Raising readers is one of my biggest goals as a mom. I want my kids to not only learn to decode words on a page, but understand the joy and empowerment that comes from being able to read. Raising readers is the goal of this blog and of a new wonderful book.
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Llama Llama Loves to Read
Anna Dewdney’s Bestselling Llama Llama series continues with Llama learning to read!
I was super pumped to get an early sneak peak at the latest Llama Llama book. In this one Anna Dewdney’s beloved Llama Llama is growing up and learning to read! Throughout the school day, the teacher helps Llama Llama and the other children practice their letters, shows word cards, reads stories, and brings them to the library where they can all choose a favorite book. By the end of the day, Llama Llama is recognizing words and can’t wait to show Mama Llama that he’s becoming a reader!
This is the latest Anna Dewdney book about beloved Llama Llama. Anna Dewdey passed away in September, 2016, at the age of fifty from cancer. A teacher, mother, and enthusiastic proponent of reading aloud to children, she continually honed her skills as an artist and writer and published her first Llama Llama book in 2005. This book is the first collaboration between Dewdney and her partner Reed Duncan and reads like a celebration of learning to read.
In this book, Llama Llama is at school learning about letters, writing his name, and about the magic of books. It is cheerful and colorful like all of Llama’s adventures. My only complaint is that I feel like Llama breezes through learning to read a little too easily. As a mom of early elementary school kids I think it oversimplifies what really is a difficult process.
That being said, LLAMA LLAMA LOVES TO READ does feel empowering and energizing which I think kids find encouraging. This is a book that kids on the verge of reading will love to read. I love that it spells out the steps and parts of becoming a reader. I love how like all Llama Llama books it touches on feelings kids will recognize in themselves. This is a great read aloud for preschoolers and kindergartners and a fun new book for Llama Llama fans – which is everyone right?
5 Pre-Reading Skills
I think it is impossible to read this and not feel enthusiastic about learning to read. It makes you think yes! I can do that – let’s go read! That makes it an excellent launchpad for practicing some important pre-literacy skills. Let’s learn to read just like Llama Llama!
1. Alphabet Recognition
We all remember learning to sing the ABCs and that’s certainly fun, but it’s also important for kids to learn to recognize individual letters.
One step that parents and even some teacher often miss is teaching kids to recognize lowercase letters. If you think about it, any time you read – even this blog post – your brain is mostly processing lowercase letters. Kids need to be able to write, recognize and connect lowercase letters with their sounds.
Related Materials & Activities:
- Alphabet Puzzle with Upper and Lowercase Letters
- Read Alphabet Books
- Tactile Letter Tracing Cards
- 5 Natural Literacy Activities for Kids
2. Phonics
This is the second piece of learning your letters. Not only do we need to know that A and a = A but also that that letter makes specific sounds. It’s knowing the combination of these things that allows us to put letters into words or decode (break down) words to read.
Related Materials & Activities:
also read: 10 Gifts for Kids to Encourage New Reading Skills
3. Sight Words
In LLAMA LLAMA LOVES TO READ, Llama Llama learns sight words or what he describes as words “he has to memorize with his brain and with his eyes.” Anyone who has tried to teach their kid to read will tell you that English is hard. A lot of those nice phonics “rules” we teach kids have a ton of exceptions that make decoding words extra tricky. That’s where sight words come into play.
Sight words are words that we memorize just based on how they look. The word “the” for example cannot be sounded out correctly. It just needs to be remembered. The more sight words kids have the quicker they will read.
Related Materials & Activities:
- Start with Names. Write, trace, and read your child’s name and familiar names like Mom and Dad.
- Ukloo: Sight Words Scavenger Hunt Game (our absolute favorite game for preschoolers)
- Zingo Sight Words Game
- Fred & Ed Books by Kevin Bolger
4. Environmental Print
Pointing out and talking about environmental print can be very empowering for kids. Look – a STOP sign! Knowing that a STOP sign reads STOP can make a kid learning to read feel awesome. If you look around your home, street, school, restaurants, grocery store, etc the opportunities for reading environmental print are everywhere.
Related Materials & Activities:
5. Read Aloud
I think the biggest thing you can do for kids to help them become readers is to read to them. Read to them every single day. That’s why I created the A Read A Day community. Read long books. Read short books. Read books they love again and again.
What feels like an enjoyable playtime activity actually teaches them so much about reading. It shows them how books work. It builds their vocabulary which is crucial for learning to read. It helps develop reading comprehension. It also helps them associate positive feelings with reading which makes them more motivated to figure out how to read.
Related Materials & Activities:
Also Read: Top Tips for Raising Readers
Learning to read takes time but building the skills and helping kids fall in love with books should be fun and easy. Help your child see like Llama Llama did that “words have magic power indeed. What else could a person need…?”
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