Disclosure: I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own and I was not swayed by the free book. :)
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Today I get to share 5 awesome (and easy!) tips for keeping learning to read fun for your kids from the amazing new book Raising a Rockstar Reader by Amy Mascott of Teach Mama and Allison McDonald of No Time for Flashcards. The book itself is broken down into 75 simple tips for helping your child become a rockstar reader. For any given tip, Amy and Allison offer a lot of description, activity suggestions, and commentary on why the tip is important and how it fits into becoming a great reader. And of course all of this is done in such a lovely way and approachable way - in fact, it's just like you're talking to Allie and Amy (who are some of the nicest ladies I know, by the way) over a cup of coffee.
If you are feeling unsure of how to get your child on the path to loving reading -- this book is for you!
Today I'm going to share 5 fantastic and easily implemented tips for how to instill that love of reading. You can find more details on each tip, as well as 70 more in the full book!
This tip was new to me, but makes a TON of sense. Rather than directly correcting your child's speech (which can be unduly discouraging for your kiddo), they talk about instead repeating the correct version of what they've said. They give lots of great examples, and this is such an EASY (see, I told you) way to encourage speech in a positive way by modeling the correct way to say things without discouraging their attempt.
The book has several fun activity ideas, like this tip - which could be done with a hose and a fence or sidewalk and chalk in the summer, but you could even do an inside version with markers and a spray bottle. It's a great way to make practicing those letter sounds interactive and FUN!
This is one of my favorite tips -- and it probably comes as no surprise that I LOVE using sensory materials to make writing fun. One of my favorite combos is a thin layer of shaving cream on a table being used for practicing spelling words!
I have let my kiddos write on the wall (on paper, of course) just to mix things up, but until I read this tip, I didn't know that it had hidden benefits -- writing on a wall or other vertical surface (like an easel), strengthens writing muscles and also naturally causes their hand and arm to assume the correct position for writing!
This tip is SO important for all ages. For little ones it can draw their attention to the illustrations or other aspects of the book (for instance, X and I love to count the different things on each page together in certain books), but for older kids, it's a great way to make sure they're actually understanding what they are reading. Allie and Amy have a whole list of question prompts to get you started with this tip when reading with your child.
To find even more details about the above tips and 70 more like it, get your copy of Raising a Rockstar Reader today -- available online at Amazon. :)
