Children will attempt to write letters while scribbling and drawing at an early age. My first child, Eric, started making many of his letters from the bottom up. It was difficult to get him to start writing his lowercase "r" in his name correctly. It wasn't that big of a deal, but unlearning something takes time and can cause frustration. Try finger paint, freezer paper, and pointer fingers

Helping a child learn to read is easier than most parents think.  Find books that are at your child's reading level. If your child makes a mistake or takes a long time to sound out more than one in ten words, the book your child is reading is at frustration level. Easier books should be chosen. Be patient. Let your

I'm proud to announce another year hosting an event at my local library for World Read Aloud Day. I'm giving away an autographed copy of Too Pickley by Jean Reidy and bookmarks. I get to be the guest reader for story time with 2 and 3 year olds. My books of choice will be Too Pickley by Jean Reidy, I Wish I Could Fly by Ron Maris, and The Shark Who Was Afraid of Everything! by Brian James.

Choosing high quality books with just the right difficulty for early readers helps get them a good start with reading. I've tutored children with reading and have used these books with students. Phonics Books - The Now I'm Reading Series by Nora Gaydos is a great series to introduce and practice phonics. The colorful illustrations, fun animal characters, and surprise endings encourage

Here are a few ideas to create fun and comfortable places to encourage more reading in your house. I just found some of the coolest indoor swings. Of course I thought, "What a fun place for a child to read." I'm an affiliate with Amazon, so I'm going to link to my favorite swings. Just click on the pictures to check out the reviews and descriptions. Indoor tents are

Teaching phonemes along with letters will set your child up for reading success. Here's a great article from Reading Rockets to get you started. Tips for Teaching Your Child Phonemes Phonemes can be represented by one letter or more than one letter. The oo in the words moo, boom, doodle, doo, hoo, and choo are great words to introduce a child to this concept. The ur in burp and

   A child who can't learn to read needs help. One area I always check is phonological awareness. Phonological awareness can be taught and practiced.   Reading requires a reader to separate and blend sounds in words. This skill is part of phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in speech. The highest level of

Hopa Mountain in Bozeman, Montana has ideas for family and caregivers to have meaningful interactions during read alouds of selected board books. They have a program called Story Makers and have given me permission to link to their site. Learning to read starts early. Interactions babies and toddlers have with books helps them become strong future readers. Board Books and Book Sharing

Finding the right books for a child to read is one of the best ways a parent can help their child with reading. Reading skills improve with time spent reading. Getting a child to choose to read can be a challenge. My youngest son didn't like to read two years ago. He could read, but he didn't choose to read. Now I can't stop him. He's reading 10 books to everyone 1 book his twin sister

I recently discovered I See Sam Books. The books were published through a federally funded program in 1972 and made available in the public domain in 1977. The original versions of 52 I See Sam books continue to be available for free. You can print, download, and view the original I See Sam books. In 1993 changes were made to I See Sam books through the Reading For All Learners Program

I've put together a video to help you teach basic phonics. I share information about teaching letter sounds and basic phonics rules. I show you how to introduce books from the Playful Pals early reader book set. I show you how to use magnetic letters to have early readers practice reading, spelling, and phonics rules. Here are the magnetic letters, magnetic easel, and books I use in the

Children become better readers by reading more. Some children read a lot.  Others need encouragement. This post will address common reasons children avoid reading and a few solutions. Problem:  Many children avoid reading because it's hard for them. Solutions: 1. Find a reading program 2. Teach your child to read yourself  3. Find a reading tutor. Problem: Children are bored or

I'm sharing my best advice for parents teaching a child to read. I hope you find some helpful information. Check out my first SlideShare presentation. Michelle Breum - Reading Consultant for Parents from Michelle Breum

Here are the results from last month's poll. What do you find most challenging when helping a beginning reader? finding good books 4 votes knowing how to help a child sound out words 3 votes knowing what is expected of a beginning reader 5 votes knowing a reader's strengths and weaknesses 6 votes There were 18 votes and most votes went to knowing a reader's strengths and

Many experts suggest teaching letter sounds along with letter names. Vowel sounds and the sounds for the letters c and g can be tricky since they make more than one sound. Most research I have done suggests teaching the short vowel sounds first and the hard sounds for the letters c and g. The hard sound sound of c is in the word cat. The hard sound of g is in the word goat. The soft sounds

Most research indicates that about 40% of children have problems learning to read.  This is a picture of my daughter.  My daughter had some problems learning to read even though I read to her all the time and provided her with the same support as I gave her brothers. I noticed she was falling behind her twin brother in first grade. I began to teach her in the same manner I would tutor a

I'm celebrating World Read Aloud Day again this year. You can celebrate World Read Aloud Day too! Here's a link with ideas. I first found out about World Read Aloud Day in 2011. I celebrated by telling my three children about the day, and we read aloud together at home. In 2012 I was asked to be a World Read Aloud Day advocate and spread the word about World Read Aloud Day online and in

There are a ton of published children's books! How do you find good books for kids? Scholastic Book Wizard Kansas Book Connect Find a Book Good Books for Beginning Readers Popular Books for Teens We Give Books (Please share a site you use to find books for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, early readers, preteens, and teens in a comment to help me and readers of this blog find books for

Today is International Book Giving Day!  How will you celebrate?  Visit this link to learn more about International Book Giving Day. I was reminded about this just yesterday. I'm going to share the link with my kids tomorrow and let them each decide how to give books. I can't wait to see how they decide to celebrate this day!  I already have two book donating plans happening. I've

One fun way to teach letter sounds is to have a child sort objects by beginning sounds. The letter sound for x can be taught by ending sound since the real sound for x is not found at the beginning of words. Toys and other small objects can be collected and used for letter sound sorting and practice. Lakeshore Learning sells Alphabet Sounds Teaching Tubs . Here's a link to the teaching

Parents can involve their children while reading books aloud. There's so much more to a book than the words on the page. Children like to talk, share, and ask questions. When you let your kids help with reading a book, it becomes much better than without their help.  Yes, it can be difficult to let this happen when you have more than one child trying to share, or you have limited time. I

Do your kids like non-fiction books? There are many non-fiction books available for children. Some children can't get enough non-fiction books. Many times non-fiction books will motivate a reluctant reader. Smithsonian has non-fiction books for early readers. These popular nonfiction children's books are available for iPads, iPhones, Androids, or in book format. . iPad: Alligator at

Are you learning about Common Core State Standards?   I taught elementary school before Common Core State Standards. I'm not currently teaching in a classroom, but I'm working to learn more about Common Core State Standards since I'm a parent and still involved with education. I found a wonderful webinar today with Pam Allyn, literacy expert and founder of LitWorld. You will learn more

  I've recommended many free sites to teach reading on this blog. There are numerous resources available with advice for parents to teach their children to read.   Are you a parent trying to teach a child to read? Are the resources you find online or in books enough? If not, you are not alone. Many parents find it challenging to teach their children to read.   I believe parents make the

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great 2012. Thank you to all who continue to follow this blog and especially those who have signed up to have Beginning Reading Help posts sent via email. (This can be done in a box in the top right column of this blog.) In 2012 I found myself enjoying my family and friends and working to develop a business doing what I love. I've been developing this