Teaching Your Preschooler To Read

Thanks so much to Deana for this week’s homeschooling tip!!

Tuesday’s Homeschooling Tips: Steps to Reading

Written by Deana at The Frugal Homeschooling Mom

Steps to Reading, Part 1

Creating stories using pictures is an important part of your child’s reading skills development.  Children learn how to make up stories and stretch their imaginations by simply playing with figures and talking aloud with a “storyboard.”  Here are some ideas of things to have around for your toddler or preschooler to use to tell a story.  Best of all, he/she can do it by themselves while you’re doing the laundry, teaching older children, or cooking dinner (or, ehem… typing on your blog like me haha!).

Storytelling Aids for Preschoolers

~White construction paper or poster board and stickers (Cheap!).  The only thing that kinda stinks about this idea is that the stickers don’t move.  Or, buy a commercially made sticker scene set. We got one of these for Laynie for Christmas that is Tinkerbell.  The background scenes are smooth which makes the stickers repositionable.

~Flannel board and felt pieces.  Flannel boards are sold at educational supply stores and some craft stores, or you can make your own (just tack some flannel fabric onto a sturdy board and trace and cut your own characters out of felt.

~Magnets on the refrigerator.  If you can’t find character or figure magnets – make them yourself!  Buy some magnetic tape at the craft store, and then cut out pictures from magazines or coloring books.  Or, find pictures of your child’s favorite characters on the internet, print them, cut them out, and stick the magnetic tape on them.  Hey, this is cheap, too!  Of course, there are magnetic boards too that you can purchase, but the refrigerator would have more room for play.

~Stamps and paper.  The stamps don’t move but it’s still a great option.  I got a set of bug stamps at a yard sale one time, and Laynie uses colored pencils to draw a scene for the bugs.

~Puzzle pieces.  Take out the puzzle pieces from some of those easy puzzles (you know, the ones with the pegs sticking out of them, or the ones that are made so that you just fit the figure into it’s matching spot – not a jigsaw puzzle, in other words).  Your child can draw a setting on poster board and move the puzzle pieces around to create a story.

~Colorforms and window clings.  Colorforms are awesome if you can find a set of those.  They usually come with a background in the set, or you can use them on your window!  I like buying window clings – themed ones are almost always available during holidays, and are usually very affordable.  There is even special paint for making your own window clings too.  You can find it at craft stores.

~Cutting and pasting.  Give your child some magazines, scissors, a glue stick, along with a large piece of paper, and let them go at it.

Deana, a previous teacher and preschool teacher, shares her knowledge of home education at The Frugal Homeschooling Mom.  She also shares free and cheap homeschool curriculum and resources with her readers.

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