remya

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Hello, Bob Books Readers! 

We are excited to share with you that our Bob Books Reading Magic #2 is now available for Android! As you know, the Bob Books Reading Magic App is an award-winning app that compliments our best-selling learning to read program and takes your child on an interactive journey that blends learning, reading and fun.

This version builds on #1 with new stories, words and letter sounds. It includes 12 scenes with a total of 50 words. 

To celebrate the release and back to school, we are holding a Back to School Giveaway! 

Enter here for your chance to win some great prizes: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and happy reading!

The Bob Books Team

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The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends daily reading with children in their infancy and beyond because “[r]eading regularly with young children stimulates optimal patterns of brain development and strengthens parent-child relationships at a critical time in child development, which, in turn, builds language, literacy, and social-emotional skills that last a lifetime.” For more information on reading from birth, visit here: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/06/19/peds.2014-1384.full.pdf+html

In addition to reading from birth, there are a few other steps that you can take to prepare your child for learning to read. The National Institute of Reading Literacy created A Child Becomes a Reader -- a booklet that maps the ways a parent can help their child become a reader. Here are a few key takeaways:

Introduce your children to print and books:

Reading print books to children helps promote print awareness. Print awareness is knowing about print and books and how they are used.  For instance:     

• Recognizing print in every day life like stop signs, pictures, and more…
• Holding a book and pretending to read by turning pages and holding it the right way up.

Print awareness is an important part of knowing how to read and write because children who know “about print understand that the words they see in print and words they speak and hear are related.”

Help your child develop phonemic and phonological awareness by reading together:

What is Phonological Awareness?

When a child begins to notice and understand syllables, rhyming, and separate words (“the ability to hear and work with the sounds of spoken language”) she is developing phonological awareness. Types of phonological awareness are: phonemic awareness, rhyme awareness, syllable awareness, word awareness, and sentence awareness.

What is Phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness. When a child understands that spoken words are made up of separate small sounds (“these spoken sounds in spoken language are called phonemes”) and is able to consciously manipulate the sounds they have developed phonemic awareness.

Help your child develop phonological awareness by:

• Doing activities that help your child build sound skills
• Reading Rhyming books and doing rhyming activities (we recommend Rhyme Fish – a free game that helps with rhyming!)
• Playing with Syllables
• Playing with Sounds in Words

Help Your Child Learn the ABCs

According to the National Institute for Reading Literacy, “children who go to kindergarten already knowing the shapes and names of the letters of the alphabet, and how to write them, have an easier time learning to read.”

Help your child learn their ABCs by:

• Singing the alphabet song
• Playing alphabet games
• Having a day dedicated to a letter
• Reading letter books like My First Bob Books Alphabet

There are more helpful tips on helping your children learn to read in A Child Becomes a Reader by the National Institute for Reading Literacy. When you have the time, we highly recommend printing it out and reading through it!

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It’s summer-time and time for play! Here at Bob Books, we know it can be difficult to keep children sitting still when there is so much sunshine outside! Why not use the warm, beautiful sunny days to create some learning to read activities with your children?

 

Here are 3 Fun Summer Learning to Read Activities by 3 Amazing Bloggers:

1.     Water Balloon Phonics by Mess for Less
We just loved this water balloon phonics game created by Vicky at Mess for Less. It’s a combination of water fun, learning to read, and exercise! Get your children ready for Kindergarten this summer while having fun!

 

2.  Phonics Hockey by Learn. Play. Imagine. 
Don’t put your hockey sticks away just yet because this blogger has a phonics game for your active children.  Created to help with phonemic awareness and letter blends this amazing gross motor phonics game by Learn. Play. Imagine will have your children learning in no time! What are you waiting for? Grab some sidewalk chalk, hockey sticks and beanbags !

 

3.     Alphabet Jump  by The Imagination Tree
Get your chalk ready again for another outdoor sidewalk learning game! Active children will love this alphabet activity!  It’s a fun way to help them learn letter names  and sounds with noisy letter jumping!

 

 

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In December, we launched our Kindle eBook collection.  Because of the new platform, we asked a few bloggers to review them. We were pleased to read that they (and their children) loved our eBooks as much as they loved our print editions!

Here are links to some of the reviews:

Mama Smiles – Learning to Read with Bob Books 

MaryAnne from Mama Smiles helped her three older children learn to read with Bob Books. Since her younger children are starting their reading journey, we sent her a Bob Books Set 1: Beginning Readers Kindle eBook and a Level 1 Reader for review. Click here to read about their experiences: http://mamasmiles.com/learning-to-read-with-bob-books/.

Look at What You Are Seeing -  Bob Books Review 

The blogger from Look at What You Are Seeing wrote that her first child started reading with Bob Books, but her younger child was less eager to start to read than his brother. When she introduced Bob Books for Kindle, he became more interested and wanted “to read more than one book at a time.” Read more here: http://www.lookatwhatyouareseeing.com/2014/03/bob-books-review.html. 

Then I Laughed – Bob Books for Beginning Readers 

Jessie from Then I Laughed has a few beginning readers in her house and they love Bob Books. Her  children enjoy the funny pictures and that they are able to read the book on their mom’s phone (through the Kindle App)!  Read more from Jessie here:  http://thenilaughed.com/2014/03/bob-books-for-beginning-readers.html

For more information about Bob Books or if you would like to apply for our blogger review program, please email us at k[email protected]. 

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Hello, Bob Books Readers!

If you are a Nabi or Tabeo owner and searching for the Bob Books Reading Magic #1, we have great news for you -- Bob Books is now on Nabi and Tabeo! 

Bob Books is now available on various platforms!

The Bob Books Reading Magic #1 app compliments our best-selling learning to read program and will take your child on an interactive journey that blends learning, reading and fun. It has won multiple awards and has a rating of 5 stars on Amazon!

If you are searching for the Bob Books app on a platform other than Nabi or Tabeo, we are also available in Google Play, Nook Apps, Amazon, and iTunes. If your children are learning to read, the Bob Books app is a great tool. Visit our app page and get it now!

The Bob Books Team 

P.S. We would love your feedback and questions! Email us at [email protected]. 

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Today on our blog we are pleased to introduce a Washington blogger, Jennifer Bardsley. Jennifer writes the blog Teaching My Baby to Read – a blog that helps moms ensure that their child is “academically advantaged, regardless of age, ability, or socio-economic level.” After reading this post, if you would like more information about her blog or to read her informative and well-written posts, please visit her site: Teaching My Baby to Read. 

This purse is packed for action!

The curse of the younger sibling: always being dragged along to something. Soccer, baseball, guitar, talent show rehearsals; you name it, it’s boring. My daughter has spent half her life waiting for her big brother.

Occasionally I’ll let her play Kindle, but I don’t want my preschooler having too much screen time. A better plan is to turn killing time into learning-time. All I need is a Ziploc bag.

Right now my purse is stocked with Bob Books, money, an abacus, tally sticks, counters, a pad of paper and a pencil. That’s enough materials to do lots of fun things.

If I was really organized, I’d also throw in a few pipe cleaners. Building words is a kinesthetic way to prep kids for their next Bob Book.

But even a few things are enough to keep my daughter occupied and help support her education at the same time. My top three picks are Bob Books, a notepad and pencil.

As a busy mom on the go it’s easy to feel stressed. But sometimes the thing that you really want (your child’s mind to be enriched) can also be the thing that makes life easier (keep your kid busy).

All you need is a well-stocked purse!

Jennifer Bardsley writes the parenting column I Brake for Moms for The Everett Daily Herald. Her dream is to spark a national conversation about how massive parental involvement is the key to high quality education. When she's not reading books with her kids or tripping over their toys, she blogs about early education at Teaching My Baby to Read .

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There are so many different lettered and numbered reading systems, it can be very confusing for a parent to try to decide which one is right for their child. Scholastic created an excellent article that discusses the differences between leveled reading systems.

Here is a short list of different reading level systems covered:

Grade Level Equivalent: The readability of the text by grade.

Guiding Reading Level: A guided reading level system by Fountas and Pinnell that “gives a more precise reading level for books.”

The Lexile Framework for Reading: A framework that assesses a book’s difficulty and helps match the reader ability and text difficulty based on the numeric scale.

Developmental Reading Assessment: A reading assessment tool used to help identify the independent reading skills for students in grade K-8.

For more information on reading levels, and how to choose the right reading system visit Scholastic’s Leveled Reading Systems, Explained.

In 2012, Bob Books sets were assessed using the Lexile and Guided Reading leveling frameworks. Each book within a boxed set is leveled individually. The level in each box is on each Book page on the web site. 

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Happy Early Valentine’s Day from Bob Books!

We have been pinning away on the Pinterest boards and thought we’d share some of our favorite Valentine's Day Sight Words blog posts.

1.  Valentine’s Day Mini Packet by The Moffat Girls 

This Mini Packet by The Moffat Girls has 2 Color by Sight Word Sheets and a Roll, Add and Color Page.

2.  A Valentine Name Puzzle by How Wee Learn

Are your little ones learning their names? How Wee Learn's Valentine’s Day Name puzzle activity is sure to make your little one happy. It can be used for names or sight words!

3.  Valentine’s Day Sight Word Activity: Roll and Stamp by The Measured Mom 

The Measured Mom always has some great activities and this one is perfect for the beginning readers on Valentine’s Day.  Her simple printable is a sight word game a child can play by himself, with a friend or you! NOTE: You’ll need a die and a do-a-dot marker (or something to cover the words) in order to play.

4.  Valentine’s Day Sight Word Bingo by Danielle’s Place

Your children (or students) will have fun playing Bingo and learning their sight words with as they play Danielle's Place's Valentine’s Day Sight Word Bingo Activity.

5.  Valentine’s Day Sight Words by The California Kindergarten Association 

Grab some pink and red construction paper, chalk, q-tips and paint and get ready to for some Valentine’s Day Sight Words. The prep is easy and your child will have fun as they trace their sight words with paint.

 

For more sight words help, Bob Books Sight Words – Kindergarten and Bob Books Sight Words – First Grade make great Valentine’s Day presents!

Please leave your Valentine’s Day Reading Activities in our comments! We would love to see them!

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We are excited to have Megan Wheeler from Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade on our blog today. She is a wonderful blogger and teacher. To see more from Mrs. Wheeler, please visit her blog: Mrs Wheeler's First Grade. 

Hi everyone!  I am Megan Wheeler from Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade!  I am a 10th year, first grade teacher, blogger, and seller on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education, a Master's Degree in Literacy, and acquired my "Master Teacher" distinction in 2012.  I'm currently working towards a Master's +30.  I love to learn! 

I just adore teaching little ones how to read and write!  I recently wrote a post about the importance of sight word fluency.  I'll be outlining some ideas that I had shared so you will get a new idea or two to implement in your classroom or home! 

Sight word fluency is so important in the early years!  In order to become fluent readers, children must be able to read and write the most frequent words.  As the amount of words they can automatically read and write increases, so will their comprehension.   Knowing sight words automatically allows for children to focus more on decoding words that have meaning. 

I use many resources in my classroom to give my 1st graders solid sight word fluency.  Here are a few posts from my blog that you can use to help your child with sight words:

    1.  Using play-doh to reinforce sight word fluency:
         http://mrswheelerfirst.blogspot.com/2013/08/play-doh-in-classroom.html

     2.  Setting up and maintaining an interactive word wall:
          http://mrswheelerfirst.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-beloved-word-wall.html

      3. Magnetic letters and sight words:
          http://mrswheelerfirst.blogspot.com/2012/06/magnetic-letters.html

      4. “What's the password?" activity:
           http://mrswheelerfirst.blogspot.com/2012/04/whats-password.html

I hope you found some new ideas here!  I'd love if you'd head over to my blog and store and become a new follower!  I am also on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram!  Thanks for taking the time to read!

xo
Megan 

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Bethany from No Twiddle Taddle wrote a fantastic, in-depth review about Bob Books eBooks and Apps titled,” 4 Great Bob Book Resources for Beginning Readers.”

 

In regards to the Bob Books Kindle eBooks, she explains she enjoys the Bob Books on Kindle because she knew “where the books were when it was time to practice reading[]” and that the “books naturally conform to ebook settings since the pages each have one simple illustration that spans the page and one sentence.”  

There is a lot more information on Bethany’s blog, and we highly recommend popping over there to read more about Bethany’s experience with Bob Books Kindle eBooks and Reading Magic #1 and #2!

Read No Twiddle Twaddle’s Review: 4 Great Bob Books Resources.

 

Happy Reading,

 

The Bob Books Team

 

Please note: Bethany received the eBooks and Reading Magic Apps #1 and #2 as a part of our blogger review program. If you would like to review our Kindle eBooks on your blog, please send an email to [email protected] for more information

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Happy New Year!

After months of work, we are thrilled to announce that all the Bob Books sets are now available as eBooks on the Kindle through Amazon and Bob Books Reading Magic #1 App is now available on Android through Google Play and Amazon App Store!

To learn more about our award winning apps, visit:

• Bob Books Reading Magic #1 on Google Play
• Bob Books Reading Magic #1 on Amazon App Store

Our eBooks match our classic Bob Books sets and are available on through the Amazon store:

Bob Books Sets 1-5

• Bob Books Set 1: Beginning Readers
• Bob Books Set 2: Advancing Beginners
• Bob Books Set 3: Word Families
• Bob Books Set 4: Complex Words
• Bob Books Set 5: Long Vowels

My First Bob Books

• My First Bob Books: Pre-Reading Skills
• My First Bob Books: Alphabet
•  

Bob Books: Sight Words

• Bob Books Sight Words: Kindergarten
• Bob Books Sight Words: First Grade

New Bob Books

• Bob Books: Rhyming Words

Reading books electronically may still be novel for adults, but for our digital-native kids, eBooks and apps are a foregone conclusion.  With eBooks and interactive educational apps rapidly evolving, the reading experience will mean something entirely different for our next generation and we promise that Bob Books will continue to grow and develop around emerging technology and educational tools to stay at the forefront of early childhood reading education.

 

Happy Reading!

 

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As our way of saying, “Thank you,” to our wonderful educators, we are giving one lucky teacher The Complete Bob Books Kindle eBook Collection - All 10 Sets + Reading Magic 1 & 2* for their classroom.

Enter the giveaway today, December 9, 2013, 12 A.M. EST through December 25, 2013, 12 A.M. EST! You can enter the giveaway once a day by tweeting about it! 

NOTE: Winner must be a teacher or educator. Prizes are Kindle eBooks. Reading Magic #2 is not available immediately for Android, but will be given to the winner upon release. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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12 Days of Giving
 
Bob Books is delighted to give the gift of literacy this holiday season! Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a Bob Books' prize!

Beginning Saturday, December 14th and again every day until December 25, one lucky Bob Books fan will win one of our fabulous prize packages!
 
Enter today, December 9, 2013, 12 A.M. EST, through December 25, 2013, 12 a.m. EST! The giveaway is cumulative so you can enter every day by tweeting about it!
 
Here is a list of our fabulous Bob Books’ prizes:
 
December 14: Rhyming Words Box Set 
December 15: Reading Magic App 1 & 2* Android or Apple
December 16: Set 1 Kindle eBook
December 17: Sight Words: First Grade Box Set 
December 18: Rhyming Words Kindle eBook 
December 19: Reading Magic App 1 & 2* Android or Apple
December 20: Set 2 Kindle eBook
December 21: Reading Magic App 1 & 2* iPhone or Android + Set 1 and Set 2 Kindle eBook 
Dec. 22: Bob Books Sets 1-5 Kindle eBook Collection 
Dec. 23: My First Bob Books Kindle eBook Collection  - Alphabet & Pre-Reading Skills + Bob Books Sets 1-5 
Dec. 24: Sight Words Kindle eBook Collection - Kindergarten & First Grade + Sets 1-5 
Dec. 25: Complete Bob Books Kindle eBook Collection - All 10 Sets + Reading Magic 1 & 2*

NOTE: Many of the book sets are Kindle e-books. Reading Magic #2 is not available immediately for Android, but will be given to the winner upon release. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Happy holidays, Bob Books Blog Readers!

We are happy to share our holiday giveaways! Come back to our blog on December 9 to enter! 

Enter to win an awesome Bob Books' prize this holiday season!

 
12 Days of Giving
 
Bob Books is delighted to give the gift of literacy this holiday season by announcing the 12 Days of Giving!
 
Beginning Saturday, December 14th and again every day until December 25, one lucky Bob Books fan will win one of our fabulous prize packages!
 
The giveaway is cumulative so you can enter every day by tweeting about it!
 
Visit our blog on December 9 to enter!
 
Here is a list of our fabulous Bob Books’ prizes:
 
December 14: Rhyming Words Box Set 
December 15: Reading Magic App 1 & 2* Android or Apple
December 16: Set 1 Kindle eBook
December 17: Sight Words: First Grade Box Set 
December 18: Rhyming Words Kindle eBook 
December 19: Reading Magic App 1 & 2* Android or Apple
December 20: Set 2 Kindle eBook
December 21: Reading Magic App 1 & 2* iPhone or Android + Set 1 and Set 2 Kindle eBook 
Dec. 22: Bob Books Sets 1-5 Kindle eBook Collection 
Dec. 23: My First Bob Books Kindle eBook Collection  - Alphabet & Pre-Reading Skills + Bob Books Sets 1-5 
Dec. 24: Sight Words Kindle eBook Collection - Kindergarten & First Grade + Sets 1-5 
Dec. 25: Complete Bob Books Kindle eBook Collection - All 10 Sets + Reading Magic 1 & 2*
 
Classroom Giveaway
 
As our way of saying “Thank you” to our wonderful educators, we are giving one lucky teacher The Complete Bob Books Kindle eBook Collection - All 10 Sets + Reading Magic 1 & 2* for their classroom.

Visit our blog on December 9th to enter!

May your holidays be filled with happy reading!
 
The Bob Books Team

*NOTE: Reading Magic App #2 for Android will not be immediately available but will be given to the winners upon release. 

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On October 26, Bob Books’ Author, Lynn Maslen Kertell, returned to her home state of Oregon at the historic Powell’s Books to read her new book Bob Books Rhyming Words.  It was a well attended event filled with children, parents, and original Bob Books Author (and Lynn’s Mother) Bobby Lynn Maslen! The children and parents were delighted by Lynn’s on-the-spot drawings and impromptu stories. Here are some pictures from the event:

Original Bob Books author, Bobby Lynn Maslen, and illustrator John Maslen at the Powell's book reading event. 

 Lynn's box of Bob Books book reading goodies for the book reading. 

On November 9, Lynn read Bob Books Rhyming Words and shared a short presentation to Mockingbird Books’ Storytime attendees.

 

Lynn sharing Bob Books at Mockingbird Books in Seattle. 

 

Do you love enjoy book readings? If so, what were the most memorable book readings that you went to as a child? 

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Hello loyal Bob Books readers and supporters!

We are excited to tell you that we are very close to releasing all the titles in our early childhood reading program as e-books on Amazon Kindle.

E-books for Amazon Kindle coming soon!

E-books are an important step for both Bob Books and our readers because, despite fears that digital literacy could overshadow children’s reading skills, studies are showing that kids are delving into the literary world more than ever through e-books.  According to a recent Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report, children today are reading more than ever, in both digital and print form.  E-books, in particular, are more motivating to boys and reluctant readers, according to the Scholastic report.  As children are exposed to an ever-increasing digital landscape, Bob Books’ new e-books offer an exciting opportunity to attract and motivate young readers in a fun, interactive setting.

“Our goal was to create an engaging e-reading experience for the very beginning reader. We maintained the Bob Books values of early success, kid-satisfaction, warmth, humor and bonding, and added the convenience and interactivity of digital,“ explains author, Lynn Maslen Kertell.  “The result is the perfect e-book for very beginning readers. It will take your child on a magical journey that blends learning, reading and fun.” 

Reading books electronically may still be novel for adults, but for our digital-native kids, e-books are a foregone conclusion. Nearly half of all kids have read at least one, according to the Scholastic report. With e-books rapidly evolving, the reading experience will mean something entirely different for our next generation and we promise that Bob Books will continue to grow and develop around emerging technology and educational tools to stay at the forefront of early childhood reading education.

If you have any questions about our e-books for Kindle, please contact us at [email protected].

Happy reading!

 

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We are excited to have Colleen from Sugar Aunts on our blog today. She is sharing with us a wonderful sight word activity to help children learn their sight words while having fun!

Fall Sight Word Practice 

  Sight Words are something we've been practicing a lot since Big Sister started Kindergarten.  We have been practicing in so many fun and creative ways and it is amazing to see the growth she's had in just a couple of months of school.  This is one playful way we practiced words recently.  The cheers were contagious when Big Sister saw this when she came home from school one day!     I started our sight word activity by drawing a tree on our dining room window with a dry erase marker.  I checked the web before hand to make sure we wouldn't have a permanent tree etched into our big back window from the dry erase marker.  Answers from around the web told me YES, you can use a dry erase marker on glass.  And, after having our tree on the window for a few days, the marks definitely wiped off easily!     Next, I used a few sheets of foam from our crafting bin and cut simple leaf shapes.  I went with different colors to allow the preschooler Little Brother and toddler Baby Girl to get in on the learning play.  Using a permanent marker, I wrote out words from the first two BOB books and a few other words that Big Sister is learning this week at school.      All we needed was a bowl of water and the leaves spread out on a tray, and this activity was all set for Big Sister when she stepped off the bus! 
  We had so much fun sticking the foam letters up on our dining room tree.  The foam sheets stick really well to the window once dipped in the water.  Big Sister put all of the leaves up on the branches (and falling down the tree to the ground)!    Little Guy thought this tree was pretty cool too, and said "Hey, that looks like Fall!"   Big Sister would tell me the words that were written on the leaves as she put them on the tree.  Stretching up high to reach the highest branches really got her moving.  A little movement during a learning task really helps with retention.  She went back through her leaves and remembered that she stuck "Sam", "and" & "a" on the highest branches. Little Guy enjoyed sorting the colored leaves and sticking them on the branches, although he liked making the leaves into a pile at the bottom better.  "So we can jump in them, Mom!"  He was able to tell me the colors of the leaves as he stuck them on the window.  Baby Girl (age 2) just liked sticking her leaves into the water and sticking them to the window.  She enjoyed this activity for days!      Big Sister insisted on writing a few of her own words, too.     I loved seeing the leaves from outside through the background of our tree! This was such a fun learning activity for all ages.  We had a lot of fun with our Fall Sight Words activity! 


   Colleen is one of the three sisters who blog at Sugar Aunts.  There you will find more sight word activities along with all things creative, including playful learning, DIY, party planning, and more!  You can follow Sugar Aunts on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, G+, and Instagram.

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Becky at This Reading Mama created an activity that helps young readers find patterns in words with word families. Thank you, Becky, for this amazing word family activity!

If your child knows all his letter names and most (if not all) of his letter sounds, what exactly should you do now? What comes after the ABC's? One of my favorite activities to do with young readers in this stage is working with word families. Word families are great because they are the first step towards teaching young readers to read new words by their patterns.

Using Word Family Chunks to Read New Words

Simply put, word families are rhyming words that share the same spelling patterns (such as cat, bat, sat, fat, etc.). The similar patterns these words share is a great vehicle for helping young readers read new words. For example, if my young reader knows how to read cat and comes to the word rat, I can say, "You know a word that looks a lot like that word. I see a pattern you know." Many times, I'll even jot down the word cat for the child to see. I then cover up the c from cat and the r from rat to SHOW the child that they both share the rime (or chunk) AT. By doing this, I am helping my child learn to read new words by looking for patterns. And this is a good thing because this is the strategy that proficient readers use most for figuring out unknown words. "Successfully decoding a word occurs when the brain recognizes a familiar spelling pattern or, if the pattern itself is not familiar, the brain searches through its store of words with similar patterns." (Phonics they Use, p. 188 by Patricia Cunningham) Teaching by the use of word families is highly effective for this reason and many more. If interested, you can read a list of them in my article, Decoding with Word Families.

Flip a Word Reinforces Reading by Pattern

One of my son's favorite activities in the first set of BOB Book printables has been Flip a Word (I really do love how the BOB Books are written to support word families in young readers). It's a simple activity that is highly effective.

After you assemble the Flip a Word template, help your child think of rhyming words with the particular rime. (My examples are from the OT rime or chunk, found in my Set 1 BOB Book printables.) As you brainstorm together, ask your child to write the beginning letters in the template. It is important to pick words depicting a concrete concept. For example, pot would be better than got. (You'll see why in the next step.)

Once the beginning letters are written, read through them with your young reader. With each OT word, he draws a picture to match on the opposite side of the template. Flip through when all the matching words and pictures are complete, reading them together. Be sure and emphasize the point that all these words share the common pattern of OT.

As a review the next day, I like to flip open the template to various mismatched words and pictures to see if my young reader can catch my mistakes. My young reader takes such joy in catching my mistakes and fixing them for me!

More FREE Resources for Finding Patterns

• FREE BOB Book printables- In my Set 1 BOB Book packs, you can find the Flip a Word templates for several word families introduced in the BOB Books. In later BOB Book sets, I have included more advanced pattern-based activities, such as word sorts, word hunts and color by vowel patterns.
• FREE Flip a Word Activity Pack for Short Vowels- I have created a Flip a Word Pack for 10 short vowel words. This pack also includes pictures for each word pattern, if your child would rather cut and paste the pictures.

  Becky Spence is a homeschooling mama to four little blessings who keep her on her feet {and knees}. Before teaching at home, she was a school teacher and private reading tutor. She is the author of This Reading Mama, where she shares reading and writing activities as well as literacy curricula and printables.

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Inspired by fall, Malia at Playdough to Plato came up with the amazing idea of a Paint Chip Word Family Tree as a fun activity to help her children learn to read. 

Paint Chip Word Family Tree

Over the last few weeks, my children and I have been watching the trees in our neighborhood turn fiery shades of red, orange and yellow. The colors are spectacular and my kids are fascinated by the changes. Since I love creating learning activities based on their interests, I decided to pull together a colorful word family tree for them. It's a crafty way to help little learners practice rhyming, early reading and beginning spelling... A three for one!!

Paint Chip Word Family Tree by Playdough to Plato

To start, I grabbed a couple of empty paper bags and a roll of tape. I began tearing, twisting and taping strips of the bag onto the wall to make a bare paper tree. It wasn't fancy, but it would do the trick.

Paint Chip Word Family Tree 

Next, I pulled out a black Sharpie and a handful of the paint chips I snagged from the hardware store a few days ago. I invited my 3.75 year old over to join me. "Let's think of some words that end in the {-at} sound," I said.

My son thought for a moment and then called out, "Cat! Bat! Sat! Mat!" Each time that he said a new word, I wrote it on a different shade on the strip.

After the first paint chip was full, we began brainstorming {-op} words on the next one. When my son called out nonsense words like {shnop}, I added them to the list anyway. And when we worked on {-ed} words a little bit later, I included words he named that have the same ending sound but aren't spelled with the same letters including {said} and {head}. We like to call these words rule breakers because they break the spelling pattern. I wrote them in brackets to help my son remember that they belonged in jail. {Explaining tricky concepts with silly stories makes learning way more fun, don't ya' think?!}

Paint Chip Word Family Tree

Once we filled five paint chips, I used scissors to quickly snip around our lists and turn them into leaves.

Paint Chip Word Family Tree 

My son stuck several pieces of rolled tape onto each chip's back and then attached them to our tree.

Paint Chip Word Family Tree

When he finished, he took several steps back and proudly examined his work. "When can we add some more?" he asked eagerly. Score!! The paint chip word family tree was a hit. For more word family fun, check out these other activities:
Spin A Word Family - A Free Printable
Lego Word Families
Penguin Word Family Sort - A Free Printable
Word Family Garden  

Meet Malia

Malia is a former elementary school teacher turned stay at home mom who shares playful, hands-on learning activities at Playdough to Plato. Stop by to download a free set of alphabet tracing cards and follow the blog by email.

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In celebration of National Family Literacy Day on November 1, Bob Books will give away 2 sets of our award-winning apps, Bob Books Reading Magic #1 and Bob Books Reading Magic #2 for iPhone or iPad!

Win a Set of Bob Books Reading Magic # 1 and Bob Books Reading Magic #2

Enter to win today!  Entries will be accepted until November 6th.  Winners will be notified on November 7th.

To our Android Users – Bob Books Reading Magic will be available in a few short weeks for Android!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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It's time for another Bob Books tip on helping your child learn to read with Bob Books! Sounding out is an essential skill for beginning readers. Plan to spend some time helping your child learn her (or his) letter sounds.

 

Click here for Bob Books Tips: Sounding Out Words YouTube Video

Helping your child learn their letter sounds is important because it helps them understand that letters and sounds have a relationship. Being able to hear and identify the individual sounds in a word is phonemic awareness and is necessary for your child's reading success. If you are looking for more information on Phonemic Awareness and how it can help your child, take a look at these following articles:

•        What is Phonemic Awareness? 

•        Launching Readers: Sounds and Symbols 

•        Scholastic: Phonemic Awareness 

 

Please try our Bob Books BookFinder quiz to find out what Bob Books are best for your child! If you have any questions or suggestions for our blog, please email us at [email protected]. 

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As parents, we know that learning to read is a large step in a child's life and is important to their success in both work and school. Many of us often wonder where to start. Our first question:  “Is my child ready for reading?" Followed closely by, "How do I find the right book to help my child learn to read?"

How do I start helping my child learn to read?

Here is your answer! 

Is my child ready for reading?

Every child is different, so there is no specific age when your child will be ready for reading. Instead, look for signs and signals that may indicate reading readiness. Here are a few questions that can help determine where your child is in terms of reading readiness:

1. Does your child know the alphabet?

2. Can she or he recognize most of the letters (including both uppercase and lowercase letters?)

3. Can your child recognize letters on everyday objects such as S T O P on a stop sign?

4. Does your child know that letters are associated with sounds and can he or she demonstrate a fair number of those sounds?

5. Can your child spell his or her own name?

If your answer is 'yes' to most of these questions, your child is ready to begin reading! If the answer is mostly 'no' take a look at our previous post "What is early literacy?" for some hints on how you help your child develop their early literary skills!

How do I find the right book to help my child learn to read?

An early reader book should give your child confidence in learning to read because a confident reader is a reader for life. Bob Books were designed to give your child early reading success, which builds confidence and a love of reading!

If you are looking for the right book for your child's level, take our Bob Books BookFinder Quiz. This short questionnaire will help you find the right Bob Book to help your child start reading!

Do you have any questions or comments? We'd love to read them! Please post them in the comment section below or reach out to us at [email protected].

 

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