Factoid: “Children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3 – 4 times more likely to drop out in later years.” – National Adult Literacy Survey, (2002) NCES, U.S. Department of Education
At Easyread we don’t recommend intensive literacy work with pre-school children, but playing games based around the sounds in words is definitely a good thing.
For example, consider playing a modification of I-Spy. Instead of ‘spying’ something beginning with a letter, find something beginning with a sound: ‘shhhh’ or ‘trrr’ or ‘ch’ to help your child identify sound combinations.
Or explore purchasing a set of colourful fridge magnets. Play around with sounding out three letter words that contain simple sounds, like ‘pig’ or ‘can’, and help your child to spell them out on the fridge.
And, of course, always spend a few minutes every day reading to your child. Nursery rhymes are a fantastic way to expose your toddler to sound patterns from a young age. If you have an older child, ask them to help you read to their younger sibling for a fun family affair!
Sarah Forrest is an Easyread Coach for the Easyread System, an online phonics course designed to help children with dyslexia, auditory processing deficits or visual learning styles who need reading help or spelling support. find out more at www.easyreadystem.com