Learning Should Be FUN!

Kindergarteners don’t really care about being politically correct... We are much more interested in being Phonetically correct! We are learning to read, write and spell. We can decode (sound out) words as we read and we can encode (sound out to spell) as we write! 

• We know that “when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking.” 
• We know that “R" is rough and rude and rowdy. He loves to make his sound so much that he will just root out the vowel sound that comes before him. He can’t wait for his turn! 
• We know that when “C” is at the beginning of a word, it will be the hard /k/ sound if it is followed by an a, o or u. But it will be the soft sound of /s/ if it is followed by an “I” or and “e.” 
• We know that “Y” only uses his /y/ sound at the beginning of a word. He loves to pretend to be one of the vowels and say their name at the end of a word! If “Y” is on the end of a one[syllable word, he will pretend to be Miss I;  if “Y” is on the end of a word with two syllables, he will pretend to be Miss E. 
• "Q” never goes anywhere without U.  He’s much too quiet to say anything alone.

It may all sound wild to you… But to 5- and 6-year-olds, it makes perfect sense. Odd? Yes. Silly? Yes. Phonetically correct? Yes. Fun? YES!

Story associations involving letters and sounds help a child build a foundation for reading. The skills and rules that are normally mundane and hard to remember become fun and exciting and easy to remember. Imagination goes hand in hand with learning. We use our minds to combine age-appropriate explanations with age-old rules for learning how to read. As we grow academically, we will continue to apply the rules because it was FUN to learn them. And knowing that learning is fun is a great motivation to listen carefully, work hard and learn more!