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We sat on the couch together, my youngest child and I, and she told me she wanted to read to me. The book was Callie Cat, Ice Skater, which I had read to her several times, but she really liked it, so she wanted to hear it again. She started reading to me, and at some point, I realized a big grin had spread over my face. It had occurred to me that this was it, she was the last one; the last of my children was able to read. Sure, there were words she was stumbling over, and sounding out, but she was also commenting on the events of the story and the illustrations – she was enjoying reading! -- and the sound of her voice was like music to my ears.
After having gone through this experience with four children, I’m still amazed by the process. How had it happened? How had they learned? Like most parents, my husband and I had no special knowledge on how to teach a child to read. We did not strictly follow a particular curriculum or instructional method. Like other parents, we read to our children from the time they were babies, pointed to pictures in books and magazines, and talked to them about what we were looking at. We sang our ABCs, played with magnetic letters on the fridge, and letter blocks on the floor, and played seemingly endless games for learning letter sounds. And it’s fascinating, because all those very informal "lessons" -- the listening to stories and playing -- somehow, gradually came together, and they just – started reading. We can no more take credit for that than we can for "teaching" them to speak.
That day, as I sat reading with my daughter, I was strangely moved – maybe a little sad and nostalgic for those bygone baby years – but mostly, I felt joy. I was thinking that now, she’s joined her siblings. Now they can all fly….
For those of you helping your children learn to read, here is just a sampling of the many free resources available. The best are easy-to-implement hands-on activities that turn learning letters and sounds into a game.
Hands-On Phonics
35 Sight Word Games
Vowel Sound Games
Word Family Activity
Popcorn Site Words Game
Playing with Letters
Favorite Phonics Activities
Site Word Parking Lot
Word Family Eggs
Scoop and Spell
Paint Chip Word Families
Beginning Sounds Paint Sticks
Word Rolls
Online Phonics Sites:
ABC Fast Phonics
Kindersay
Get Ready To Read
PhonicsPlay
Family Learning
Sound/Spelling Cards: Grades 1 - 3
Free Books To Practice Reading:
Children's Storybooks Online
Free Kids Books
Scholastic Listen and Read
Roy, Tale of a Singing Zebra
Starfall
Free Curricula:
Letter of the Week
Progressive Phonics
Reading Bear
Phonics By The Book
Free Phonics
Free Phonics Printables:
Kiz Club
32-page Phonics Workbook
Jumpstart
Letters and Sounds
3-Letter Word Cards
Fun Fonix
Have Fun Teaching
Phonics Flashcards
TampaReads
Free Phonics Worksheets
Kid Zone
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