Have You Heard About Reach Out and Read?

Reach Out and Read is an organization that has been around for ten years giving books and read aloud advice to parents. Doctors give the books and advice to children and parents. Many children have been served and the program is an effective intervention. Children who are read to at home are better prepared to learn to read themselves.

Here's an uplifting promotional video for you to watch.


Check out their website to learn more about this organization.

Read Out and Read makes a difference. Watch how Reach Out and Read helped these parents.


Life is busy with three kids at home this summer and developing my Parent and Child Reading Assistance business, but I'm going to check with the organization and my children's doctor's office to make something happen with this program at their office. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Anyone else motivated to make something happen in your town?
Anyone else inspired to donate some money?
You could share this post to inspire others to help this organization.

Some federal funds have been cut from this program recently. They could use a little help.

Thanks for reading this post. Enjoy your summer. Read to your kids. Encourage your friends and family to read to their kids. Visit the library and stock up on books. Consider subscribing to my blog in the right hand sidebar to get new posts sent to your inbox.

Have You Heard About Reach Out and Read?

Who's the Author?

Are your kids interested in who wrote the book they are reading? Getting to know authors and reading a bunch of books by the same author is a lot of fun. It helps children connect to books.

You can talk about the purpose of each book. Was it to inform and teach? Did the author want you to laugh? Did the author take you on an adventure?

You can see how some books are the same and some books are different.

You can find some interviews or videos of different authors online. I wrote a post with links to interviews of popular authors you should check out if you are interested in getting to know some authors.

Beverly Cleary is an author my family loves. Her books are great for reading out loud.

We like Socks.

Jack Prelutsky's poems are just the kind of humor my kids like.

We like The Baby Uggs are Hatching.

Audrey Wood has some great books we loved to check out at the library.

We like The Red Racer.

Who's the Author?

Phonograms and Blends

A beginning reader will benefit from practice with a few two letter phonograms and blends. Most readers will learn phonograms and blends not specifically taught if they are given the opportunity to practice and overlearn sounding out words with some of the most common phonograms and blends.

Phonograms and blends can be introduced, practiced, and taught in a number of ways.
1. Show in books.

2. Write words on paper.

3. Use a Magna-Doodle.

4. Write with finger paint.

5. Work with magnetic letters.

6. Have your child read phonics books with common phonograms and blends.

Phonograms and Blends

Handwriting Practice Videos

Handwriting and letter formation can be taught without worksheets or even a pencil.

You can use a large laminated piece of construction paper or the slick side of freezer paper taped to a table.
Here's a video showing how to get the finger paint ready to become a writing surface. The letter shows up white after pressing into the paint with a finger.


Here's a video showing forming letters grouped by starting points and formation. I use D'Nealian or manuscript style printing in my videos. You can use finger paint to teach a child other styles of printing too.





Using index fingers is easier than using pencils for many young children.
A child can learn proper letter formation without the added stress of holding a pencil properly. Using finger paint and a child's index finger allows a child to learn proper letter formation before his or her fine motor skills are strong enough to use a pencil correctly. A child will use the index finger of his or her dominant hand to form letters.

A child can be given extra support while learning to write letters with finger paint.
An adult can show first. A child can place his or her finger right behind an adult's finger as a letter is formed. A child can trace a letter already written. A child can try to make a letter on his or her own. A letter can be quickly wiped away and tried again.

Here are videos of how to print each letter of the alphabet using D'Nealian or Manuscript Printing.
Print the letter a.
Print the letter b.
Print the letter c.
Print the letter d.
Print the letter e.
Print the letter f.
Print the letter g.
Print the letter h.
Print the letter i.
Print the letter j.
Print the letter k.
Print the letter l.
Print the letter m.
Print the letter n.
Print the letter o.
Print the letter p.
Print the letter q.
Print the letter r.
Print the letter s.
Print the letter t.
Print the letter u.
Print the letter v.
Print the letter w.
Print the letter x.
Print the letter y.
Print the letter z.

D'Nealian Handwriting ABC Books
















Why not add a little phonics and sounding out while you are writing?

Handwriting Practice Videos

How to Teach Common Two Letter Phonograms

Last Friday, Rebecca from The Joy of Literacy asked if I had a particular sequence to teach the phonogram flashcards I shared for parents to follow. I couldn't come up with an order. 

There are some phonograms that are more common and therefore easier to practice and learn first.
Here are some of the most common phonograms you may want to teach first.
ay - day, play, say, way
ou - out, shout, our, house
oo - boo, moo, too, soon
ow - how, now, cow, brown (Teach the ow of snow after the ow sound in now is taught and practiced.)
er - her, over, sister
ar - car, star, far, farm
ee - tree, bee, see, knee
ai - air, rain

Follow your child's lead. If your child is naturally finding a phonogram or likes to spell a word with a phonogram, start with that one. Do not introduce more than three at a time and make sure your child has learned and loves to find the new phonograms before introducing more.

My favorite books to show a child common phonograms are Put Me in the Zoo, Hop on Pop, and

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? Children love these stories read over and over. Point out phonograms your child knows or is learning when reading these books out loud to your child. Soon your child will read these books to you or a younger sibling.

Learning more than one letter phonograms will make learning to read much easier for your child. Remember to practice and make sure your child has a good understanding of new phonograms before trying to teach more. You can practice by showing new phonograms in any book you read out loud. Spell some words together with phonograms. Magnetic letters are fun to spell words, mix them up, and put them back together. Find some early reader books with the phonograms your child is learning to read.

A child needs phonological awareness to sound out words or isolate a phonogram. Learn more about phonological awareness in an article I wrote at Squidoo called, Check Phonological Awareness Before Teaching Phonics .

Find other Phonogram Friday posts here.

How to Teach Common Two Letter Phonograms

Does Your Child Know Letter Sounds? Does Your Child Know More Than One Letter Can Make a Single Sound?

Do you point out letters in books while you read to your child? Does your child like to find letters he or she knows in books, on signs, and everywhere? Usually a child who is learning letters and letter sounds is fascinated by letters and loves to find letters.

Looking for and practicing more than one letter phonograms can be just as much fun for young children. Phonograms are defined as the letter or group of letters that produce one sound. The letter a is a phonogram. It can make more than one sound. The letters ow are a phonogram. These letters can make more than one sound too.

I've shared common two letter phonogram flashcards for you to print and cut.

Introducing a few common two letter phonograms along with single letter phonograms (the alphabet) might be a fun thing to do. A child who is ready for more than one letter to make sounds will be better prepared to read.

Use your best judgement. You'll have to decide how many phonograms to introduce to your child at a time. I'd start slow, especially with young children. If you have an older child who knows all the alphabet letter sounds including vowel sounds, you can probably get going rather quickly with the phonogram flashcards.

Find all previous Phonogram Friday posts here.

Does Your Child Know Letter Sounds? Does Your Child Know More Than One Letter Can Make a Single Sound?

Free Online Stories

You should check out some of the free online stories I've collected. Kids love computer time. Try having your kids listen to a few stories a day. It's a great way to get a few more stories read to your kids.

Sitting on a parent's lap or snuggled up next to a parent is a child's favorite way to listen to a story. I hope you are taking the time to do it. Most likely if you are reading my blog, you are. Encourage other parents you know to read to their children everyday. Check out Parent and Child Reading Assistance for some recommended books and read aloud advice.

My husband and I read everyday to our kids when they were very young. They wouldn't let us miss a night. Three kids, three books. They would each choose a book and get a turn on mom or dad's lap depending on who was reading that night. Now that they are all in elementary school, reading on their own, and busy with activities we haven't read as much to them.

I'm finding some good chapter books and reading more to them. Recently I read a book called 7 Keys to Comprehension that has shown me how to teach my children to be better readers by encouraging thinking while reading. I am teaching my children to connect to books and think while reading books out loud to them. 7 Keys to Comprehension has given me the confidence and know how to communicate with my children while reading to them. The book let me know the importance of the conversations we have while reading together. I'm slowing down and taking the time for these important interactions. I highly recommend this book!

Free Online Stories