Get a Fun and Comprehensive Preschool Reading Curriculum from Homeschool+
Reading is a key part of a young child’s development and building a foundation for learning. It can also play a powerful role in helping a child feel confident about other subjects they’ll tackle in the future. Your reading program is one of the most important choices you’ll make as a home educator. Here are some things to consider as you figure out the right preschool reading curriculum for you and your child.
What You Should Look for in a Preschool Reading Curriculum
There are a lot of reading programs out there, and they are definitely not all created equal. Here are three main things you want to look for when choosing a preschool reading curriculum for your child.
1. Reading Programs Should Be Personalized
Kids will learn to read at all different levels and speeds. This is perfectly fine and to be expected. To meet every child’s needs, a good reading program should be highly personalized, featuring different levels and skills kids can work on. Young readers will quickly become frustrated if they don’t have an age-appropriate curriculum. Make sure the program you choose can easily be changed, modified, and adjusted to help your child have a positive experience while growing their skills.
2. Reading Programs Should Have Variety
Kids thrive when they have choices, which also holds true in reading. As you look into curriculum options, make sure there’s plenty of variety in what kids can choose to read. This will give young readers something to look forward to and will encourage them to keep coming back for more.
3. Reading Programs Should Be Fun
This one is essential. Adults can hold the key to making reading fun vs. a chore. Try to have positive associations with reading. It’s easy for reading to quickly become just another task kids want to rush through to complete. By making it entertaining, it can be something they look forward to.
How to Find a Quality Preschool Reading Curriculum
When evaluating different reading programs, always look at the people who made them. Do they have credentials and experience? Have they done studies and research to know their program works? These things really do matter in helping your child learn to read. In addition, be sure to test the programs out. Many will have free trials or sample materials you can check out, and this can go a long way in helping you figure out if it’s right for your child.
What is My Reading Academy?
My Reading AcademyTM, from the creators of ABCmouse®, is one of the many programs that comes with a Homeschool+ subscription. The program takes on a fully individualized, adaptive learning approach that’s based on the science behind successful reading. It allows you to customize a program for your child as they learn to read and adapts to their skill level.
What to Cover in a Preschool Reading Curriculum
Preschoolers are likely early in the process of learning to read, but there are many foundational skills you can build at this young age. Here are some concepts to focus on, which are all available in the Homeschool+ subscription.
- Letter Sounds
- Reading Comprehension
- Identifying Upper- and Lowercase Letters
- Concepts of Print
- Sound Patterns
- Beginning Sight Words
Why Use Homeschool+ for Your Preschool Reading Curriculum
Homeschool+ has been designed with homeschoolers in mind every step of the way. We’ve had home educators test and give feedback since the beginning. Plus, the experts and educators from ABCmouse and Adventure Academy are behind the programs in the Homeschool+ subscription. So you can trust that it’s been thoroughly tested to be effective and engaging.
Why You’ll Love the Lesson Planner and Progress Tracker
Within Homeschool+, you’ll find the Lesson Planner tool, which allows you to change and adjust lessons anytime you want. With just a few clicks, you can personalize the lessons, return to something, or skip ahead. There’s also the Progress Tracker tool that allows you to check and monitor your child’s comprehension along the way. Both tools are essential in helping you have a successful reading program.
Encouraging a Love of Reading in Preschoolers
Since reading plays a vital role in a child’s overall success, it’s good to remember the small things you can do to help kids love it.
Read Anything and Everything
The cereal box, signs at stores, billboards, instructions—regularly pointing out all the different things you can read helps show kids why it’s an important part of our daily lives. Even pointing out familiar letters to your child helps reaffirm the beginning reading skills they’re developing.
Introduce Kids to a Variety of Books
You don’t have to buy a lot of books to have access to them. You can often find plenty of books between public libraries and Little Free Libraries. You could also try a book exchange with friends. By exposing kids to a variety of books, they’re bound to find something that catches their interest and helps them develop an even greater love of reading.
Get a Library Card
If you want to see an empowered kid, give them access to their library card. This is a great way to give kids ownership of their reading journey. Next time you’re at the library, let your child scan their library card at checkout or hand it over to the librarian. Keeping them involved in the process helps them enjoy it even more.
Let Them See You Reading
When kids see adults reading, they also see how others value it. Whether you’re reading books or reading signs and billboards while running errands, it’s good to model all the possibilities out there.
Make Reading Special
Regularly setting aside time for reading and making it an enjoyable experience can make a big difference for kids. It might be tempting to rush through or cut the reading time short, but if you can make it special and stretch that time out, it’ll go a long way.