We read with Grady every day but Grady doesn't know how to read yet. To be clear: we don't expect Grady to know how to read. We do, however, want to support his reading comprehension. We want reading to be enjoyable. We want to do whatever we can to help him learn easily but apart from making reading part of our daily routine, we weren't really sure how.
Grady's teacher recently introduced me to reading sticks. They're simple pointers the kids use to identify letters, syllables, and simple words as they "read" with her. They're brilliant. Grady can't look at a sentence and read all of the words yet, but he can use the pointer and consistently follow along, word for word, syllable for syllable, as I read to him. It makes our reading time more interactive (I'm not reading to him, we're reading together) and he's becoming more confident in his reading abilities.
Reading sticks are an easy kid craft. Popsicle sticks are a great size and then you just need something fun for your pointer (pompom, sequin, sticker, googly eye, etc.). Grady's excited to make them (I let him use GRADE ONE GLUE!!) and that translates into him being excited to use them. We've made a bunch and stashed them in various places so at any given moment we can whip out a reading stick and do some learning.
How do you support your early reader? We've got two weeks of spring break and I want to keep the reading momentum going.