Tips for reading with your child at home…

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Children ages 3-5 are ready to learn about books and take part actively in sharing them.
Reading picture books with your preschooler helps spark her imagination and her love
of stories.
Sharing, reading, and looking at the pages of a picture book with your child and asking questions help prepare her to read. The more books you read with your child, the more her love
of books will grow. Provide your preschooler with books on topics that interest her and share in reading experiences that capture her imagination. Reading storybooks with young
children is a vital activity for later reading success. Let your preschooler choose a picture book for you to read to her. Find a comfortable place where the two of you can sit together to look at the pictures. Spark her interest in the book by actively involving her in the storytelling process. Let your child ask questions and encourage her to point to the
pictures in the story. Ask her questions about the pictures and point out connections between the pictures in the books and her own experiences.
Provide your preschooler with a variety of picture books to choose from. Let her pick out the book she wants to read.

● Ask “wh-” questions: Asking your child questions as you read helps her think about and
● Does your preschooler show
greater interest in reading?
● Does your preschooler have a
favorite book, one that she wants
you to read again and again?
● Does your preschooler retell stories
while looking at the books?

Reading and Storytelling
Understand the story. Start by identifying what is going on in the pictures. “What is this dog doing?” Agree with and expand on her answers. “That’s right! That dog is chasing a cat! What do you think the cat is trying to do?” You can also relate the book to your child’s own experiences. “Our dog likes to chase cats too, doesn’t he? What else does he like to chase?”

● Reread and retell: Rereading the same book helps
your child become familiar with the story and learn to
connect the words that are being said with the words
she sees on the page. Once your child becomes
familiar with the story, have her retell it in her own way.
She can use the pictures and her memory. Encourage
and praise her attempts even if her version is different
from the original.

This Week: October 1-5

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This week will mark week 2 of our LLI groups. Thursday October 4th at 8:45 in the media center, we will have an LLI informational meeting for parents of students that were selected for LLI services. Please plan on attending, a note will be sent home with your child if you are expected to attend.

LLI has begun!

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Today is an exciting day in kindergarten, we will begin our reading groups today. Each day, I will go into kindergarten classrooms to work in small groups with 12 students in each classroom. This week we are learning about:

* Three ways to read a book
* Poems
* Concepts about print (features of a book)
* Pencil grip
* Beginning sounds of words
* Name identification

Writing with your child

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Something important happens when children receive and write letters. They realize that the printed word has a purpose.

What you’ll need:
Paper
Pencil, crayon, or marker
What to do:
Send your child little notes (by putting them in a pocket or lunch box, for example). When your child shows you the note, read it aloud with expression. Some children will read the notes on their own.
When your child expresses a feeling or a thought that relates to a person, have your child write a letter. Have your child dictate the words to you if your child doesn’t write yet.
For example:

Dear Grandma,
I like it when you make ice cream. It’s better than the kind we buy at the store.

Your grandson,
Darryl

P.S. I love you

Ask the people who receive these notes to respond. An oral response if fine – a written response is even better.
Explain the writing process to your child: “We think of ideas and put them into words; we put the words on paper; people read the words; and people respond.”
Language is speaking listening, reading, and writing. Each element supports and enriches the others. Sending letters will help children become better writers, and writing will make them better readers.