Website review: Starfall

Very quickly - Isadora is hooked on this great website called starfall.com. It has multiple levels, but at Isadora's level it is just the alphabet. You click on the letters and it makes the sound of the letter. But more than that it has songs and activities and little animations associated with the sounds.

**HINT - click on the sparkly letters!! I am embarrassed to say that it took me a few tries to figure out that there were way more games, songs and activities associated with the individual letters because I didn't know that I needed to click the letters that sparkled. I thought they were just decorative. Yeah, I know. But my mom came over and did the exact same thing, so I'm thinking that there are other people out there that might not figure it out as well. :)

Making the most of reading aloud 2

Becoming aware of your own reading process can help your child notice details in a book that they might not otherwise.
Today Isadora and I were reading a book together. I don't even remember the name of the book, except that it was about a cat and it was illustrated by Steven Kellog, one of my favorite illustrators. But this is what Isadora did that made me so surprised. As we opened the book, I asked her one of my favorite questions, "What do you think this story is going to be about?" And she responded, while stabbing at the photo on the front, "About the cat!" So this actually wasn't the surprising part - I'm getting to it. The surprising part came as I flipped to the the title page where the illustration showed a girl and an orange tabby cat walking among orange and red leaves that were falling across the page. There was no text other than the title. But I paused because I realized that as a reader I was already starting to gather quite a bit of information about the story just from the cover and the title page. I believe at some point I remarked on the leaves, but I asked Isadora, "Well, what time of year do you think this story takes place?" I really didn't expect much of an answer, because she only just turned three, but without missing a beat she said, "Fall! Because the leaves are falling!"
Now I really couldn't believe it!! And maybe this is something that only a geeky mother like myself would love, but here's what she was doing: she was using the pictures to gather information about the story just as I was! So I shared this long and drawn out story for two reasons. First, as you read aloud to your child become aware of the process that you engage in as a reader. Because picture books have such little text, the pictures contain lots of details that enrich the story, and you may notice (as I did) that you gather information from other sources besides just the print at the bottom of the page.
Two, once you become aware of your own reading process, talk about the book as you go through and explore some of these things with your child. In this way, you are making your own process explicit. Some of the questions I ask Isadora are about the characters emotions ("How do you think the cat feels about that?") because they rarely go into this in picture books. And of course my famous, "What do you think this story is going to be about?" I'll also ask her, "What do you think will happen next?" Occasionally, if she makes a prediction, I'll ask her why she thinks that. That last question hasn't produced any results yet - she usually gives me a blank stare and says, "I don't know," as she impatiently waits for me to turn the page of the book. All in good time.

Why phonics?

What do you think has the biggest impact on your child's ability to read? Take a look at the list and see if you can find the top two...

• The ability to tell you the sounds in words (like sun begins with an 's')
• Knowledge of letter names
• Kindergarten teachers' prediction of reading success in first grade
• Performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (a measure of oral English Vocabulary)
• Parents' occupational status
• Library membership
• Number of books the child owns
• Amount that parent reads to their child
• Gender

All you Freakonomics readers probably guessed the amount that parents read to their children, or the number of books the child owns, but they're both wrong. Give up? They're already in order! A study by Share, Jorm, Maclean, & Matthews back in 1984 found that the top two factors that have the biggest impact on your childs ability to read is their PHONEME SEGMENTATION ABILITY (or their ability to tell you the first sound in the word sun) and their knowledge of letter names.
What does this mean for you and your child? PHONICS, PHONICS, PHONICS!! And while reading aloud to your child is wonderful, it is not enough to teach them to read.