Our PreSchool Blog

We started our adventure in reading today!  We discovered that all of the letter sounds that the children worked so hard to master during preschool, when put together, make words!  After reading the book, The Alphabet Tree by Leo Lionni, we began to build simple words in the -at family…C-A-T, H-A-T, B-A-T, R-A-T, then we sounded each of them out.  The children then worked independently on building their own -at family word and an illustration (good writers always illustrate their work with a picture that matches!)  For a fun way to practice sounding out words…visit Starfall and use their “Word Machine.”  This is a website that you will need to purchase a membership for a minimal fee.  This site is worth every penny.  You will be able to use it through first and second grade.  A fun, interactive way to practice essential skills.  LET’S HAVE FUN LEARNING!

Letters by themselves are just letters

But when they are grouped together...Presto! It's a word!

As we complete our unit on letter recognition and sound review this month we are focusing on matching lowercase letters to pictures with corresponding initial sounds.   The ability to understand the structure of spoken language plays a crucial part in reading success now and in the future.  It is very important for children to automatically be able to manipulate sounds in words (phonemic awareness) so that comprehension is the focus of reading rather than decoding unknown words.  We develop phonemic awareness (ability to  manipulate sounds in words) through a variety of consistent and age appropriate activities in which children are asked to recognize and manipulate sounds.

The importance of phonemic awareness and phonics instruction for beginning readers has received wide support among reading researchers.  When young children participate in specific instruction in how to identify and manipulate the sounds of language (phonemic awareness) and how to associate those sounds with letters and letter patterns (phonics), children are very likely to succeed in reading.  Skill at decoding, or sounding out unfamiliar words, is so critical for skilled reading that neither instruction instruction in sight word reading nor strategies in the use of context can compensate for poor decoding skills.  Decoding skills are considered an essential for fluent reading in later grades.  We begin this journey in our pre-k program to create a solid foundation in early phonics for your child to build on as they continue their path to becoming fluent readers.

We used our magic hat today during phonics study.  We took turns choosing lowercase letters out of the hat, identifying the letter and sound, and matching it to its corresponding uppercase form.  We had so much fun!!

We continued our phonics study today in small groups.  We hear about the phonics but what is it?  Simply put, phonics is the connection between letter symbols and sounds. As adults, this relationship seems apparent and common sense. However, in reality there is no natural connection between words and their meanings.

At the very core of phonics lies the alphabet. In order to master phonics a person must master the alphabet. Letters then need to be connected to their corresponding sounds. As we know as English speakers, this is easier said than done. Many letters can represent a number of different sounds. This means that learning phonics is an ongoing process for a developing reader.  Because letters and sounds were introduced in our Preschool Program we will have a “crash course” in letters and their sounds over the next nine weeks.  We will be focusing on three letters per week.  We will complete letters Aa, Bb, and Cc this week and the next three will be introduced on Monday.

We continued our phonics study today in small groups.  We hear about the phonics but what is it?  Simply put, phonics is the connection between letter symbols and sounds. As adults, this relationship seems apparent and common sense. However, in reality there is no natural connection between words and their meanings.

At the very core of phonics lies the alphabet. In order to master phonics a person must master the alphabet. Letters then need to be connected to their corresponding sounds. As we know as English speakers, this is easier said than done. Many letters can represent a number of different sounds. This means that learning phonics is an ongoing process for a developing reader.  Because letters and sounds were introduced in our Preschool Program we will have a “crash course” in letters and their sounds over the next nine weeks.  We will be focusing on three letters per week.  We will complete letters Aa, Bb, and Cc this week and the next three will be introduced on Monday.

We have been discovering sounds in words the past few weeks: recognizing initial sounds, ending sounds, and counting sounds in words.  Sounding out unknown words is a piece to the puzzle that will help us develop as great readers!

Sailing into Beginning Sounds

Sorting Words by Beginning Sounds

Sorting Words by Ending Sounds

Counting Sounds BINGO