Structured Play

"Your boys are such good readers! I wish mine loved to read like yours do! How did you do that?" Can parents build good readers? How do parents build good readers? This might seem like a daunting question, a task too difficult to tackle. But truly, it does not have to be.  As our children grow and become readers on their own accord they often feel that they do not need or want parents to read to them. It is very common for this to happen, but as their parents, it is our job to push back.  Readers are not born, they are made.  We must find times to read to our children. That might mean reading aloud looks different as they get older. Maybe instead of before bed; you are reading at the dinner table, as they are playing, or during snack time. The point is to share books that will pique their interest and hold their attention. You might have to choose books you might not otherwise choose. The key to reading aloud is to m odel reading for them and to sho...

One of the activities we are doing this summer with my big boy (5 year old), is a sight word book  (Pre-K, Kindergarten) in preparation for kindergarten. I bought this printable book on Teachers Pay Teachers . This is a great site where teachers provide the work they have done either for free or a small amount.  Once you buy the printable you print and have the child cut and glue the pages into a notebook. This is a great resource because it builds not only sight word recognition but also gives them an opportunity to cut, glue and color. And write! This is the first sight word and the first two pages. I worked with Jacob to put it all together in hopes that next time he will know how to do it himself. I did not nit-pick, this time, for a number of reasons; I want him to feel sucess so it it not a fight every time we do it, I want him to see grown with cutting, coloring and writing skills as the summer continues, and I want him to see that it might not look his best...

Today Joey and I read Five Little Pumpkins and acted out the story with some props: felt pumpkins and a toy fence.  This is a great way to build reading comprehension. By acting out the story with props you must first listen to the story and look at the pictures carefully. Then you must remember what was read. These are all skills needed for comprehension. Building the foundation for comprehension during reading aloud time with your child will help tremendously once they begin reading on their own.  Acting out stories is a fun way to make stories come alive for children. You will find the stories you read and take a step further become your childrens' favorite books. Allow them to change the story after acting it out a few times. This away they are creating their own stories by making connections and using their imagination. Find a story to bring alive today! 

This month we read Ten Apples Up on Top and practiced tricks with a foam Apple on our head. This is a fun and silly story but helps to illustrate what is real and what is pretend. This is something important to start presenting to children at an early age: could that really happen? Discerning reality is a critical thinking skill that is never too early to instill.  We had a lot of fun being silly with the apple and trying to out trick each other. If you can find the book it is a a fun early reader. It is hard to find as it is out of print. This is one of Dr. Seuss' first books before he started using the pseudonym, Dr. Seuss. It follows his format of easy reader/rhyming words. 

Book making is great for emergent readers. It really helps them understand the elements of books and helps them to practice "reading." They memorize the book and can retell it over and over. Today we make a book from First Grade a le Carte . I cut out the pieces and construction paper ahead of time. I then laid everything out in front of us. We read the cards and created the book pages as we went. I let him glue the cards on the pages and color them with the corresponding color.  He did great and enjoyed himself gluing and coloring. But he liked reading to his brother the best. 

Reading The Polar Express has become a holiday tradition for us. I started it last year and it was so fun that I was quite excited for it this year! I have bells that I hide behind the book to use as we read the story. His eyes light up when he hears the bells and starts looking for them. I hold them in my hand and hide them when he looks! It is really magical for him! After the story I give him a bell just like the little boy in the story. Jake had to read the book to me after I finished! He has become a great "reader!" He is retelling stories by looking at the pictures and he has some books memorized. He also uses the pictures to read stories that he does not know! It is wonderful to sit and listen to him read! I really think letters and words are his strength over numbers. We will see, of course, but he really enjoys books! Next we did some imaginary play! Jake initiated this and I couldn't have been more proud! :) He is pretending to be the conductor in the...

I have had a couple people message me about the baby. What do you do with baby while you and Jacob are playing during Structured Play time? "Baybay," as Jake calls him is usually napping but some days things do not go our way so we adapt! Our baby is such a good boy he will usually play on the floor. He will do a few minutes at a time of "Tummy Time." Then he kicks around on his back for a while.  I bring a blanket to our Structured Play area and some baby toys. We have books there already and our baby Joey enjoys a little quiet reading time! :) He wasn't reading so quietly this day, though! He was talking away to Elmo and his friends! It was so cute that Jake and I really got a kick out of listening to him "read"! He was "talking" to the faces in the book. He loves faces and talks to his stuffed animals, Jake's worker toys and even faces in books.  On another note, I would like to stress the importance of Tummy Time! As ...

Today I read Christmas Tree Memories by Aliki and we decided to make some Christmas trees. I love hand-print art but it is more for me than for Jake. So today when we did our hand-print craft I added another craft to let Jake get his creative juices flowing. For his craft I cut out a tree from green construction paper. I then gave him some paint and bingo stampers (he loves those!) We used the tip of a paint brush to dot lights on the tree and then the bingo dotters to decorate the tree with ornaments. I left the book open to a picture of a Christmas tree to use as inspiration and to reinforce the fact we were making a Christmas tree. As he worked on his own I had him hand-print a tree on a separate paper. Then I quickly wiped his hand and let him get back to work on his tree! After the hand-print dried I had Jake used his finger to decorate the tree with lights and ornaments. My making two trees it reiterates the Christmas tree and shows creativity in making the tree...

I  feel the need to post some more detailed posts about how I read with Jacob. I have had some great questions about asking questions and where we take a story after.  Today we read, Rooster's Off to See the World, by Eric Carle. (One of our great children's authors) This is a terrific beginning counting book in addition to just being a fun book to read for toddlers. In the story, there is one rooster, 2 cats, 3 frogs, 4 turtles, and 5 fish. This is perfect for us because Jake is just counting 1-3 (starting this week). This works for him because I want to work with him just above his current mastery level. If he has mastered 1-3 I would not want to just focus on 1-3 but instead take him to the next level to continue growth. Questions:  At this level (~2 year old) you do not want to ask too many questions while reading. Too many questions will confuse the child's comprehension and just make them lose interest. *First set of pages- "The rooster is lonely, he wants frien...

We have not had air conditioning since Saturday! Ugh! It is sooooo hot! Today was 108 degrees  Fahrenheit  with the heat index. Needless to say we were slow moving today! We did take time to have some Structured Play but we did it in the dinning room since it was just that much cooler.  We started with a silly story 1 Zany Zoo by Lori Degman. This is a silly story that made Jake really laugh! I love to hear him laugh when we read stories. It shows me that he enjoys the story and really understands what we are reading. He does not always 'see' the silliness on his own but an important part of reading with your child is pointing things out and discussing the story and pictures.  This picture is an example of when Jake started laughing. The story has three silly sentences to go with the illustration. Jake did not really get the point but when I pointed out the zebra cutting the walrus's whiskers he cracked up. I said, "Does a zebra cut hair?" as I pointed at the pic...

Today we read Flower Garden by Eve Bunting. I feel it is important to make connections to your toddler's life, the world and the books you are reading. This helps facilitate reading and helps children gain comprehension. To go along with the introduction of the Sensory Box I chose to read Flower Garden . I started by introducing the Sensory Box and allowing Jake to try it out for about 15 minutes. He enjoyed planting flowers, watering them and looking for bugs! It was very cute every time he found a bug he said, "Ewww!" and then laughed! Next, I introduced the book. I started reading as he was still playing, but I made sure to point items out in the story or in the picture so Jake was listening and paying attention to the story.  In the story the little girl plants flowers in a planter.  Here I point out that she has dirt, a pot and shovel as well as flowers. At this point I pause the story and have Jake plant his flowers as the little girl does in the story. ...

Reading is something that we all do daily, but trying to read to and with a toddler is not the reading we are used to doing. Exposure to reading and to books is key for toddlers not the story line or comprehension of the text. At this point, reading might  not even include 'reading.' It is very hard for adults to accept that we can open a book, look at pictures and even talk about a book when we do not read the words. Many times I find myself reading Jacob's stories after he walks out of the room just because I want to enjoy the story. When going to the library weekly, I always have a list of books to look for from our monthly theme list . But I also try to find books that might spark interest in my son. These are books that have pictures that Jake can identify. At this point in his development he is not interesting in listening to stories but rather looking at the pictures and naming the items that he knows. *That does not mean that I do not read the stories to him! So...