Rhyming - read, read, read!  Rhyming books and nursery rhymes are wonderful practice for hearing rhymes.  Have your child fill in the blank while you read. “One, two, buckle my ____. Three, four, shut the ____. “

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Letters and sounds - practice your child's school flash cards. Have your child look for the letters they are practicing on signs, in newspapers and magazines, etc.

 

Beginning or ending sounds - ask them the sound at the beginning or end of things around the house, people in your family, their favorite t.v. show, etc.  Try to avoid words that end with a y or a silent e.  

 

Blending and segmenting words - practice “chopping” up words into individual sounds. For example, the word cat would be three sounds - /c/ /a/ /t/.  

Have your child help make the grocery list.  Start with words that have only 3 or 4 sounds like milk or cheese.  (They will probably spell cheese - chez.  Don’t worry about correct spelling yet.)  Give your child three letter words that are spelled with a consonant, vowel and consonant (like cat or box) and have them practice spelling them.  They may get the vowel sound wrong, but they should be able to get the beginning and ending sounds correct. 

 

If your child is bringing home books to read, please have them read to you every night. 

 

"Trick word" flash cards - Once your child starts bringing home sight words, please practice these once each day.