reading – Diary of a Nifty Mum

My daughter started Prep this year and I have been having a great time helping her with her readers at night but she has been struggling a little with her letters, phonics and reading.

My lovely sister-in-law is a teacher and she gave me some great tips and put me on to some great sites so I thought I would share them with you all.

1. rED Writing – Learn to Write

This is an awesome iPhone and iPad app – first you choose your state, because they all have a different writing styles – the sense in that is what???, then you create a profile and the start learning how to write both upper and lower case letters, numbers and practice shapes. It tells you the letter, provides an example of how to write the letter/number and if the child can get it right for 3 turns they get a sticker. Collect all the stickers and they email you a certificate for the child.

My daughter loves it and asks to “play” it.

Price: $1.99 but totally worth it!

2. Starfall.com and app

This is a great website and app that concentrate on the phonics of letters and is extremely interactive and entertaining – so the kids love it.

So just choose a letter and the app/website takes you through words that start with the letter with animations/sounds. There are games and puzzles for added excitement!

They also use this website in my child’s classroom – so that is a definite vote of confidence!

Website access – FREE

App Price: $2.99

3. ABC Reading Eggs website and book/card series

I was introduced to the ABC Reading Eggs by the very knowledgeable Laura from Enchanted by Books in Williamstown. I had told her about my daughter struggling with letters and she recommended the Reading Egg letter and starter words flash cards. My daughter loved matching the letter card to the word card – which you then turn over and if you are right you make an animal.

I then went back to purchase the Level 1 Starting Out Pack which allows you 14 days free access to the website that accompanies the pack. With the website you have a map and there is an egg at each stage. You must work your way through the activities to crack open the egg, and then keep moving through the stages.

My daughter finished the entire Level 1 within 2 days and was at me continually to ask when she could play it again. She loves this and I have to say I have seen a real improvement in her reading and letter recognition in the space of a a week.

Price: a 1 year subscription is $79.95 (less than $7 a month) but when I signed up I received a discount so it was a little cheaper. I thoroughly recommend this website and book/cards series and I believe it is worth the money already for the improvement I have seen in my daughters reading and writing.

4. Laminated Writing Placemat

This laminated placemat was given out to the students in my daughter’s class and she loves sitting down with it with a whiteboard marker practicing her letters and numbers. So armed with a white board marker and some cotton wool pads for cleaning she will sit for ages writing and invariably there are a few butterflies and flowers thrown in also!

5. White board and a marker

My daughter has weekly words to practice and I was finding bits of paper strewn all around the house with words on it. The successor the above mentioned placement made me get out an unused kitchen white board so that she could practice writing without causing the deforestation of a small country! So each night I have been writing the words, getting her to tell me the letters and the sounds they make, sounding the word and then writing the words herself. We have had fun with making silly sentences and it has been a real hit with my daughter.