Kindergarten Reading Skills

As our young learners move through their kindergarten year, they will be striving to develop their literacy skills.  Here are some of the things on which our emergent readers will be focusing:

• Understand the basic features of print. 
• Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
• Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific letters.
• Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.
• Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters.
• Recognize and produce rhyming words.
• Blend and segment sounds in words.
• Add and substitute sounds in simple one syllable words to make new words. (cat  bat  rat  sat)
• Read the kindergarten high frequency words by sight.
• Read emergent (beginning level) texts with understanding.

You can help your child with these skills by reading and discussing a variety of types of books together.  Your good modeling will promote a love for literature as well as a desire to read.  You are your child's first teacher and greatest advocate.  One of the best gifts we can give our young learners is the love of reading.