Let's Get Kids Reading - The Awesome Project!

Reading has always been big with our family.  We read a lot throughout a typical day!  We read scriptures in the morning at breakfast, the girls read to us after school for their "Home Reading" program, and one of us reads a story to them at night.  We also love to visit the library!  That has always been a fun activity that I like to do with my kids. We love to choose books to read together whether just for entertainment or for learning. I think reading together is a huge part of teaching your children how to learn!

I found this picture from a few years ago- they're such munchkins! It's so fun when one can read to the other. :)

It is so exciting to teach them about letters and sounds and then to move on to sounding out words and then (seemingly all of a sudden), they are really reading! Talia has been reading well for quite a while and over the past year or so, I have been amazed to watch Katrina become a very proficient reader.  It's so cool to see them grow in that way!

Corner Bookmark

Talia loves to be read to. We have a lot of books, and some of them are a little long for a story before bed. So, we use a bookmark, but until recently, that has just meant a random piece of paper (or ribbon, or hair elastic, or toy... Talia will get pretty creative with this ;)

I went looking for a fun, but easy bookmark that we could make together. I found a fun fabric bookmark idea, but have yet to try it (I'm new to sewing, and already I have a list of projects that I'm behind on!) So, today I'm sharing one you can do with your child that's really easy, and fun. I found the idea here (check it out for instructions). I remember making something similar (and even easier) when I was younger- just get an envelope, cut a corner off, and decorate ;)

We tried the origami version (also pretty easy) and used:

- construction paper
- pencil crayons

(Easy, eh?)


Talia was finding alternate uses for her bookmarks right away-
here it is as a doll hat ;)

Differentiating Between b & d

Talia is learning to read a little bit. She is also learning to write letters and is starting to put them together on her own to make words. It's so fun to watch her figuring it all out!

I've noticed that she has been having a hard time differentiating between lowercase b and d. I googled to see if I could find ideas on teaching it & the idea I chose was the Bed Poster approach.

I found this link with ideas and printable pages to use.



We had a b & d day, and I started by showing her the bed picture, asking her what it was, and then getting her to make the b & d with her hands. I found that it was difficult for her to make the letters with her fingers, so we tried something I found on another website- you make two fists & stick your thumbs up. That was easier for her.

Next, she practised making the lowercase b and then the d.
From there, she was so into it that she wanted to make the capital letters & then started doing the whole alphabet on her own- it was cool to see how much she has learned!



She had a few letters that she wasn't sure to do, but after today, she knows Q, V, & W.
(You can see the additions made in colour from Katrina ;)

It was a great day of learning!

Easter Egg Reading Hunt

I got the idea for an Easter Egg Reading Hunt from Chasing Cheerios. Yesterday I finally put it into action. I added rules to ours because I knew Talia would get bored if I didn't ;)


So, she found an egg, and had to read the word before she could look for the next one (and to keep her interested I told her there was a surprise after she found all the eggs). It didn't take much- she was excitedly searching for eggs & laughing at where she would find them.

At the end she got a yellow peep marshmallow. She looked at me after I placed it in her hand and said, seriously, "Mommy. This is junkfood!" (as though she were disappointed in me)... what's the world coming to??

Word Cards

I made up some really simple word cards for Talia with a marker and some card stock.

She has just started really reading words and we're pretty excited!

[we practise sounding out the words, notcing similarities & rhyming words, etc.]

Family Tree Poster & Other "Maps"

I've been thinking about doing a family tree type of activity with Talia for a while...
So today, I rolled out the art paper, and we got to work making our family tree (well, we just did Ken's side of the family this time, we'll do mine next time, now that she knows what a family tree is).
Here's Aunt Rushy & Uncle Aaron who fell in love & now they're having a baby girl! (Note Talia's illustration of their baby ;)
And Gummy & Poppy, where it all began ;)
Talia was quick to understand what we were doing, and I think this is a good way to help her visualize how the family works.

I drew another type of "map" earlier today. This one was of a day. Talia cannot seem to grasp the idea that when she wakes up from her nap it's not a new day. So, I drew a detailed "day" for her today, showing her the things we do each day & discussing them as I drew them, along with a sun showing when it is light & a moon and stars for when it's dark. Then I pointed to each thing and I explained that the nap is in the middle of the day and it's not a new day when she wakes up. "See??"

Talia: "That doesn't make sense."

*sigh* Okay, so the map didn't work for that one ;) Does anyone have any other ideas or success stories for helping your child understand that a nap is in the middle of the day? Or do most kids just get that? :)

Starfall Computer Games

A friend of mine posted on her family blog about a website called Starfall that has educational computer games on it for young kids. I checked it out this morning & shared it with Talia.

She thought it was great, & so did I! She tried out a bunch of the ABCs activities this morning and had a great time! (Maybe a little too much time... by the end of it, she told me her feet were falling asleep, "because they feel all twinkly" ;) lol


So, we'll definitely be revisiting Starfall, but next time, with the timer set, so we don't get too engrossed in all of the alphabet and early reading fun! :)