Reading & Literacy
 

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is a year of eager discovery. Children explore sounds and words and learn about language. They begin to experience formal literacy activities, like reading a book with the class, learning the alphabet and talking about books with their teacher.

By the end of kindergarten, some children are just learning to listen to stories. Others are reading letters and simple words. Most — but not all — learn the letters and sounds of the alphabet and can read their own names. They often recognize words they see, like “STOP.” Most will be able to count to 10 and recognize some written numbers.

 

What you can do at home

Speaking and Listening

  • Talk with your children about what they have done, seen and read during the day.
  • Encourage them to ask questions, express opinions and share information. 
  • Play games and sing songs that make connections between the sounds of words and the way they are written.
  • Share family stories.
  • Listen to them and ask them to listen to others.
  • Teach your children their full name and address.

Reading

  • Read aloud to your children and talk about what you are reading together. Find connections with stories they have read before.
  • Share familiar books that they can read along with you. 
  • Help them read or sound out labels, cereal boxes, store signs and other print in and around your home.

Writing

  • Draw with your children and talk about the stories in the drawing. Encourage them to draw pictures from stories and movies they have heard or seen.
  • Help them learn to write their full name and phone number.
  • Help them write their own thoughts.

 

What your student may be experiencing at school

Speaking and Listening

  • Practicing sounds, combining sounds to make words and breaking words into separate sounds (phonemics).
  • Knowing the sounds of letters and how letter sounds blend to create words (phonics).
  • Sharing their home culture, language and traditions with the class.
  • Talking with other students, asking questions, telling stories, explaining ideas or sharing, doing show-and-tell, expressing their feelings, making up rhymes, playing roles and using their imagination.
  • Listening respectfully to their classmates.
  • Asking questions.
  • Taking turns speaking and following directions.

Reading

  • Enjoying the books they are “reading” because they know how to “read” left to right and top to bottom and have selected books they can read fairly easily.
  • Listening to stories being read aloud by the teacher, retelling them in sequence and talking about them.
  • Knowing the sounds of letters and how letter sounds blend to create words.
  • Reading aloud.
  • Pointing to written words when texts are read aloud.
  • Reading and enjoying many books without stopping and worrying about every word they do not know.
  • Learning new words in context.

Writing

  • Writing letters and words they can sound out.
  • Beginning to create stories and other communications with a beginning, middle and end by using pictures and some words. 
  • Telling stories for the teacher to write down so they can see their words in print.