Word Reading Activities

Phonetic Word Cards and Objects

Has your child recently discovered the joy of reading?  The Montessori approach helps your child to do this by identifying the sounds not the names of letters. Playing the traditional "I Spy" game is one of the best ways of supporting your child's ability to write and read.

You may like to support and encourage their practice of sounding out the letters and blending these sounds together to work out what these words say.

If these are individual printed cards: place them face down, turn the top one over and encourage your child to sound out the letters and then say them faster "ccc—aaa-t" until they work it out.

If you have a selection of objects to match the cards this can help your child be more successful at the beginning as a certain amount of “guess work” can happen.

For the beginning reader some examples might be: cup, jug, mat, clip, bin

Let children also write their own words.  A post it pad can be very handy for individual work so your child can write (or read ones you have already prepared) and place them around the house to collect up and repeat as many times as they like.

Games

All the card materials can also be used to play different card games.

Play “snap” 

Make two copies of the cards and use to play a game of "snap".  Sit side by side with your child so you are facing the same way and the words are the right way up.  Read the card when it is put down and say “snap” if the words match.

Play “go fish” 

Makes several copies of the cards.  Mix them together. Deal out a few cards to both your child and yourself.

Try to collect identical sets of cards by taking turns reading out one of the words in your hand and asking if your partner has that card.  If they do they have to give it to you and you put down the pair.  If not, you are told to "go fish" and have to pick up from the pile.

Bingo

Bingo games can be played with the words write different words onto a larger piece of paper in squares.  Someone reads the words on the stack of cards, everyone else has to see if they have that on their paper and can put a coin (or any other marker) on that square.  The first person who fills all their squares can say “bingo” and has the next turn to read the cards out.