Miss Michelle's Preschool

We have been learning so much this year.  Each day I work with my friends to get them ready to read.  There is so much more than just knowing the letters and sounds to learn to read.  We work on beginning sounds, rhyming, we break words apart and then putting them back together and much, much, more. 

 Word Play Games
Games to play to prepare your child to read.

1. Change the beginning sounds of words and have your child correct you, or you can point objects out and change all the beginning sounds to a certain letter sound.  Example...can and cup can be changed to lan and lup then use the /l/ sound to change other words.  We do this is class and the kids LOVE it.  They love to hear words change and how silly word can be.  If your child does not understand rhyming wordsyet this game is easier for them and will prepare them to ryhme words.  If they do rhyme words this game is still very bennificial.

2.  Find compound words like butterfly then tell your child.  If I say butterfly and I take away the butter what is left?

3.  Another game is to take a small word like cat and then say, "guess what the word I'm saying... /c/ /a/ /t/.  Break each sound of the word apart and see if your child can blend the word back together to say the word. If this is easy for them do it with larger words.  If this is too difficult just break the beginning sound off from the rest of the word like... /c/ /at/.  When children are learning to read they hear each letter of the word separately at first. Sometimes they have trouble hearing the word because they only hear each sound as an individual sound.  This will help them learn to hear the word as they are blending the sounds together while trying to read.