Kindergarten students need to receive explicit instructions in phonemic
awareness and phonics. In school activities are presented that assist
young
children in understanding the relation****p between alphabetic symbols and
sounds. However, there must be work outside of the class to make reading
a
reality for most children. Parental involvement can be an instrumental
key to
making this happen. Often parents want to assist their children but are
often
unaware of the tools or resources that are available. Below are a few
suggested sites and books which may help parents in the quest to
developing
skillful readers.
Books to Aid Parents
Straight Talk about Reading: How Parents Can Make a Difference During the
Early Years - by Susan L. Hall and Louisa C. Moats
Better Phonics and Beyond in 5 Minutes a Day: Phonics fun for kids and
parents
on the go - by Lisa Deters
Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons - by Siegfried Engelmann,
Phyllis Haddox and Elaine Bruner
Web Sites:
Online and printable activities from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/phonics/index.shtmlhttp://www.getreadytoread.org/skillP.html
This site provides many activities to help reinforce early literacy, and
it
also has a link to a "screening tool" for evaluating young learner's
reading
ability.
http://library.thinkquest.org/50027/PhonicsPhun/
Online activities to help children recognize basic sound patterns that
form
words.
http://cela.albany.edu/publication/article/learnread.htm
skillP.html
Learning to Read: What research says parents can do to help their
children
In this article the authors address the national debate on the "best"
method
for teaching reading and draw conclusions from what the research has
shown.
