What is Phonics? Phonemic Awareness?

"Progress report says he needs phonics help. What the <%!@ does that mean?" My friend was flustered with all the ed jargon and that is completely understandable!

Here it is down and dirty along with a few ways to work on phonics and phomic awareness at home.

What is phonics? associating letters with sounds, b says /b/

LOOKING AT LETTERS AND KNOWING THEY MAKE SOUNDS

Fast Phonics  Super fun website! It is like Phonics 101! Free!
Reverse BINGO! Make cards with letters, but instead of calling out the letters, call out their sound! Oooh! Fun!
At Home Fun!  This includes magnet letters and we LOVE those!

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What is phonemic awareness? the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds-phonemes-in spoken words

YOU HEAR THE SOUNDS

Rhyming Fun! This is almost a tutorial! Hearing rhyme is super cruicial to reading success!

Blending and Segmenting Explains each, gives words to use, and FUN activities!

Plethora of Sound Fun! There is something for everyone! Scroll down and bookmark this one!  

My biggest recommendation is this....AVOID WORKSHEETS! Keep it fun!

400 Fabulous FB Followers Giveaway!!

Aaahhhhhh! I have hit 400 Facebook followers and almost 40,000 pageviews! This, my friends calls for a CELEBRATION! 

Thank you for reading, supporting, and sharing--now let's get down to business!

Enter now for a chance to win a $20 Amazon giftcard AND a book surprise! Check FB for the winner and be sure to tell your friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Valentine Blog Lovin'

Valentine's Day is right around the corner! I've decided that this year, I want to share the Valentine Lovin' by hosting a blog comment pallooza! I am going to start today and visit as many teacher/family blogs as I can and leave lots of happy comments. Why? Because I really do love reading your blogs and I want you to know it! I'm thinking a few a day should do the trick! Please add your blog to the links (or your favorite blog to read) and pass this along to friends! 

Consider joining me and comment, comment, comment! 

Look Alikes...So Cool!

We were recently introduced to the world of Look Alikes. Have you seen these oldies, but goodies?

They are large books with AmAzInG pictures created by everyday objects. So the picture might look like the Taj Majal, but it is really made out of onion tops, ballet slippers and lace. The readers job is to find the look alike objin each picture. Amazing illustrations, limited, but informative text, and hours, oh hours of happy, vocabulary building conversations that build conceptual understanding! See if you can find the look alikes in these pics!

T loves them! He sits and looks at the pictures and identifies all of the cool objects. Best part? He has started creating his own! Love, love, love! 

Check the thrift stores or used book stores for these treasures! They will be great for the 4-9 crowd!