You're in line at JoAnn's Fabric (one of my favorite stores.. it just has EVERYTHING) and your 4-year-old is getting a little restless. His preschool teacher mentioned something earlier in the week about the class working on reading three-letter-words. Want to kill two birds with one stone? (I hate that saying).
Have little Timmy practice reading some of the words around you while waiting in line. Even better, have a small picture book in your bag for use in times like these. Most of the items you see while waiting in line are meant for children to pick up and ask Mom for anyway, so have your child read some of words on the packaging when they bring it to you. Of course, if this little activity will cause your child to have a tantrum when you ultimately say no to buying the "French-Fry-Shaped-Gummy-Candy" then pick your items wisely. If it won't, then go for it! Your kid needs the reading practice!
Most 3 and 4-year-olds are at the beginning stages of phonemic awareness. They know that letters have sounds and they know that if they put these sounds together, they can potentially sound out a word. They just don't know all of the sounds yet probably. Some kids get it faster, some kids take longer. Either way, any time spent practicing reading is time well spent.
Look for words like CAT, HOT, PAN, RUN. Consonant, vowel, consonant patterns. If you throw in too many vowels, you'll confuse the kid. Anyway, a lot of words in the English language don't SOUND the way they LOOK. Start off easy.
So what's the tip here? Encourage your child to read while waiting in line at the store. You could resolve any potential restlessness, help your child learn to read and simultaneously make your child's teacher very happy, too!
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