Sound Games

Teaching my youngest son to read was much harder than teaching all 4 of my girls. Amir grew up with books. He loved to look at books with beautiful pictures. He loves to be read. He knows all the sounds taught through Cory Cat Phonics Song & also Lagu Fonik Abu Ada Ayam. If I say /kuh/..../a/.../t/ to him orally, he can blend all the sounds and say 'cat' easily.

BUT when I decided to teach him to read 'formally' using Readeasy at 3+, he REFUSED. There were times he threw the books to the floor. At other times he whined that the letters are TOO small. I couldn't get him to sit for even 2 minutes!

What can we do with kids like Amir?
1. Use SOUND CARDS to introduce the sound.(Refer my previous post). Use lower case letters ONLY.
In Readeasy Book 1, 3 consonants, c, b, t and 2 vowels, a, o are introduced. For each new sound, do multi-sensory activities - form letter shape using playdough, touch sandpaper letters, make letter collage, do fingerpainting(Amir's favourite).

Don't forget to teach your child to touch or fingerpaint the way the letter is written.

2. PLAY GAMES

• Sound Hop - throw sound cards on the floor. Encourage him to jump on the sound cards and say the sounds. Amir will insist that I jump on the cards & say the sounds too.
• Sound Grab - stick the sound cards on the wall(I use Blu-tak). Say a sound and get him to run & bring the sound card to you. Encourage him to say the sound. Yup, be a sporting mum(or dad). Let him say the sound and you run to get the card.
  
• Sound Hunt - Hide the sound cards around the room. Say a sound and encourage him to find as many corresponding cards. Don't forget to encourage him to say the sounds to you once he has found all the cards.

These simple games will keep him busy & happy for 20 minutes at least.

3. REWARD his achievements no matter how small it is. Swing him, lift him up in the air, give Hi5, etc.

4. Keep your reading session short. STOP before your child shows any signs of boredom.
5. Teach him 2 - 3 times a day.
6. Keep cool & have fun.