Children often start learning how to read in kindergarten—find out how to create an effective curriculum.
Early learning can have a strong impact on how children develop, as well as how successful they are down the line. One core fundamental of learning for kindergarteners is the introduction to reading. In this article, we will explore how educators and parents can create a beneficial kindergarten reading curriculum for students.
What do Children Learn in Kindergarten?
In kindergarten, children get their first real look at the future of their education. During this formative year, students are exposed to the basics of many topics that will ultimately act as the base for their future education and professional lives.
Common Curriculum Topics Include:
- Colors
- Shapes
- Telling Time
- Basics of Core Classes (science, math, language)
- Relationship Dynamics (appropriate play, communication, new interactions)
Creating a Kindergarten Reading Curriculum
When children start kindergarten, they are given a foundation that they will build upon in the years to come, yet studies have found that only 37% of children start kindergarten with skills that support lifelong learning.
Reading is an important part of any kindergarten curriculum that will help them to find success in other key areas. Focusing on these essential areas can help your kindergartener(s) to gain valuable language skills and reach an appropriate kindergarten reading level.
Letters, Numbers, and General Punctuation
Reading is a skill that is best taught through a broken-down series of steps. Like mathematics, individual elements of reading can come together to help children gain a broader understanding and more effectively use their growing list of talents. For their reading curriculum, kindergarteners often need to start small. Letters, numbers, and general punctuation are the building blocks of reading. To start, it is important to help children learn to recognize and understand these features in simple contexts.
Although some kindergarteners already know their letters and numbers, it can help to teach them to start writing them. Introducing basic punctuation, like periods, question marks, and exclamation points, can help them to better understand reading before they really get started.
Viewing, Listening, and Repeating
An excellent way to teach new learners how to read is through the simple act of showing them how a letter, number, or word sounds–then building upon their understanding from there.
Allow them to visualize the topic of focus by showing the written form, then saying it aloud. Ask the child to repeat the words and sounds back to you. Experts have determined that repetition can have a significant impact on how well children remember what they learned. Making your reading curriculum for kindergarten students as engaging as possible can have a positive impact on retention.
Navigating language is a three-part process—we see it, hear it, then say it. Children can gain these skills through practice, allowing them to better grasp and remember these core concepts. This will provide a solid base for more complex practices, like building phonemic awareness.
Phonemic & Phonological Awareness
Phonemic awareness is a learning concept that is most commonly associated with sounding words out, while phonological awareness is more focused on understanding the sound dynamics and patterns at work in wordplay.
When children know the sounds and visuals of letters, they can start to use these features to create a stronger understanding of sounds and how they go together to form words and sentences. With this development, they can turn individual letter sounds into effective communication.
Understanding the sounds and syllables that make words what they are is a crucial step in early learning. As children gain this skill, they can start to learn more words and begin building their vocabulary. Although most children start slowly with this process, once the understanding kicks in, you may even be surprised by how many words they can figure out.
When children begin to learn how sounds work and how to identify them, they can build upon them to understand more complicated elements—like rhyming, navigating syllables, and even understanding how words are similar or different.
With a foundation based on the sound principles behind language, children can start to build the bridge between what they see and read and what they hear out loud. At a kindergarten reading level, children can start to more easily recognize some of the common words they interact with in their lives, like hat, stop, or fish.
By the end of Kindergarten, a child should be able to:
- Pull apart words into different sounds. For example, the word bat has three sounds – /b/, /a/, /t/. The word chop also has three sounds – /ch/, /o/, /p/.
- Manipulate sounds in words by adding, deleting or substituting. For example, in the word LAND, change the /l/ to /h/. (HAND)
- Identify beginning, middle, and ending sounds in words.
- Recognize and make rhymes.
- Make the connection that words are made up of sounds and that sounds are made up of letters and letter combinations.
- Break up words into syllables or chunks
Exploring Their World Through Reading
With these fundamentals in place, parents and teachers can start to help foster a lifelong love of reading in children. The best way to support this is by partnering with kids to explore their own worlds through concepts and stories that they will understand.
Some people love reading, and some people do not love reading. How they feel about it can often be linked to their experiences while learning and what kind of content they have access to. Many children who grow up with a distaste for reading really just weren’t given access to the right books or support. The Department of Education has determined that children who read for fun score higher in reading, so even content that isn’t meant to be educational can have a big impact.
Helping children and students explore their world through reading is an excellent way to inspire passion and help them stay committed to learning. You can support this by focusing on their personal interests and age-appropriate topics. Some popular options for Kindergarten Reading Passages include animals, transportation, playtime & games, imagination, and holidays.
By the end of Kindergarten, children should be very familiar with the structure and use of print. They should know the format of print resources and the knowledge that books can bring them. This should include:
- Identify the title of the book
- Know what an author and an illustrator do
- Identify the parts of a book and how books are held and read
- Follow print from left to right and from top to bottom
- Understand that the print is the main message of most books and not the pictures
The Importance of a Strong Reading Foundation
The reason that we start teaching children the fundamentals of reading in kindergarten is that it is a skill that they will use throughout their entire lives. Reading is a base skill that will ultimately impact how they learn every other major subject. By fourth grade, 34% of students are behind on their reading level, so supporting these skills early and consistently is essential.
Helping children to understand these skills early can empower them to better understand written information and communication throughout their entire lives. It will allow them to feel empowered to think critically about topics they come across and will help them to communicate their needs to others too.
From understanding current events to reading textbooks, reading plays a daily role in their lives. The simple fact is that what starts with reading children’s books about adorable animals can turn into a valuable tool that will support their education and help them to embrace a deeper understanding of the world around them.
The Takeaway
Formal education starts in kindergarten for many children, and it is a period of time when parents and teachers can watch kids learn and grow. Creating a kindergarten reading curriculum with the right focus can help you to support children and students today and going forward. Thank you for reading this article on Kindergarten Reading Curriculum today. You might also enjoy reading:
How Children Learn to Read: A Guide for Parents and Teachers
How to Teach Letters and Sounds Correctly
Please don’t leave without checking out the PRIDE Reading Program! The Pride Reading Program is an Orton-Gillingham, structured literacy curriculum aligned with the science of reading that is used by teachers, tutors, and homeschooling parents worldwide with great success.
The PRIDE Reading Program
