Hey guys! Welcome back to A Thriving Virtual Learning Series where I share my tried and true educational resources to help level up your virtual learning experience. I wish I knew then what I know now and I hope you find this series very helpful and informative. So let's get to it!
READING AND WRITING
In today's blog post I'll be sharing what we used to teach our kindergartener to read with confidence within two weeks and our go-to writing tools. I am going to start here with honesty. So let me just say that I never once intended to be the one to teach my child how to read. I always assumed that she would learn in school because I didn't know the half of where to start with teaching her how to read. I find that ironic because... I love reading!
BOB BOOKS
That's when I remembered coming across Bob Books during my nannying career and liking it. I am forever thankful for all the years I spent working closely with children and their families. That opportunity allowed me to try a wide array of products designed for all kids and their needs. I was able to test what works and what doesn't. It also gave me the opportunity to personally see how each child learns differently.
What are Bob Books?
Bob Books are a collection of easy and fun stories that teach little readers how to read a book from start to finish with confidence. Each book set comes with a variety of colour coded stories. If you read the books in the correct order you'll also be able to follow along the story line and have a little more fun with it. According to their website, they have been best sellers for over forty years! I believe it because these books are truly amazing! I'll leave a link for you to check it out.
We have set 1 for beginning readers which comes with twelve stories to enjoy. So here's what I did.
read it to my daughter first
encouraged her to read it with me
used one finger to point to each letter as we read
encouraged her to "try" it on her own
The first thing I did was sit down with my daughter and read the books to her. Well, I've always read my daughters books since they were born. reading has always been a part of our lives. With the Bob Books, I wanted her to gain interest in the stories before asking her to try it on her own or having us read it together. Each book has helpful information that lets you know what to expect and "tools for success" I like to call it.
There's also the tried and true pointing to the letters as you read tip that always comes through! Within two weeks of consistently reading these books, my daughter was able to read an entire book with confidence! It was a huge celebration and relief that she learned how to read this stress-free way. So we continued on and of course I ordered set 2.
FLASH CARDS
Once we started on the right foot we then backtracked and started using our flash cards more often. Flash cards are a fun and simple way to teach your child to read. We absolutely love them and have a growing collection. You can get these anywhere. I've purchased from the dollar store, Costco, and Amazon. The problem is sometimes I slack in the flash card department... Can you relate? Leave a comment to let me know.
WRITING
When it comes to writing practice, it's very important that you know practice is the only way to get better at writing. So for writing I keep things old school. We like to use lined paper and pencil. When my kindergartener was in preschool I'd write things and have her trace it with a marker or crayon. It works so well that I do that now with her little sister who is my preschooler! So currently I am teaching preschool and kindergarten at home. Another option is using a writing workbook. These are always good to have on hand.
If you'd prefer a reusable option then I'd recommend the reusable dry erase pockets that I purchased from Amazon. These are great because you can do so much with them. I use it to make a kids menu, responsibility chart, schedules, and of course for writing practice! Simply place a white paper in the pocket and use any dry erase marker of your choice to practice writing.
NEXT UP
We've officially come to the end of this post and I really hope you found this helpful. We are halfway through this series now and next time I'll be sharing what resources we've used to fill the STEM gap now that we're virtual. I'll also include our favourite resources for movement activities. You don't want to miss that or the remaining resources I want to share with you all to make your virtual learning experience a little less gruesome and a lot more fun!
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LOVE,
DEE
(Your Virtual Learning Experience Expert)