If you teach preschool or kindergarten, you could use a good set of book lists for early childhood. We've got what you're looking for! (This post contains affiliate links.) Whether you're a parent or teacher, the single most important thing you can do for your students is to read to them. If you're looking for a print book with recommended reading lists, I enjoy Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook and Honey for ... Read More
Why is rhyming important?
Why is rhyming important? We've got the answer! Why is rhyming important? 1. Rhyming teaches children how language works. It helps them notice and work with the sounds within words. 2. Rhymes help children experience the rhythm of language. As they recite nursery rhymes they learn to speak with animated voices. Someday they’ll read with expression, too. 3. Rhyming is important ... Read More
Books about clouds
If you're looking for some great weather books, you'll love this list of 15 books about clouds! Whether or not you're doing a weather theme, these are some great books! ... Read More
Letter B Activities for 2-Year-Olds
Check out our fun collection of letter B activities for 2-year-olds! Each week, I do a set of hands-on activities with my Two to help her learn a new letter. We keep it light and simple, and on the days we do "formal" learning we spend about 15 minutes. Sometimes she plays longer if it's a sensory activity. These ideas are meant to inspire you to do a little learning with your toddler, if he or she ... Read More
Elkonin boxes
Elkonin boxes are a wonderful tool to help kids build phonemic awareness! Have you heard of Elkonin boxes? These simple tools help kids build phonemic awareness by helping them divide words into their individual phonemes. Some quick vocabulary review: phonological awareness - the ability to hear differences in the ways words sound. If children have phonological awareness, they can identify beginning ... Read More
Sorting mats for short and long vowels
Today I'm shorting a set of free sorting mats! They're perfect for helping kids learn the sounds of short and long vowels. Have you seen our popular consonant sound sorting mats? I use those to review beginning sounds. When I created the set, I didn't include vowels because there are very few words that start with vowels... at least, very few words that can be represented with pictures. But due to popular demand, ... Read More
Letter I Activities for 2-year-olds
Today we're sharing some fun letter I activities for two-year-olds! I'm doing letter of the week with my Two. She asks for more "tivities" all the time. Even though we only spend about 15 minutes a day, she's learning her alphabet week by week. Will you try some of these ideas with your little learner? We began the week with a simple review of the letters we've learned so far. I wrote the letters on ... Read More
CVC word missing letter clip cards
Today's freebie is a wonderful way to help kids hear beginning, middle, and ending sounds and match them to their letters. Try this missing letter activity! Now that my son knows all his letter sounds (thanks to our alphabet activities), we're moving on to hearing those sounds in different parts of words. A few weeks ago, we did this activity. He looked at the letter on the top of each card, said ... Read More
Letter R Activities for 2-year-olds
Check out our collection of fun, age-appropriate letter R activities for 2-year-olds! We spend about 15-20 minutes each school day doing "tivities" to help my Two learn the letters and their sounds. We're starting with the letters of her name and are almost ready to go back to letter B and work through the alphabet in order. To see our progress so far, visit this page. We started with rock ... Read More
One-player multiplication bingo games
Today I'm sharing a set of free multiplication bingo games - perfect for practicing those tricky facts! Our oldest just began fourth grade and is required to practice her multiplication flash cards five times a week. After a week, she already knew her facts. But we're still asked to practice them. I don't know about you, but doing flash cards with a child who already knows her facts - ... Read More