Free Print Books!
This week's YouTube reading is a book I received as a parent from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. In Midland, the Midland County Educational Service Agency is the collaborating partner of this program. Through the Imagination Library, children ages birth to five receive books in the mail for FREE! This program is a wonderful international nonprofit that has delivered over 133 million books worldwide. The program has a set list of books that they send out, and children receive one book per month in the mail. For a list of the books children receive click here.
Digital Reading
During home quarantine, finding additional reading materials may be a challenge, especially when the library is closed. Books are expensive, and purchasing new books may not be feasible. That said, many libraries offer books online. Midland's Grace A. Dow Memorial Library offers a great number of digital books through Hoopla, OverDrive, or the app called Libby. Use your library card to check out stories. Another electronic resource you may enjoy is Tumble Book Library. This website provides access to a variety of popular kid texts and reads the texts aloud to your child. This website provides access to books for many ages of children, not just preschool.
Learning To Read Together
Your child may be showing signs of reading readiness as you explore these resources together. If you notice that your child shows an interest in words and has a solid grip on letters and their sounds, you might consider exploring Starfall's "Learn to Read" page. If not, the link also provides access to help with learning letters! Starfall is a website that provides activities for a variety of topics (not just reading). Starfall is a wonderful website to explore with your child. The "Learn to Read" page provides an introduction to phonics-based reading through games and books. This resource helps parents learn strategies that work in approaching reading with your child on your own. You can see where to click in the image below where there is a mouse and the text reads, "Learn to Read." Or, if your child is not quite ready for this, try the link for "ABCs." You may feel your child has enough screen time, but working through this resource together changes the dynamic to one of learning. The best part about this website is that it's free and it does not include adds. Starfall also has an app available for phone or tablet use.
