B a r b a r a s h e r I l L u s t r a t I o n s b y r a L p h

T
Y P E O F
A
T T E N T I O N
E
N C O U R A G E D
Focused
M
A T E R I A L S
Index cards
Pen
D
I R E C T I O N S
Start with ten plain index cards and, together with your potential reader,
come up with five words she would want to be able to read. It could be the
Games for 3- to 6-Year-Olds
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names of all the family members, the names of interesting things in the
room, the names of pets (I know one four-year-old who loves the names of
the planets), and so on.
Write each of the five words on two index cards so that there are two
sets of cards. Later you’ll add more word cards.
Lay one set of the cards out on the table with the word facing up.
Give the second set of cards to your player and ask her to find the
matching word and put her card on top of it. Say the word as she puts it
down. She doesn’t need to be able to read the words to recognize the simi-
larities in the shapes.
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Attention Games
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V
A R I A T I O N
Lay out both sets of cards face down on the table. Players take turns flip-
ping over cards two at a time to find the matching sets.
W
H A T
’
S
B
E I N G
L
E A R N E D
Children are focusing on the ways words and letters differ from each other
visually. They are becoming comfortable with the written language as com-
mon words become familiar and easy to recognize.
As the child’s pile of familiar words grows, so will the child’s sense of
herself as a person who can read.