Our PreSchool Blog

We continued to read our sight word reader, I’m Not Afraid of Anything! today, but in the spirit of Halloween used witch fingers as our “Magic Reading Finger” as we pointed to each word that we read aloud. Sight Word Focus: of, not

Early literacy skills benefit our students in a variety of ways. Reading in the early years supports kindergarten readiness, but early literacy skills builds a foundation for future academic success and overall achievement. We begin your child’s reading journey in our K Prep classroom each year. Our goal is to create a strong foundation in early literacy for them to build on throughout many years ahead.

Our early reading adventure began in K Prep this week. The focus this week was how to use their “Magic Reading Finger.” Why do we have children use their finger to track the words while they read? The reason for this practice is because our eyes naturally follow movement, placing a finger, on a page and strategically moving it down the text, a reader will naturally keep their place and be more focused. This helps readers concentrate and understand what they read making reading a more satisfying experience.  They did a wonderful job!

My magic reading finger helps me learn how to read.  It helps make sure my mouth says what my eyes see.  When my finger’s under a letter, my mouth makes a certain sound.  It moves faster when I’m blending, for sounding out it must slow down.  For sight words it can HOP SKIP JUMP, these words I read with ease.  It covers up tricky parts, and makes looking for chunks a breeze.  This magic finger will help you, but there is one thing it please.  Keep the magic in the finger…by only using it to read!

-Jodi B. Whalen