***Important note!***

If you're enrolling a new learner, please enroll them in the Monday/Wednesday section!  The Tuesday/Thursday section of this class has been running for several months now.  We have moved through the schedule listed below and more, and are now working on long vowel sounds and vowel pairs.

If your learner has a firm grounding in letter recognition and can tell you what sound most letters make, and is ready to take the next big-kid step toward reading on their own, this class is made just for them.  (Originally imagined as "Ms. Julie and Pippa 2.0" this class is also great for kids who have "graduated" from my preschool classes but want to continue learning with Pippa and me this school year!  Please note that this particular class focuses specifically on literacy skills.)

In this class, we'll spend each day briefly reviewing a few letters and their sounds before putting those letters together to read new words (always with a a fun game, of course) and before you know it we'll be reading full books together!  Our lessons will also incorporate sight words, words that are difficult to read phonetically, and an incredible amount of fun.

A typical learning day will look like this:
- Hello song / greeting each other
- Review
  -> Letter and sound review
  -> Sight and learned word review
- New Learning
  -> Introduction of letters and words
  -> Fun game/activity using new letters and/or words
-  Dance break! (You know it wouldn't be a Ms. Julie class without a silly dance.)
-  Read together -> learners will combine reviewed and learned skills to help Pippa and me read a book.  Each learner will have a chance to read aloud, and will be challenged on their own level.  
- As time goes on, we will begin working with chapter books to practice long-form reading. (I will read a chapter of a book to the students that is slightly above their reading level.  Studies show that listening to books above reading level bumps students to a higher level of reading and comprehension!)

I prioritize student voice in my classes, so depending on how much my learners have to day on any given day, classes can run up to 5 minutes over their allotted time.  I will always give learners the option to say goodbye at the end of the formal class time, but often stick around to listen to a few personal comments or thoughts from my learners before signing off for the day.

In my classes, I love to use a variety of teaching styles to keep my learners engaged.  Throughout the week, learners can expect to hear music, play games, watch video clips, engage in discussions, and giggle a LOT.  I have so much fun teaching every day, and it's so important to me that my learners have fun, too!  I'm always open to shifting my engagement style depending on what learners love and enjoy.  I keep in close communication with my learners' grown-ups to ensure everyone's success and happiness.


Below is a schedule of what we have *already covered* so far in our classes together!  If you feel confident that your learner has these skills and is able to move forward from there, I'd love to have them join us!

Week 1
Day 1 - Using letters M, S, P, and A to blend sounds and read words
Day 2 - Adding, blending, and reading with letters N, T, B, and J

Week 2 
Day 1 - Exclamation points and reading Bam!
Day 2 - Adding, blending, and reading with letters G, D, C, and Y

Week 3
Day 1 - Adding, blending, and reading with letters H, K, and R
Day 2 - Adding, blending, and reading with letters I, V, F, and Z

Week 4
Day 1 - Adding,  blending, and reading with letters O, L, and W
Day 2 - Adding, blending, and reading with letters U and S

Week 5
Day 1 - Adding, blending, and reading with letter E
Day 2 - Adding, blending, and reading with letters QU and X

Week 6
Day 1 - Adding, blending, and reading with TH
Day 2 - Adding, blending, and reading with SH

Week 7
Day 1 - Adding, blending, and reading with CH
Day 2 - Working with words with final blends

Week 8
Day 1 - Working with words with initial blends
Day 2 - Onomatopoeia

Other skills and sounds we'll learned include:
-NG
-NK
-FF, LL, SS
- CK
- Compound words
- Real vs. make believe


Please note that, although this is an ongoing class and students are welcome to join at any time, our work together will build from class to class.  If your learner is planning to join partway through the series and you're not sure if they have the prior knowledge to engage, reach out to me directly and we can problem-solve together!  This is not mean to be prohibitive; rather, I want to make sure that every class is accessible to every learner, no matter when they join.