Happy 2012!

Listed on the top right of the following link, you will see "Spalding Phonograms 1-26 a-z"
a very clear video of the lowercase alphabet letters with all the phonograms:
https://sites.google.com/site/phonokids/

If your child is going to Benjamin Franklin or ALA (American Leadership Academy) this is the reading program they use and knowing these phonograms exactly in this format will be helpful.

If not going to the above schools, these letter/sound skills still build a strong foundation for creating confident readers.

If your child is entering kindergarten next year, I strongly recommend practicing phonics and/or letter rings and/or reading for 15 minutes every day. A short time practiced frequently produces amazing results and really builds little minds and long term memory.

Happy 2012!!! Since some families have new years resolutions, I wanted to encourage you to think about the role of tv in your house.

I also wanted to share my own opinion on tv and videos. I think there are some very worthy ones for the preschool age group. Rather than watching the same favorite "Disney" movie for an hour or longer, consider instead PBS "reading" shows such as Super Why or Word World. Sid the Science Kid is a really great show for scientific concepts and most can easily be tried out at home to reinforce the learning. My children have also seemed to enjoy the LeapFrog videos about letters, words and even basic math concepts.

If you use tv and videos with your children, I encourage you to really evaluate the amount of time they are spending in front of the tv and what they are gaining from the that time.

Ages 3-5 are the perfect ages to add game time to your play time. It practices taking turns, following rules, usually other concepts like reading and counting and yes, the very important skill of sometimes losing. Even if your child wins, you can be a great model at how to lose.

When was the last time you played Candy Land together? Other great games include Hi-Ho Cherry-Oh, Chutes and Ladders, Memory Match, Guess Who and more. There are kid versions that are great of Monopoly, Sorry, Scrabble, Pinochle and more. What are your favorites?