Of Course That Counts

I went to get my nails done today, and Lee, my manicurist, asked me for some advice.  Her mother, in Vietnam, was just diagnosed with cancer, and naturally wants to meet her grandchildren sooner rather than later.  Lee is rightly worried that taking her kindergartner and first grader out of school for a month may hurt them academically.  My advice was to take the kids to Vietnam; she’ll never forgive herself if she doesn’t, but make them read and write everyday.  Lee was so happy with my advice that she gave me a funky nail design for free. 

But how do you make a 5 and 6 year old read and write everyday?  Obviously they can’t do it independently yet, so we have to share the process of reading with these kids.  They know many letters and some words, and they understand that text has meaning.  They often make up stories to go with pictures in a book and memorize favorites.  They'll fill in the last word on a page, if we read the first two, or read a book to us after we've read it to them.  All of these activities count as reading when you're 5.

  

Beginning readers need fun and interactive experiences with books.  Look for patterned texts, books that rhyme and stories that have great picture support.  I like Have You Seen My Cat? and Do You Want to be My Friend? by Eric Carle.  The text is basically the same on each page, but the pictures tell the story.  Big Little by Leslie Patricelli and That’s Not My Puppy by Fiona Watt are great options, because only one or two words change on each page and the pictures provide the support.  Rhyming books are fun, because kids can predict the rhyming word at the end of the page.  Some simple rhyming books are My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard and Bill Martin Jr.’s Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat are You Waking Up?  Dr. Seuss is always popular, but his books are often more difficult than they look, because he uses so many nonsense words.  However, they all rhyme and rhyming builds phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear sounds in words.  It’s a prerequisite for reading.  Look for Hop on Pop and Go, Dog, Go.  If you want a book that a beginning reader can read almost independently try Oink by Arthur Geisert or Hug by Jez Alborough. These brilliant books tell a story using great pictures and only one word.  At this age our goal is to build confidence and a love of reading. 

Great Books for Beginning Readers

Oink by Arthur Geisert

Hug by Jez Alborough

Panda Bear, Panda Bear by Bill Martin Jr

Are You My Mother? by P.D, Eastman

Have You Seen My Cat by Eric Carl

Do You Want to Be My Friend? by Eric Carle

Big Little by Leslie Patricelli

Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

That’s Not My Puppy by Fiona Watt

You are My Cupcake by Joyce Wan

Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Mary Wore Her Red Dress by Merle Peek

We’re Going on A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard

Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are you Waking Up? by Bill Martin Jr

Go Dog Go by Dr. Seuss

Hop On Pop by Dr. Seuss

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

Pigeon Finds a Hotdog by Mo Willems

P.S. I made this a post script because at this age, we want reading to be more about fun than correctness.  However, if a child does stumble on a word at this age, prompt them to use the picture and think about the story.  As adults we rely heavily on the meaning of text.  We only stop and look carefully at unfamiliar words.  If there is a picture of a cat on the page, we don’t want our kids sounding it out; we want them to use the context of the story and the picture to figure it out.