Learn to read with Bob
Courtesy of a MotherTalk blog tour, I received a set of Bob Books from the publisher to try out with my kids. As per the norm, Breanna likes to flip through them herself but will not let me read them to her. Hayley, on the other hand, really enjoyed them. They’re not really stories like she usually loves to listen to, but they are great for kids who are learning to read.
Right now, Hayley is fascinated by words and wants to learn to read so badly. The Bob Books are perfect for getting there. The drawings are simple so as to not distract, and the lines are very basic and use repetition to show kids how to sound out words. Each sentence is extremely short so as to avoid overwhelming someone who is still learning the concept of sounding out words. What’s especially helpful about having the whole set is that each book works off what your child has learned from the one before it.
They’re great for building up confidence because once Hayley started learning a few words she was more willing to try to sound out something new, even if she was wrong. Now she likes to sound out words at random and figure out what letters are in those words, and she looks at words on anything and everything - this morning she was trying to figure out which word said “cereal” on the box while she ate breakfast, and she’s getting better at doing that sort of thing because of the confidence created by books like these.
I definitely suggest taking a peek at them if you have any kids who are at an age where they’re curious about the words in the books you’ve been reading to them and who want to learn to figure those words out for themselves.