Use these simple play ideas at home with your child to improve their early literacy skills and have fun at the same time!

• Oral Language - Reading Tips with PEER.
• Oral Language - Snow Book. (Snowball, Snowman, Snow shovel, etc.)
• Oral Language - Snow Words. Use this list to help your child think of "snow" words.
• Oral Language - Jack and the Beanstalk dictionary.
• Oral Language - Jack and the Beanstalk charades.
• Oral Language - Jack and the Beanstalk cards.
• Oral Language - Fairy Tale Book.
• Oral Language - Feelings and Faces.
• Oral Language - Storytime Talk.
• Oral Language - Shopping fun.
• Oral Language - Descriptive game.
• Oral Language - Strategies.

Phonological Awareness - The sounds of language including rhymes, words, sentences and syllables.

• Phonological Awareness - Tongue twister: Betty Botter and her bitter butter.
• Phonological Awareness - Gregory Griggs poem - How many wigs does he own?
• Phonological Awareness - Environmental Print Rhyming game (1.68 MB).
• Phonological Awareness - Environmental Print Rhyming game (460 KB).
• Phonological Awareness - Hickory, Dickory, Dock poem.
• Phonological Awareness - Chubby Snowman poem.
• Phonological Awareness - Nonsense word play.
• Phonological Awareness - Body name game.
• Phonological Awareness - Mule Thoughts poem.

Letter Knowledge - Knowing the names and shapes of the letters of the alphabet.

• Letter Knowledge - Dough Recipe - simple dough for creating letters.
• Letter Knowledge - Alphabet Bingo.
• Letter Knowledge - Alphabet Food.
• Letter Knowledge - Name puzzle.
• Letter Knowledge - Letter play ideas.

Print Awareness - Knowing about print and books and how they are used.

• Print Awareness - Picture - Word - Letter categorization game.
• Print Awareness - Snow Book. (Snowball, Snowman, Snow shovel, etc.)
• Print Awareness - Fairy Tale Book.
• Print Awareness - Insect Book.
• Print Awareness - Winter Activity Book.
• Print Awareness - Environmental Print Rhyming game (1.68 MB).
• Print Awareness - Environmental Print Rhyming game (460 KB).
• Print Awareness - Literacy Walk.
• Print Awareness - Parts of a Book.

• Archived parent handouts and downloads.

Creative Curriculum and Open Court are two programs used in your child's preschool classroom. Learn more about them.

• Creative Curriculum. Interact with your child's teacher, use the personal communication journal, complete a developmental survey, get personalized activity suggestions for your child, and access Creative Curriculum's extensive resource library.

Open Court

• Parent anecdotal explanation.
• Blank parental anecdotal.
• Unit 2 parental anecdotal.
• Unit 3 parental anecdotal.
• Unit 4 parental anecdotal.
• Unit 5 parental anecdotal.
• Unit 6 parental anecdotal.
• Unit 7 parental anecdotal.
• Unit 8 parental anecdotal.

• Unit 1 take-home activity.
• Unit 2 take-home activity.
• Unit 3 take-home activity.
• Unit 4 take-home activity.
• Unit 5 take-home activity.
• Unit 6 take-home activity.

• Michigan Department of Education.
• Early Reading First, U.S. Department of Education.
• Northwest Michigan Human Services Agency.
• Reading First, K-3, U.S. Department of Education.
• National HeadStart Program.

Kalkaska C.A.R.E.S. is an evidence-based program with a strong evaluation component. Learn more about the effectiveness and impact of our program.

• Early Childhood Associates web site.
• Kalkaska C.A.R.E.S. Year One Evaluation Report (970 KB).
• Year One Evaluation - Presentation.

Check out these web sites to learn more about how you can help your child become a successful reader.

• PBS for Parents.
• Great Lakes Children's Museum.
• Leading to Reading from RIF.
• Scholastic for Parents.
• Reading Rockets for Families.
• Colorin Colorado! A bilingual web site for families of English language learners.

• Kalkaska Public Schools.
• Kalkaska County Library.
• KAL-TEC.
• Kalkaska Community Events Calendar.
• Kalkaska County Map Index.
• Kalkaska Memorial Health Center.
• Kaliseum - Kalkaska County Recreation Complex.

• Literacy Center Education Network. They offer letter recognition activities for young children. Note: Flash is required to run this web site.
• Starfall web site for letter recognition and phonemic awareness practice. Suitable for preschool and kindergarten students.

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