Asking an open ended question like, “Why did you like trading places with the character?” allows your child to use higher level thinking skills. Your child will need to come up with reasons why he/she liked trading places with the character which will force him/her to analyze and evaluate the story. Your child will love the change of hearing his/her name inserted in the story.CONTINUE READING

When reading aloud “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” you can open and close the last two pages to make it look like the butterfly is flying. Your child will love helping you make the butterfly “fly.” Check out Episode 024 to learn additional ideas on how to move the read aloud book in unusual ways.CONTINUE READING

Feeling’s Faces is a fun way to discuss feelings and emotions. Recognizing the feelings of a character can help your child understand his/her own feelings better, as well as the feelings of others. Feeling’s Faces will help build empathy and emotional intelligence.CONTINUE READING

The Picture Cue Strategy is one of the most basic and fundamental decoding strategies that is taught to beginning readers. When children begin reading independently, they need the support of looking at the pictures before they can sound out unknown words.CONTINUE READING