Start Slowly and Make it Fun.

at -- cat -- hat
Take a letter 'a' and 't', it can be scrabble tiles, alphabet card letters or letters written on small pieces of paper. Place them a little distance away from each other. Have the student say 'ah' as you point to the 'a', then have the student say 'tuh' as you point to the 't'. Keep repeating this until the student can say both letters. Slowly slide the letters together as the student says the letters. Continue to do this but increase the speed that you slide the letters together.
Finally you can make a card with 'at' on it and use the same method with other letters to make rhyming words, like bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, vat.

If they won't sit still, create active games. Place the letter A and T at the end of the room, have them pick up the letter A and place it on the table, saying 'ah' as they do. Then they go back for the letter T and bring it back to the table, saying 'tuh'. Then say 'ah' 'tuh'. Finally, place b, c, f, h, m, p, r, s, and v at the other end and have them choose a letter to make a word.

Other fun ideas:

1. Cut up pieces of fruit or bread into the shapes of letters.
2. Make pancakes in the shape of a letter they are trying to learn.
3. Use pieces of snacks to form letters.
4. Trace letters in the sand making them as large as possible.
5. Gather small stones to form letters as you go for walks.
6. Use finger paints (mixed with soap powder) and finger paint letters on a window or butcher paper.
7. Form letters out of pipe cleaners.
8. Put catsup into a ziplock bag and draw letters with a finger.
9. Look for letters on signs and license plates.
10. Read to your child whenever you can.
11. Have the child shadow read with you (you both read aloud together).
12. Pick reading material that interests the child, eg., non-fiction books about butterflies.

Make learning fun, so that your child is actively involved in learning. Provide opportunities to search for, explore and manipulate letters. Listen for sounds together. Become letter detectives and share the joy of discovery.

Celebrate successes and build their confidence by using praise.

Give them the tools they need. When the child is ready, introduce worksheets and PreBeginners Reading Booklets found on this site. You will see progress and together we can 'Teach All Kids.'

Use our worksheets and experience a true difference.

Use the PreBeginner's Decoding Word Lists and the Reading Booklets. (samples)

See our Teaching Resources for Reading for teaching and practice worksheets.

Return to Reading Skills Index.

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