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As you explore the world of letters and language this week, it's important to understand the different ages and stages milestones that your kids should pass as they grow into little learners. With that in mind, we've collected some of the common development milestones associated with reading skills that you can use to track your kids' progress. Debbie Kruse, a kindergarten teacher from Illinois, says that these kinds of checklists are valuable for understanding each individual child's learning needs. "By paying close attention to your kids' development, you can get an early sense of their emerging skills," Debbie said. "When you have an accurate picture of your kids strengths and weaknesses, it makes it even easier to get them the focused support and enrichment they need to succeed going forward."
18 Months
At the beginning of their reading journey, there are a few important milestones that indicate your toddlers have a good grasp on early language skills. By 18 months, your toddlers should be demonstrating a familiarity with connecting ideas and images with words;for example, identifying at least two body parts or pointing to an object, picture, or person when they hear the names of those things. Toddlers should also be experimenting with their own verbal communication skills, hitting milestones like speaking phrases or sentences with two to four words or repeating words they've overheard from others. In terms of reading, you should see enthusiasm; toddlers should request storytime by bringing you books, or even pretend to read to parents, siblings, or imaginary friends.
2 Years
As they grow into inquisitive 2-year-olds, your kids should begin showing more refined versions of the skills they started with six months ago. They'll start to scribble and draw with more purpose, with lines and circles that seem to imitate words and letters, and be able to answer simple questions. They'll also become more engaged with their favorite stories, retelling the plot or repeating favorite phrases as well as noticing and correcting you if you make changes to familiar books.
3 Years
At 3, your kids should start understanding the nuances of what makes language dynamic and interesting. They should start exhibiting an understanding of the concepts of "same" and "different," as well as simple prepositions like "on," "in," and "under." They'll also take an increased interest in letters, showing off skills like recognizing the letters that make up their initials or understanding the difference between writing and drawing. Your kids should also be able to put these new skills to work in their verbal communication, speaking in simple sentences that are at least 75% understandable by strangers and singing along to the alphabet song when prompted.
4 Years
As your kids leave their toddler years,they'll bring their existing skills with them as they develop an even finer understanding of reading and language. They'll start to understand things like future tense, and recognize rhyming words. They'll be able to name and identify the majority of capital letters in the alphabet, follow along with writing from right to left, and take steps towards writing their own names. Once again, you'll see these new skills in the way your kids communicate. By now, they should be able to share phrases and sentences that are 100% understandable to strangers; they'll also practice retelling stories they've heard, or telling even longer stories that they've made up themselves.
5 Years
By the time your kids reach kindergarten age, they should be well-positioned to take their first steps toward the more academic side of reading and language. They'll be able to pair letters with the sounds they make, make rhymes of their own, demonstrate understandings of vowels and consonants as they sound out simple words, and recognize words they know when they appear in books. When it comes to storytime, your kids will also demonstrate an increased level of sophistication; they'll be able to read simple words on their own, describe the characters and plot sequencing (beginning, middle, and end) of stories that they know, and use these skills to retell accurate stories about things they've done.At Learning Resources, we’re here to help you make the best of this challenging time. Stay safe and healthy, and check back with our blog for more tips and learning ideas as the situation unfolds.
Fine motor skills are critical to a preschooler’s development. Like any skill, such as playing the piano or dribbling a basketball, practice is essential to success.
When preschool teachers mention fine motor skills, they are referring to the muscles in the hand that are used to manipulate small objects. Fine motor and hand eye coordination are typically parallel skills; most fine motor tasks require refined hand eye coordination. Hand eye coordination refers to the communication that happens between the hands and the eyes in order to accomplish a task.
We use fine motor skills in our everyday lives. Examples include: tying shoes (looping shoelaces through each other), getting dressed (buttons and zippers), eating dinner (using a fork or knife), and brushing teeth (squeezing toothpaste and brushing). In addition, kids will undoubtedly use fine motor skills at school as they write, color, cut, glue, and paint.
Not only is it important to develop fine motor skills for physical growth, but also to build confidence. The more children practice these skills, the more confident they will become. Mastering the coordination of putting on a winter coat, zipping, and buttoning it will make kids excited to go outside. Delaying practicing fine motor skills may have an adverse effect - a student who hasn’t learned to hold and move a pencil properly may make them frustrated during a writing lesson, or could lead to avoiding the task altogether.
While there are plenty of ways to practice fine motor skills around the house, children can also learn through playing with any of these Learning Resources products:
Fostering a love of reading from an early age certainly boosts academic development, but also offers an opportunity for parents to connect with their children.
Classroom teachers often use the term ‘modeling’ when introducing a new skill or assignment. For example, if students are tasked with reading a sentence out loud, teachers will likely read aloud a sentence first so students can hear proper fluency. If students are writing a story in class, many teachers would write alongside their kids. The demonstration and commitment to practice is valuable to the learning process.
Whether your child is listening to a sibling read a board book, performing Shel Silverstein poetry for all to hear, or cuddled up with a chapter book on the couch, parents are encouraged to participate in this activity, too.
Learning Resources’ Reading Comprehension Cubes are a useful tool to spark discussion. The kit comes with six dice-like cubes with questions on each side. The red cubes list pre-reading questions, the blue cubes are for during reading, and the green cubes have post-reading prompts.
Examples: Red- “Predict what will happen in the story.”
Blue- “Where does the story take place?”
Green- “Summarize the story.”
Parents should take one cube of each color, and children should take the rest. While your child is independently reading, grab your book, too. Set a timer for 10 minutes while you both read silently. When the timer goes off, roll a cube. If the question is about the main character, you can share who the main character in your novel is, just like your child will describe the main character in their novel. Using familiar vocabulary such as “setting” or “conflict” will teach your child that stories have general characteristics.
There are potentially three different types of reading skills that children may be practicing when they are reading at home: reading aloud, reading silently, and listening to reading. The Reading Comprehension Cubes can help improve and test children’s understanding within the different modalities. For example, a child may be able to clearly explain the conflict while they are listening to a story, but not when they are reading aloud. This would imply that more reading aloud and checks for comprehension would help strengthen that skill.
The Reading Comprehension Cubes can also be used as writing prompts. Instead of discussing, children can roll the dice, read the prompt, write their response, and then share what they wrote.
By adopting into your routine at least 20 minutes of reading each day, children are not only becoming stronger readers, but also stronger writers and thoughtful thinkers. They are witnessing firsthand how a story begins and ends, introduces characters, and develops settings. In addition, they will begin recognizing that the beginning of each sentence starts with a capital letter. The skills of reading and writing go hand in hand. Finally, they are learning to articulate their thoughts, ask insightful questions, and have a meaningful discussion.
Modeling independent reading demonstrates a lifelong love of literature.
As you explore the world of letters and language this week, it's important to understand the different ages and stages milestones that your kids should pass as they grow into little learners. With that in mind, we've collected some of the common development milestones associated with reading skills that you can use to track your kids' progress. Debbie Kruse, a kindergarten teacher from Illinois, says that these kinds of checklists are valuable for understanding each individual child's learning needs. "By paying close attention to your kids' development, you can get an early sense of their emerging skills," Debbie said. "When you have an accurate picture of your kids strengths and weaknesses, it makes it even easier to get them the focused support and enrichment they need to succeed going forward."
18 Months
At the beginning of their reading journey, there are a few important milestones that indicate your toddlers have a good grasp on early language skills. By 18 months, your toddlers should be demonstrating a familiarity with connecting ideas and images with words;for example, identifying at least two body parts or pointing to an object, picture, or person when they hear the names of those things. Toddlers should also be experimenting with their own verbal communication skills, hitting milestones like speaking phrases or sentences with two to four words or repeating words they've overheard from others. In terms of reading, you should see enthusiasm; toddlers should request storytime by bringing you books, or even pretend to read to parents, siblings, or imaginary friends.
2 Years
As they grow into inquisitive 2-year-olds, your kids should begin showing more refined versions of the skills they started with six months ago. They'll start to scribble and draw with more purpose, with lines and circles that seem to imitate words and letters, and be able to answer simple questions. They'll also become more engaged with their favorite stories, retelling the plot or repeating favorite phrases as well as noticing and correcting you if you make changes to familiar books.
3 Years
At 3, your kids should start understanding the nuances of what makes language dynamic and interesting. They should start exhibiting an understanding of the concepts of "same" and "different," as well as simple prepositions like "on," "in," and "under." They'll also take an increased interest in letters, showing off skills like recognizing the letters that make up their initials or understanding the difference between writing and drawing. Your kids should also be able to put these new skills to work in their verbal communication, speaking in simple sentences that are at least 75% understandable by strangers and singing along to the alphabet song when prompted.
4 Years
As your kids leave their toddler years,they'll bring their existing skills with them as they develop an even finer understanding of reading and language. They'll start to understand things like future tense, and recognize rhyming words. They'll be able to name and identify the majority of capital letters in the alphabet, follow along with writing from right to left, and take steps towards writing their own names. Once again, you'll see these new skills in the way your kids communicate. By now, they should be able to share phrases and sentences that are 100% understandable to strangers; they'll also practice retelling stories they've heard, or telling even longer stories that they've made up themselves.
5 Years
By the time your kids reach kindergarten age, they should be well-positioned to take their first steps toward the more academic side of reading and language. They'll be able to pair letters with the sounds they make, make rhymes of their own, demonstrate understandings of vowels and consonants as they sound out simple words, and recognize words they know when they appear in books. When it comes to storytime, your kids will also demonstrate an increased level of sophistication; they'll be able to read simple words on their own, describe the characters and plot sequencing (beginning, middle, and end) of stories that they know, and use these skills to retell accurate stories about things they've done.At Learning Resources, we’re here to help you make the best of this challenging time. Stay safe and healthy, and check back with our blog for more tips and learning ideas as the situation unfolds.