Tag: learning to read

Categories
Education

Twinkl Back-to-School Hub: Ignite Learning Magic for an A+ Adventure!

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Having fun learning with Twinkl

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Perfect resources for parents and teachers – all at the Twinkl back to school hub

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Categories
Family

Home Reading Ends

I am a bit sad today. I usually do reading in the girl’s class on Thursdays and Fridays, but this has now come to an end. It has ended due to the end of term wrap up and it is the last year of doing reading with the kids in their classroom.

The girls are going to be in grade 3 next year and they don’t do parent reading in their class anymore. They do reading in class of course, but since they are now older and have mastered most of what they need to know the parent helpers are not needed. I know that some kids might need some extra help but for most of them they are on their own now.

Little girl reading a book. My kids love books and so does our little boy.
Little girl reading a book. My kids love books and so does our little boy.

I know the twins need to practice more and that will happen at home. I however feel a bit sad at the fact that I will not be seeing them in class and help the kids with their work. I know I can do this from home but it was nice to see them in the classroom and to also help the other children too.

My little girls are growing up. They are big kids now. I know they are still little and are just eight years old, but they have mastered so much at school so far.  Have you seen a huge jump in your kid’s growth in school lately? I have. The girls can read so well, doing maths, and just have such a great understanding of things around them.

My day today is going to be easier and I will have more time for me. One other mum suggested we meet up for a coffee due to no reading happening this week and now forever. It might be nice to have some time to be social with another mum for a change. What do you do if you have some free time? Catch up with chores or with friends?

Geez who thought I would be sad about this fact. I for one was thinking that I would be happy with more time for me… although I am thinking of the fact that the kids loved seeing me in the classroom and liked mummy helping. It was also to a joy to see their smiling faces in the classroom and watching them do well with their school work.

Soon I will be doing reading with my little boy. He is just 11 months so there is plenty of time before that happens, but I will do the same with Alexander as I did for the girls. I will help in his Kindy class to grade 2 for his reading. I cannot wait to see how it goes with our little boy, and it will be interesting to see how quickly he picks up reading due to having two older sisters that read to him at home.

Have you finished helping duties at your child’s school too? Or is it just for the year? Do you enjoy helping out in the classroom? I did and I’m sure that there will be things I can do again for next year to help out in the girl’s classes.

Categories
Family

What will he be like?

I have been thinking back to this time last year. This time last year I was very pregnant and over it. Anytime after 34 weeks was overdue for me. Yes sounds crazy but when you have twins at 34 weeks and 2 days you start to think that anything over is just horrible. Who would have known that I would have gone full term and had my third child exactly on the 40 week mark.

So what have I been thinking about?

During our pregnancy we did not find out the sex of our baby. We like the surprise. I found myself while at the twins school during home reading wondering if I had a boy will they be like this little boy or the other little boy. Will he be particular about certain things? Will he want to tell me about his favourite thing to do like some of these kids do? What will the child look like if it is a boy?

If the child was going to be girl, would it be like the twins with looks? The twins are blonde, although I was hoping that at some point we might have a red head (my mum has red hair..maybe the third child will be a red head?)

Our little boy actually seems to be getting auburn hair or at least that is what it sometimes looks like. Some days it looks like it is going red or lighter and some days it just looks like brown hair.

My cute little boy asleep... I just love his cute pouty lips and kissable cheeks.
My cute little boy asleep… I just love his cute pouty lips and kissable cheeks.

I had all sorts of thoughts about how the baby will look, will it be a boy/girl, what will this new little person be like and I hope that the girls love their new sibling too. I suppose these are valid concerns while pregnant.

While at the school yesterday and again this morning I caught myself thinking the same type of thoughts about what our little boy Alexander might like when he gets older. I read with the girls classes so each day I take a different group of kids. One kid has long lanky legs with knobbly knees, just like my little girls. I am sure our little boy will look similar but hard to see it when he is getting more plump due to being a cute and cuddly baby.

I even time traveled a bit seeing what my little boy might be like at Kindy. He would be wearing shorts although they would be too big and look more like pants. His hat would also be too big so it would need to be made tighter to accommodate a little head, and his school bag would look enormous next to a small little boy. I would be doing the same for him as I did with the twins, helping him learn to read and also volunteer in his classroom to hear him and other kids read.

School for Alexander will not start until the year 2021 if I have calculated right. By this stage the twins will be in high school. At least when the twins are in high school they can make their own way home (I can hope).

Have you caught yourself daydreaming about what your child would be like? Did you do it when pregnant and now when they are a baby?

I catch myself all the time thinking about the future:

  • What will they be like when older?
  • What type of jobs will they be doing?
  • Will they travel?
  • Will they be happy?
  • Will they find lovely partners that they are happy with?
  • Will they have children?
  • Will they be successful regardless of what type of job they do… as long as they are happy that is the most important thing.

So as you can see I think about a lot of things when I daydream about the kids.  Do you do this as well? Send me a comment to make me feel that I am not the only one.

Categories
School

DIY: Sight Words Bingo

Do your children grumble and complain when you want them to practice their sight words?

Mine do!

With school reading starting this week I’m sure you will be practicing with your little ones so that they can progress with their home readers.

It got me thinking…. Why not make it fun?

If it was a game the kids would be more inclined to want to practice. Maybe they would not even realise they are practicing their sight words, and just think it’s a game.

One bingo card for one of my girls
One bingo card for one of my girls

 

What is Sight Word Bingo?

Sight word bingo is like regular bingo but without numbers, it uses words. The words you select are aligned to your child’s level at school and reading.

How to play Sight Word Bingo

  • Each child gets a different bingo card. (When you print out your cards on Sight Word Bingo Creator you can tell it how many cards you need. It automatically creates each card differently for you.)
  • If the child/children are not familiar with the words take a moment and read them with the children. Let them get familiar and know the words before playing. If any child needs any help with the words make sure to give them an extra hand. This game is all about getting to know the words.
  • It is recommended that the adult/parent use the word in a sentence so that the child understands the word and how it is used. For example: “Mummy had to think about where she put her keys.” (This happens a lot, yes I know I should find a place and keep them there.)
  • You can play this game as many times as you like until your child/children know the words. Once they are confident with these words you can then move onto other words.
  • The parent or adult calls out the words one at a time. Once the child hears each word, they cover the word that appears on their bingo card with a marker. (If you don’t have markers how about buttons or bottle tops – cheap and easy to get a hold of)
  • Remember: Not every word is on every card. If every word was on all cards everyone would get bingo.

The words to read out for Sight Word Bingo! Let the games begin.
The words to read out for Sight Word Bingo! Let the games begin.

  • When the child has a whole row of words completed whether horizontal, vertical or diagonal they have won. To win you need to yell, “BINGO!”

The other bingo card for my other lovely girl
The other bingo card for my other lovely girl

 

How do you create your own Sight Word Bingo?

To create your own Sight Word Bingo game, you need to go to the Sight Word Bingo Creator (see below image)

I selected two cards to be created as I have two children. You can select more if you need more.

I selected the Dolch Sight words and ticked the box for 1st Grade. As you can see there are more grades to choose from and different selections of sight words.

 

BingoCardCreator_web

Once all selected and confirmed a PDF is generated that allowed me to save and to print.

I would recommend printing on thicker paper so that the Bingo Card lasts a bit longer and maybe laminating it so that it can be used again and again.

Have fun with your Sight Words Bingo and I hope this will help your little one learn more words.

Disclaimer: I was looking online and found the SightWords website. I was so taken with their free resources to help children read, and making these tools accessible is fabulous. I have not been paid to promote SightWords and had to share this great website as helping your little one read is very important.

Do you practice sight words with your child/children at home? Help at school for reading?

 

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Categories
5 years and beyond

Reading With Kids Has A Big Impact

Do you read to your kids? Do your children love books and want to know how to read? The twins have been desperate to learn ever since they understood what a book was. Hubby and I of course have read to them since birth and we make sure we impart the love of books and what reading well can do for you in life.

In a recent study it has shown that if you grow up with a lot of books, get read to and of course love books it will have a big impact on a child starting school and their performance at school. I know this might not be a surprise to some but of course if you are surrounded by books and your parents love reading it might flow onto your children. Mostly it does. Of course you might say that people who have more time or more money can do more for their kids and that might be so.

Sam and Bingo. Level 3 reader. Story by Jenny Giles and Illustrations by Pat Reynolds.
Sam and Bingo. Level 3 reader. Story by Jenny Giles and Illustrations by Pat Reynolds.

However this is not so…. according to Professor Walker it does not matter if you are well off or not. As long as you read to your child and show an appreciation for books it is all good. (Well that is good to know. I am still working on getting the mansion, the yacht and the city abode. I still have time…. but not liking my chances)

“Professor Walker said that if a parent placed a high value on literacy, as shown by the number of books they had, they would read to their child regardless of their socio-economic status.” (Essential Baby, 1st June, 2014)

The girls have come on with their reading very well. It might have something to do with of course being surrounded by books. We have a bookshelf just for them and they take books out and pretend to read them but mostly look at the pictures and play. I end up coming in and finding piles of books that need to be put back into the bookcase.

Since the twins started kindy they have now progressed to level 3 readers. Some kids are on that level, some not, and some on higher levels. All fine and doing well for them. It is great that the school sees how well the individual child is doing and progresses them so that they keep learning and don’t get bored.

We have had issues of one child doing well and upsetting the other. This has caused an issue on her confidence with reading. I have made sure that I have told the child in question that she is reading very well and there is nothing wrong. All she needs to do is to just practice and it will all work itself out.

Sam and Bingo. Level 3 reader. Story by Jenny Giles and Illustrations by Pat Reynolds.
Sam and Bingo. Level 3 reader. Story by Jenny Giles and Illustrations by Pat Reynolds.

If you have twins have you found that one twin was excelling at something and the other twin was upset with the success? How did you cope? All I have done is make sure to say that both are doing an excellent job, and find ways to give big praise to good work for the kid that is doing well and the other that is doing well also. It is hard. Especially when you are faced with very competitive children. They always have to be doing well and get upset when they don’t. Are your twins like this?

According to the Essential Baby article:

“Being read to often increases a child’s vocabulary and enjoyment, and requires them to pay attention and remain engaged.”  (Essential Baby, 1st June, 2014)

So make sure that you are reading to your child every day. It does not need to be at night time. Just make some time for you and your little one to have some time together and read a book. The kids are at the stage now for me to show them more words in books that I am reading. I put my finger on the words like they do with their school readers. This way they know what word is what. Hopefully next time they will reconigse it and it will be easier to read it on their own.

The kids learn to read differently than I did. It is all about sight words. Knowing these sight words by heart so that they are able to read simple books. The sight words are common words like, and, this, I, me and so on. Once the child understands these words reading a simple book and starting at stage 1 these books are very basic but that is fine. You gotta start somewhere. I am also teaching the kids to sound things out, phonetically like the way I learnt to read. Yes I know it is not like the sight words way.

Sounding out words is helpful as it allows the child to figure out a word themselves. I have done it a bit now and have noticed that the twins are doing it more and more.

I also volunteer to do school reading at the school. When the kids read their readers they put their fingers on each word and the text is aligned to their sight words. They have been told to look at the picture to help them understand the story and it is a good idea to look at the book before you read it so they have an idea of what it is about. I hear a group of kids read and make sure that all is correct and they are doing well. In my group I of course have the twins but other kids as well. All of the kids are doing very well and are all at different levels.

Having a chat to the teacher is also a good move if you are worried or think that all is good and the child in question just needs some motivation. I was saying all great things but as soon as it came from the teacher it meant more. Give it a go and see!

Sam and Bingo. Level 3 reader. Story by Jenny Giles and Illustrations by Pat Reynolds.
Sam and Bingo. Level 3 reader. Story by Jenny Giles and Illustrations by Pat Reynolds.

Do your kids pile up books in their beds like mine? Do they leave their night lights on wanting to read all night? Mine do. I suppose that is a good sign. Although it is hard to turn off a light when it is on the top bunk. To do this I need to climb up and over a kid to turn off the light.

I suppose it is just good they love books and are doing well. Let us know how it is in your household.