Pre-Reading Resources for Parents and Caregivers

Activity 1: Book Explorer: Discover the Secrets of a Book!

Explore a book’s covers before reading.

How to Do It
Before starting a story, ask your child to show you the front cover. Ask questions like, “Where do we start reading?”, “How do we hold the book?”, “What can the cover tell us about the story?”, or “Where is the title of the book located?”

Why It’s Helpful
This activity builds curiosity and understanding about how books work, setting the stage for motivated reading.

Activity 2: Word Wizard: Point and Learn the Words!

Point to words as you read them aloud. 

How to Do It
As you read a story, point to each word. Encourage your child to follow along with their finger. If they cover words with their hand, gently explain, “I need to see the words to read them.”

 Why It’s Helpful
This helps your child understand that the text is what you’re reading, not just making up the story. It’s a fundamental concept in learning to read.

Activity 3: Find and Write Your Name!

Practice writing your child’s first and last name on their drawings, books, or belongings.

How to Do It
Sit with your child and write their name together. Then, point to the written name and ask, “Do you know what this says?”

Why It’s Helpful
This helps your child understand that printed words carry meaning.

Activity 4: Type Trailblazers: Exploring Print Clues

Engage in exploring print conventions within a book.

How to Do It
As you read together, occasionally pause and encourage your child to identify specific letters or punctuation marks. For example, ask, “Can you point to the letter A?” or “Can you find a period in this sentence?”

Why It’s Helpful
This activity enhances your child’s grasp of print basics, including letter recognition, punctuation usage, and book layout, fostering active text engagement. These are key for building foundational reading comprehension and literacy skills in early readers

Additional Tips

Activity 1: Letter Spy: The Great Uppercase and Lowercase Hunt!

Identify uppercase and lowercase letters in a book.

How to Do It

While reading a book with your child, ask them to point out uppercase letters (for example, F, M, A) and lowercase letters (for example, f, m, a). Discuss when each type is used, such as uppercase letters at the beginning of sentences and for names.

Why It’s Helpful

This activity helps your child recognize the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters and understand their usage in writing, which is crucial for reading and writing skills.

Activity 2: Alphabet Connect: The Big and Small Letter Match-Up!

Match uppercase letters with their lowercase counterparts.

How to Do It

Create a simple matching game. Draw two columns on a sheet of paper, one for uppercase and one for lowercase letters. Have your child draw lines connecting each uppercase letter to its lowercase version.

 Why It’s Helpful

This game reinforces letter recognition and the relationship between the two forms of each letter, enhancing alphabet familiarity.

Encourage your child to explain their choices as they match the letters. This reinforces their understanding and allows you to correct any misconceptions.

·         Variety in Learning

Use different books and materials to keep the activities fresh and engaging. Different fonts and styles in books can offer a broader understanding of letter forms.

Activity 1: Rhyme Time Adventure!

Engage in songs and nursery rhymes to identify rhyming words.

How to Do It

While reciting familiar songs or rhymes, emphasize the rhyming words. Then, create new versions by substituting them with other rhyming words. For example, in “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” change “star” to “car” and find other rhymes for “car.”

Why It’s Helpful

This activity enhances your child’s ability to hear and understand rhyming patterns, a key aspect of phonological awareness.

Activity 2: The Rhyming Word Challenge!

Play games that involve identifying and creating rhymes.

How to Do It

Say two words that rhyme, like “cat” and “hat,” and ask your child to think of another word that rhymes with them. Also, try saying a list of words where one word doesn’t rhyme and ask your child to identify the odd one out.

 Why It’s Helpful

This fun game helps your child differentiate words based on their sounds, further developing their phonological awareness.

Activity 3: Syllable Clap-a-Long!

Clap out and count syllables in simple words.

How to Do It

Choose easy words like “monkey” and clap for each syllable (“mon-key”). Discuss if any of the syllables are words on their own, like “key” in “monkey.”

 Why It’s Helpful

This helps your child break down words into smaller sound units, an important skill for reading and spelling.

Make these activities interactive. Encourage your child to come up with their own words and rhymes.

·         Keep It Light and Fun

The goal is to make learning enjoyable. Celebrate their successes and keep the mood playful.

Activity 1: Let’s Play the Sound Match Game!

Spot words with similar sounds in a book.

How to Do It

While reading with your child, look for short words that share the same sound at the beginning, middle, or end. For example, find words with the same beginning sound like “big” and “bet,” middle sound like “pop” and “cob,” or end sound like “pig” and “leg.”

Why It’s Helpful

This activity enhances your child’s ability to recognize and differentiate sounds in different parts of words, a key skill in phonemic awareness.

Activity 2: Sound-Alike Scavenger Hunt!

Find words with the same initial sound.

How to Do It

Create a list of words that start with the same sound as the first sound in your child’s name (e.g., for Shawn: “shave,” “share,” “shin”). Extend this game throughout the day, finding words that match the initial sound of various objects or activities.

 Why It’s Helpful

This game enhances your child’s ability to identify and associate sounds with letters, making reading more intuitive.

Activity 3: Word Wizard Challenge: Can You Read This?

Encourage reading and spelling simple words.

How to Do It

During reading sessions, guide your child to sound out and read two-letter words like “in,” “on,” “up,” and three-letter words like “bat,” “cut,” “met.”

 Why It’s Helpful

This practice supports your child in blending sounds to form words, a fundamental phonemic skill necessary for reading.

Activity 4: Mixed Up Word Game!

Practice manipulating the individual sounds within words.

How to Do It

Encourage your child to substitute or remove the beginning, middle, or end sound of a word and then read the new words they create. For instance, use simple words like “rib” or “bud.” Ask questions to your child, such as, “What is ‘rib’ without the /r/ sound?” or “What happens to ‘bud’ if you replace the /u/ with an /e/?”

 Why It’s Helpful

This helps your child manipulate sounds in spoken words, a skill that is key in learning to read.

Let your child choose some of the words or objects. This makes the learning process more engaging and tailored to their interests.

·         Positive Reinforcement

Celebrate their successes, no matter how small, to build confidence and enjoyment in learning.

Activity 1: Mystery Sound Match-Up!

Match objects with their beginning letter sounds.

How to Do It

Gather several small objects around the house. Ask your child to match each object with a letter that represents its beginning sound. For example, match “ball” with “Bb” or “cat” with “Cc.”

Why It’s Helpful

This interactive game helps children connect everyday objects with their corresponding letter sounds, reinforcing their understanding of letter-sound associations.

Activity 2: Name Detective: Discover the Letters in Your Name!

Identify and name the letters in your child’s first and last name.

How to Do It

Point to each letter in your child’s name and ask them to name it. Repeat this with family members’ and friends’ names. As you point to each letter, say its sound aloud.

 Why It’s Helpful

This activity connects the visual aspect of letters with their phonetic sounds, reinforcing letter recognition and phonemic awareness.

Activity 3: Alphabet Sound Party!

Learn to recognize, sound, and write the letters Ff, Tt, Mm, Pp, Nn, Ss, Aa, and Oo.

How to Do It

Practice naming, sounding out, and writing these letters with your child. Use letter magnets, a whiteboard, or paper to form simple words like “pan,” “mat,” and “top.” Help your child sound out these words.

 Why It’s Helpful

This activity strengthens your child’s understanding of how letters form sounds and words, a key part of learning to read.

Tailor activities to include your child’s favourite things. If they love animals, focus on animal names that start with the letter sound you’re teaching.

·         Interactive Reading

When reading together, pause and ask your child to identify letter sounds in the book. This reinforces learning in a practical context.