FAMILY
CONNECTION
Activities to do at home that prepare your child for early foundations in learning
You can help your child become a prepared student and a better reader
by engaging in some of these activities at home. It is never to early to:
Read your family connection letter every Friday to involve yourself in the learning for the
upcoming week. You can find this on the family information board in the class or in your child’s
blue folder of home activities.
Read aloud to your child for 20 minutes every day, taking turns selecting the books. Ask
questions about the story. Focus on your child’s comprehension of what was read. Encourage your
child to predict what might come next. Point to specific letter sounds as you read, and identify
rhyming words, too.
Make rhymes and rhyming pairs aloud. Read and reread stories that play with language.
Form or trace letters on a multi sensory surface (playdough, shaving cream, etc. Construct
letters with various household materials.
Draw your child’s attention to letters and words that are meaningful in his or her environment
(the brand name on their toy or on their favorite cereal box.)
When you are in the car: Say rhyming word pairs. Say a word then ask your child to tell you what
sound is at the beginning of the word. Emphasize the sound, not the letter name. Play “I Spy”
to use color and shape identification. Point out letters and words on signs and read them aloud.
Count how long it takes when you are sitting at a red light.
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Create a grocery or ‘to-do’ list and let your child write parts of it.
Encourage your child to write “the sounds he hears.” It will not be spelled
correctly but it is the foundation of conventional writing, even scribbles
are the first stage of writing.
When your pre-k or kinder child is reading and they ask you about an
unfamiliar word, encourage them to try to read it instead of telling them.
Use phrases like, “Look at the picture,” “Can you think of a word that
makes sense that starts with that letter?” or “Find a chunk of the word
you know.” If the child reads slowly and sounded out words throughout
a sentence, direct them to reread the sentence to allow them to gain
meaning from what they have read and increase fluency.
Most importantly, speak to your child with expectations, exposing
them to new vocabulary and experiences. This helps them develop their
expressive and receptive vocabulary and increases their prior knowledge
of concepts making learning new skills natural.
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