Does your child know the sounds of most of the letters of the alphabet? This means that your learner is likely ready to read! (If your child only knows the ABC song and/or the names of the letters so far, the next step would be to learn the letter sounds. If this is the case, I hope that you’ll save this class to your “favorites” for later!)  

In this ongoing, weekly class for beginners, we will learn to blend, read and write CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words using a variety of multisensory techniques and fun activities. 

We will start by reviewing each letter sound in the word family, dramatizing each letter sound as we make it. For example, we will “fan” ourselves while making the /f/ sound and “lick” an imaginary lollipop while making the /l/ sound. We will practice writing the letters in the air and on paper.  

Next, we will do hands-on activities as we sound out each phoneme (each sound in the word). Some examples of these activities are:

- Press in a bubble in a popper toy for each phoneme; for example: /m/ [pop!], /a/ [pop!], /n/ [pop!].
- On a handout (provided) showing rows of boxes, I will demonstrate how to slide a token into a separate box for each phoneme; for example: /s/ (slide). /i/ (slide), /t/ (slide). Please note: The learners are not required to do this activity alongside me. While I am sharing my 2nd camera, it is difficult for me to see whether your child is doing this correctly or not. However, if a parent or other helper is available to supervise, your child would love to play along! 

We will do other activities to quickly and smoothly blend the letters into one word. For example:

- Tap on a different part of our arm as we say each phoneme, then “wipe” our arm quickly as we say the word
- After sliding a magnetic token to each phoneme box, we use a magnetic wand to “zap” the word. (The students LOVE this!) 

Every class has fun, different activities! For example, we might:

- “Rap” words from the “-ap” family
- Dance the "can can" with a puppet from the “-an” family 
- Sing a song using words from the “-og” family

After learning about the word family, the class will apply what they have learned by reading books together. I have written these books and other materials especially for this class so the students can get as much practice as possible with each word family!   

Every learner will be given chances to speak, demonstrate, and read throughout class. 

After class, learners will be provided with e-books to practice throughout the week. Learners will receive 16 e-books—an $80 value!

There will occasionally be bonus resources provided along the way, such as printable puppets!

We will be learning about 16 word families in the following order:

-am (Week 1) 
-an (Week 2)
-ad (Week 3) 
-ap (Week 4)
-at (Week 5)
-et (Week 6)
-ed (Week 7)
-en (Week 8)
-in (Week 9)
-ip (Week 10)
-ig (Week 11)
-op (Week 12)
-ot  (Week 13)
-og (Week 14)
-un (Week 15)
-ug (Week 16)


I hope to see your learner in class!

Mrs. Laura