My kindergarten kiddo is busily building his reading fluency right now, but constantly zooming through flashcards can get a bit tedious for any little learner. He is a hands-on learner (kinesthetic is the educational term if you’re into the fancy lingo), and he excels when he can use his body while he engages in learning activities.
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I realized pretty quickly that I was going to need to come up with some simple, tangible tasks to help him practice his budding vocabulary. Our current reading program is fantastic and does an excellent job of appealing to all types of learners, but I am always looking for simple *bucket time* activities for independent work when I’m busy with our other children.
Insert one of my simple solutions: a cookie sheet and some magnetic foam letters! I also have some flashcards that came with our reading curriculum, or you can make your own, or you can simply write them on notebook paper. It doesn’t need to be stressful or fussy!
Here’s what I do:
I give my new reader about 10 related words (similar sounds, word family, or sight word; whatever we are working on) and ask him to spell them on the cookie sheet using his magnetic letters. Then he will sound out the word as he spells it.
Why It Works
Guess what? Reading fluency requires repitition. This quick practice is great because it helps with the necessary repetition emerging readers need without being boring, it engages kinesthetic learners by getting their hands involved, and it is fairly independent for moms who need a hot minute to do something else. Moms need a hot minute once in a while, amIright? We do this about once a week or once a day or whenever we want a little extra practice time, and my little guy sure enjoys it!
Why Not Just Use An App for Reading Fluency Practice?
Now, I know some of you may be thinking that there are a zillion apps out there that accomplish the same thing, but do they really? Using manipulatives like letters hits several areas in which most kindergarteners can use practice: fine motor skills of manipulating the letters, visual discrimination of choosing the correct letters from a pile, and phonemic awareness for sounding out the letters.
These important building blocks of a great education start with simple tasks like this! While I agree that apps have a place in learning, I think it is important to remember that, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) little brains don’t need much screentime.
In fact, they recommend kids 2 to 5 only get one hour of screen time per day. I’m not exactly acing this goal myself, but it is something we, as parents should try to be mindful of at our homes. With that in mind, I like to use manipulatives instead of apps whenever we are able!
Do you have a wiggly kindergarten homeschooler at your house? What ways do you utilize hands-on activities for reading instruction?
