September is National Literacy Month. In celebration of that, I thought I’d tell you about a great book for encouraging good read skills and for making reading fun and. The book is Games for Reading: Playful Ways to Help Your Child Read by Peggy Kaye.
Games for Reading is divided into four parts that cover Games for Learning Words, Games for Learning Sounds, Games for Understanding, and Games for Reading Every Day. The reader will find all sorts of simple, homemade games that parents and teachers can make that will encourage the skills for successful reading. Most of the games require everyday materials like poster board, construction paper, index cards, and scissors. Supplies needed to create each game are listed to the side of the game description.
Other games don’t require any supplies at all. Some are games you can play in the car, while taking a walk, or waiting in the doctor’s office. One such game is Linking Words. You say a word. Then the child says a word that starts with the same sound as your word ended with. For example, “dog” ends with /g/, the next word could be “girl”, the next word needs to start with /l/ so it could be “leaf”.
One of my favorite games in the book uses a family calendar. If someone went to the dentist, or a birthday party, or to a school meeting then they write a sentence or two about the experience on the calendar. With this project, children learn to express themselves by talking about their day. I also loves that it serves as a permanent record or journal of all the little day to day experiences.
Appendices cover lists of important words and sounds, books for reading aloud, easy beginner books to read, and a nice list of children’s magazines. Games for Reading is a great resource book for parents of young children.
Also See:
Comic Strips About Literacy
Ways You Can Help Spread Literacy
Reading is Fundamental (RIF) Reading Fun