching reading and what we use to do it, but I wanted to give you some ideas on how you can easily incorporate phonics and reading into your daily life.
*Play the Alphabet game.
We LOVE this game! Our favorite time to play it is when we are in the van waiting on Daddy while he’s in a store. Start at A and work your way through the entire alphabet looking for each letter on billboards, store fronts, license plates, etc. I try to help the littler ones by giving them clues and not allowing the big kids to find every letter.
*When you read to your readling, have them sound out words here and there. (and yeah, I know I just made that word up, but it’s the perfect way to describe a new reader…like a sapling or a nursling, etc) When you do this, be careful to avoid frustrating them. There’s nothing more irritating to a new reader than to want mom or dad to read them a story only to find themselves in the middle of a lecture.
*Run your finger underneath the words as you read them. This gives your readling the opportunity to follow along.
*Point out letters in their environment and ask them to give you the letter sound.
*Have books everywhere! Books should be readily accessible in every room in your house.
*Sing letter sounds and letter names. Phonics museum has a letter sounds song as do many curricula. But there’s nothing wrong with making up your very own version!
*Have a Letter of the Week. Print out several copies or make your own of each letter in both upper and lower cases. Tape them to the walls throughout the house. Create a staging area where children can display letter of the week items like an apple for the letter A or a bug for the letter B. Point this letter and its sound out all week long.
*Make the library a part of your life. Taking 6 kids to the library is not always at the top of my fun list, but making literacy an important part of our lives is. Put the baby in a sling, give the children the “this-is-what-I-expect” talk, and get yourself to the library as often as you can manage. Yes, you will end up with a million and one books, but it will be worth it in the long run!
*Have a mandatory Reading Time. When we are on a normal schedule, we have Rest Time every day shortly after lunch. During this time, I allow quiet activities like drawing or reading as long as each child stays in his or her own spot (often their beds). If you are looking for a way to get your child into books, then make book reading mandatory at some point during each day.
*Read to them with gusto! There is nothing more boring than having someone read you a book in a monotone. I am one of those moms who reads with accents and voice inflections. I shout the words when someone is yelling in the book, I whisper when the scene is tense, I deepen my voice to read men’s words, and add all sorts of commentary so they get a good grasp of the storyline. My mom read this way to me, and I truly believe it is one big reason why I love books.
I know there are a million more ways we incorporate phonics and reading into our day, but if I kept going this post would never end! So, let me turn it over to you…
What ways have you incorporated reading and phonics into your daily life? I’d love to hear about it and get some new ideas for my readlings!
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Clara says
I did many of these things… I also had a brightly coloured interesting poster of the ABCs up on the wall in the living room (with easily recognisable pictures to associate with each letter), and the kids would sit and look at it and sound out the letters regularly! If you can’t find a good one, it’s not too difficult to make your own small posters using your computer and combining them to make one big poster or stringing them across the room.
Also another learning game – give the children a particular letter written on paper and then shout out words and see if the one holding the first letter of the word can figure it out and stand up with their letter… Or do what I remember seeing on the Little House in the Prairie TV series where the teacher got them to spell out the words by holding up their paper with letter on it. (Am I making sense?) Of course some of these games do depend on how many children you have!
Amy says
Great ideas!
Suanna says
Thanks for the great ideas. We read a lot and there are always books all over the house:) We have a designated room/shelves where we keep our books, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take them to your room to read.
Sharon says
Wonderful ideas! And yes, I think readling should be an acceptable word! 😉
andrea whitwell says
thankyou for the great ideas, we have only just started homeschooling, so need lots of ideas! love letter of the week!
blessings
andrea
Melanie says
Wonderful ideas! … and what a CUTIE!
Blessings,
Melanie 🙂
Kallie Perkins says
Great ideas! Also, use post-it notes and label the house! You could even make it a game and have them put the post-it notes on the correct items/areas.