Learning to Read at Home Part I
Literacy Development & Emergent Readers
Learning to read and write is something that is usually associated with kindergarten age. But, developing the skills necessary to read aren’t something you sit down one day and “begin.” It is much more complex and begins long before kindergarten. Pretending to read, sequencing, mastering letter sounds, and even drawing lines and circles and making little people are all just building blocks on the tower of literacy development and begin emerging in the early toddler years.
I know teaching reading and writing intimidates a lot of parents, but it shouldn’t. You’ve supported your child in all of their developmental milestones from birth through early childhood. Nothing magically changes when children begin to show signs of pre-reading and reading readiness. The question is - do you know what these signs are?
Think about what you do know about the other developmental patterns your children go through. Walking is probably one of the easiest examples. Think tummy time, to sitting, to crawling, to baring weight, to assisted walking, to first steps, to steady walking, and, finally to running. Much like these milestones, there are also literacy stages your children progress through. The very early stages begin with cooing, to babbling, to two letter sounds associated with people and objects or places like ma, ma, ma. As your child develops more and more language skills, they’ll be able to form words, then sentences, and before you know it they’re little people having full on conversations with you. Writing also develops this way and in many ways it is connected to reading development.
The good news is, you don’t need to become brain scientists or certified teachers to recognize these natural patterns. It’s more about familiarizing yourself with what is happening during these stages of growth. Doing so, gives you an awareness so you can better know how and when to support your child during this time. Just like you can recognize about the right time to begin holding on to your little babies hands and walking with her, it’s exactly the same idea when it comes to reading. If you’re aware of some of the emerging reading signs, you’ll better know when to start offering opportunities for your children to further their literary development.
In today’s world, I understand there is a lot of pressure surrounding reading. This post isn’t to put more pressure on this topic, but really to empower you to know your children better so you can best support them. While I do have classroom experience and have taught my own kids, I am no way an expert on all of this. One thing, however, I have learned and feel pretty strongly about is that since every child is so different there is a balance between learning how to offer the right opportunities for growth versus learning how to step back and letting them mature a little bit more. Psychology 101 tells us that anyone who doesn’t feel secure and safe in their environment will struggle to learn and mature. Thus, pushing too hard or being too strict when we work with children can create reluctant leaners. Stress is ignited and it’s usually a downward cycle for both you and your child. Equally, taking too much of a laissez faire or hands-off approach can also create reluctant learners though. When important foundational building blocks aren’t put into place and the child begins to struggle, their confidence is often compromised and a lack of security and self-esteem stunts a smooth growth process as well. As with all things related to learning, you’re looking to create a positive, supportive, praiseworthy, and uplifting environment - one where your child becomes confident and proud of their skills.
Because of the natural attachment and bond a mother has with her children, she is one of the best people to learn what this balance is. Mothers are wired to know how to instinctively meet their children’s needs, but it also takes some education and practice on your part. One thing to know is that while we are figuring out this balance, many of us have and will continue to make mistakes. Really, it’s through these mistakes that we better come to really know our children. And because of the attachment between mother/child, it’s also a safe place you can make those mistakes. It’s like during the baby years, didn’t we all have our own ear training lessons - differentiating between cries and the signs our babies show when they’re hungry or tired? I am sure there were certainly days where you couldn’t figure out what was going on and why your baby was crying, right? But, with more time, more research, and more experience - we begin to develop more awareness and start to be able to respond better to our children’s needs. So when it comes to reading, you’re going to walk a similar path and it’s okay to just go ahead and embrace that. One wonderful advantage of homeschooling is that we do have more time and more room to meet our children where they are at. Ultimately, we are free of the societal pressures and standards a classroom setting puts on children.
On that note, similarly to watching your child take their first steps, the joy of teaching your children to read is just so special. There are many layers to literacy development, but today I really wanted to focus on the early stages and in later post(s) and I’ll dive into the other stages. It is my hope that this will empower you to bounce off some of the things I share here and go out and learn more about what you can do to support your kids. If you’re concerned about learning delays or disabilities, understanding these basics are all essential for you to know so you are better prepared to take the next steps and seek additional support for challenges.
Emergent Readers
Emergent readers are often also referred to as pre-readers and most children will be in this stage of development around the ages of 3-6. I want you to notice how wide of a range that is. You’ll know from experience with your own kids, just how big of a difference even 6 months can make in the early childhood years. So, this certainly isn’t a time to put pressure on your child to learn how to blend letters and read. But, it is a great time to recognize some of their signs and offer additional support to help them prepare to begin reading.
In the early stages of this phase children (usually ages 3-4):
Begin to develop an awareness of books and their purpose.
Pretend to “read.”
Retell familiar stories.
Recognize popular environmental print like the logos for Wal-Mart or McDonalds.
Begin to sing the alphabet song.
Love nursery rhymes and simple picture books.
Benefit greatly by being read to on a daily basis.
Draw lines and circles in preparation for beginning writing.
Respond to simple questions about what is going on in a story.
Will be able to begin identifying a few random letters and their sounds.
In the later stages of this phase children (usually ages 4-6):
Can hold a book correctly and identify the front and back.
Understand words and sentences are read from left to right.
Begin to recognize that words mean something.
Can sequence events in a story.
Assign lower and uppercase letters together.
Master more letter names and sounds and associate them with print (phonemic awareness).
Form identifiable letters.
Recognize simple printed words.
Name Recognition & Ear Training:
If you’re wondering if your child is ready to begin working on letter sounds - which is the foundational stepping stone into blending - a great way to gauge your children’s readiness is by bringing awareness to the letters and sounds in your child’s name and see how they respond. If they do well, this is also a good time to start practicing writing these letters too. Sometimes just starting with the first letter of their name is perfect. Names are special to young children and it’s something that’s familiar so it’s exciting when they start to recognize it. This is important because right off the bat it builds pride and confidence. Most of the time, name recognition happens between the ages of 3-4, but of course every child is different. Both of my twins could identify and write their names around 2 1/2….both of my boys were around 3 1/2. (Very generally speaking, girls often mature at an earlier age than boys do which can also be incredibly helpful to be aware of.) When children begin to write letters, it’s okay if they’re writing one letter at the top of the page, one at the bottom, and one upside down somewhere else. This is very normal and not something to correct. Spatial awareness develops at a later time. Give lots of praise when you start to notice these signs. If you need creative ideas for name recognition activities, a quick Pinterest search brought this up: 50+ Name Activities for Preschoolers.
When you notice your child is responding to an interest in seeing their name and/or writing it - this is a great time to begin ear training and start working on letter sounds. I have worked with a lot of preschoolers and I would say most children are ready to begin mastering letter sounds around the ages of 4-5. I don’t know why there seems to be a general disconnect on this, but you really want to give preference to letter sounds over identifying letter names because letter names don’t help a child learn to read.
Working on letter sounds can be so fun! This is a stage where you’re inviting your children into a deeper level of learning and it is something that should be enjoyable and fosters a positive feeling in your home. If your child is stressed out, then they’re either not ready or your approach may need to change. Viewing this time period as ear training is a really good way to look at it. You don’t need to sit down with a formal curriculum to do this, though, some may find it fun to do so. Learning through play and creating a natural learning environment through your every day home rhythms is going to be one of the best way to reach your child during this stage because children are such good little copy cats. Now, if you see a more organized curriculum you’re excited to use - maybe like Let’s Play School, Busy Toddler, Moffat Girls, or The Good and The Beautiful - do it! Keep in mind attention spans are short at this age so have realistic expectations and also don’t hesitate to use these resources more as your guide versus just trying to get your child to complete an activity or lesson.
Like I said, shifting your language and home environment can be some of the most powerful things you do. Saying something as simple as, “Would you like a buh-buh-buh banana for lunch? Banana starts with the letter B. What else starts with B?” The more letters and sounds you’re saying - they will naturally pick up and eventually be able to connect familiar sounds to other letters they may notice around them like in books or on signs/billboards. I remember when my twins were little I think I said something like I did above - buh-buh-buh banana…and my daughter repeated back to me - buh-buh-buh potato. We laughed and laughed. She had no clue there was a difference, but with time and more awareness - she started saying buh-buh-buh banana. This is very normal in the early stages of ear training.
As you do these things, some children will cruise right through learning letter sounds and naturally start blending (which is part of the next stage). I’ve seen children begin reading smoothly and they really never took the time to sit down and work on individually mastering their letter sounds. But, I’ve also seen where ear training was skipped or underdeveloped and then parents/teachers continue to push a child along. So if you have a child that you’re trying to help them blend and read words and they don’t have their sounds down - I’d stop and go back to this stage and really work on their ear training and mastery of the correct letter sound and print association. Things like rhyming and rhythms in word patterns are so so good for ear training. Additionally, like most things in life, consistency in this stage (and the following stages) also makes a huge difference. Learning to read is much like a muscle that needs to be regularly exercised to grow stronger.
Materials I’ve Used to Support the Emergent Stage:
During this stage, I shy away from any formal work. We do lots of learning through play and try to create a home environment that supports that. There are a few things I started collecting when the girls were little that I have loved and used through all of my kids now. Please keep in mind, you don’t need to buy all these things to teach your children to read. Remember, this is a passion of mine and likewise I enjoy having these materials in our home. But, you literally could use some notecards and a sharpie to write letters on. Don’t forget the library is a fantastic resource for lots of reading.
Alphabet Puzzle: This is the first item I ever used to start introducing my children to letters. Of course, the puzzle in and of it’s self is a great way to work on letter sounds, but you can also play games like hide and seek with the letters or find items around the home that start with or end with a certain letter. We’ve used these to hide in sensory bins and this is also a great tool for name recognition.
Alphabet Stamps: This is a cute and alternative way to familiarize your child with letter/names and sounds. Great for the early stages of this phase too when they aren’t working on sounds yet.
Books, Books, Books and More Books: I do believe its true what “they” say - the more good books and good literature you read to your child, the better. Nursery rhymes and picture books with simple short stories are perfect for this age. A is for Apple (pictured) is a cute book we’ve been using with my youngest son to work on letter sounds and beginning letter formations.
Computer/App Resources: For my twins we used the Utah based Upstart Program. We have also used Reading Eggs and Lexia. Right now with my younger sons we’re using Reading.com. This is a paid app that has 10 minute daily lessons. There is a letter sound song they learn and other features that are is fantastic for ear training. The app does start right with letter sounds and moves quickly into blending so some kids won’t be ready for this until they’re a little older, but I have been using it with my son just for his ear training. There is rhyming and short stories written with alliteration (which is using words that begin with a similar sound - like crazy cats like to climb).
Letter Flashcards or Visuals of Alphabet Print/Posters: When my twins were little, I used a $1 store set of flashcards and hung up 2-3 letters around our house on their level so they could see the letters and become more aware of them. Those are also the letters I would try to bring into my own language awareness for the week. IE if letter M was hanging up, then I’d say, “Let’s go get the Mmm-mmm-mmm mail.” With my son, I had more space so I hung up the entire alphabet and just focused on one letter a week. (You can see our little preschool set up from almost two years ago here.)
Letter of the Week: Choosing a letter each week to work on can be a good way for you to naturally integrate sounds in your home without following a really structured curriculum. I think the ABC books from Let’s Play School are SO cute and we have lots of memories of my boys using these. One year we also used this letter craft packet. The next year, I found this free version which I actually like a lot better because it was much more simple to implement. These are also great for glueing and cutting practice. You can start at A and move to Z if that’s easier for you to remember, but I like to follow the Montessori method and go with the most familiar and easy to identify letters which are s, m, a, and t. You can teach both upper and lower case letters at the same time. I put more emphasis on lowercase because we see more lowercase letters more than we do uppercase though. With younger kids I call them mommy B and baby b or Big B and little b. The exact terminology can come later with more formal lessons.
Moveable Alphabet: I didn’t buy this until my twins were older, but I really wish I had it when I was teaching them to read. This is good because the letters are all lowercase and it’s extremely helpful as you get into helping them distinguish the differences between constant and vowels and beginning to spell - which also impacts reading and develops in later stages. The mat that goes along with this will help with developing spatial awareness. You can also use these to hide around the room or in sensory bins.
Music: In the classroom and with my twins, I used Dr. Jean’s Alphahardy CD’s (ha!) - you can still find this on YouTube, but it feels pretty old now. I didn’t really use a letter sound song with my middle son (maybe I should’ve?). Like I mentioned, my almost 4 year old has been using the Alphabet Song from Reading.com We also like to play and read anything Raffi (Down By the Bay, Shake My Sillies Out, Baby Beluga, ect.).
Pre-writing: Like I have mentioned, there is cross over between writing and reading so developing pre-writing skills go right along side reading. In this stage, it is good to be working on circles and lines and fine motor skills. With my boys, I have loved Doodles & Pre-Writing books from TGTB. We’ve used a handful of other things for pencil to paper, but this is a great place to start. Then you can just work through their books and get into letter development.
Sandpaper Letters: This is the second item I ever bought and one of the most used items in our home during the emergent phase. I’ve been using these for 7 years now and we use them for letter sound recognition and especially as we learn to write. There are lots of ways to use these, but when I first introduce them, I hold my toddler’s finger and trace the letter to help them learn what to do with them. Then I’ll help them write it in either sugar or sand. The first few times, I’ll model it and do it with them. All the while I’ll be saying the letter sound. “This is a t-t-t. The letter T.” Again, this is never anything I put pressure on them to do and sometimes the first few times are just fun and ends up being more of a sensory bin activity where they explore. But, eventually they’ll pick up on touching the letters and can play and explore without much assistance from me. I could write another blog post just on writing, but for simplicity here, when I start to notice actual letters in the sand, then I’ll introduce working on letters formation on paper and pencil.
Three Part Cards: There are three parts to these that you cut out: just a picture, just the text, and the picture with the text. These are like little puzzles and children around the age of 3-4 can start matching the single picture and text cards to the picture included with the text. Don’t spend money on these, there are tons of free ones you can print out. Just google “free three part cards.” You can laminate them or just print and cut and play. It’s fun to coordinate these with your child’s interest or other things you’re studying in your homeschool.
Word Puzzles: These are especially fantastic right before you begin working on blending. The puzzles I have are 7 years old now, but if I were to buy updated ones I would get these two: CVC Puzzles and Rhyming Puzzles. I really like how the CVC one highlights the vowel. If you’re looking to save money, there are lots of ideas on Pinterest to homemake these too.
Wooden Alphabet Board: This is another good beginning writing tool. I don’t use this nearly as much as the sandpaper letters, so if I had to choose between this and those - I would still go with the sandpaper letters. Again, this is something you can reinforce letters sounds with while your child is filling the grooves up with something like mini pom-poms or writing with the stylus.
Wooden Reading Rods: These are nice because they grow with your child’s skill level. In the beginning stages - you may want to use this by encouraging your child to match the letters they see on the cards to the ones on the rods. That’s a good time to work on letter sounds. Then, when your child begins to read, this is great practice for word families and how changing the beginning or ending sounds can change the word.
If I were to recommend my top most used from this list it would be the moveable alphabet, sandpaper letters, doodles book or any type of pre-writing books, and reading lots of books.
What’s Next?
In the next stage of development children begin to blend and decode words. Decoding is the skill of sounding out a word like C-A-T. In a later post, I’ll break down this stage and go into detail how we’ve worked on mastering decoding. For now, if you’re anxious to hear more and see some examples, I dove into this on a recent class in my IG subscription. It’s $5 a month and includes a weekly live class for homeschool support and priority messaging. Once you’re subscribed, you’ll have access to all the content I’ve recorded in the past. You can subscribe/unsubscribe at anytime. Join over @homecenteredlearning.
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