Customer Reviews

Wow! I'm Reading: Fun Activities to Make Reading Happen (Williamson Little Hands Book)

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I couldn't believe how easily my four year old started to read when I presented the activities in the book. The phonemic awareness (sound awareness) activities were amazing. They really provided the link to phonics as the author explains.

When I picked up this book, I did not expect it to be so comprehensive in teaching reading and writing. This a small, but powerful book. I expected a few activities as a supplement to other methods. The activities use all five senses and are fun. They incorporate dancing, singing, and sometimes eating. As another reviewer wrote, this may be the only book you may ever need to teach reading!

I have a Masters Degree in Education, with focus on literacy and learning disabilities. I have read many books on whole language vs. phonics instruction, but none that incorporated both as well as this one does.

The book is divided into 7 sections, each one building on the other as they master it. Within each section, is a list of supplies needed for the activities. This is the only book that I have read that I really have all the supplies necessary to start right away. Then, the actual activities. At the edge of each activity page, there is a box that the author has given some more wonderful information. She has a Reading Zone with books to read to the child to expand on the activities. There is Teaching Time that explains the concept development that the activities focus on. The last, but very important item the author included, is State Standards Say which tells what most states expect of children to know when they are tested in reading at school.

Here are the 7 sections (just a small sample of activities included):

Let's Talk About It (prereading skills)
make a collage, make a sequence crown
teaches to identify and sort words, extend vocabulary, following directions, connect to real life experiences

Start with Sounds
rhyme time, treasure hunt, monster munch
recite and produce rhyming words, listen for phonemes in words

Print Power!
rainbow writing, autograph book, word necklace
distinguish letters from words, learn that print provide information in everyday setting

Now I Know My ABC's
eating the alphabet, milk-cap mania, alpha-pet
learning upper and lower case alphabet, sequencing letters

Phonics Fun
alphabet crowns, word puzzlers, phonics gizmos
learning consonant and vowel sounds, as words change so do sounds

Write On!
office signs, business cards, stationery, it's in the mail, spell-a-phone
identify types of everyday printed materials

Beyond the Tale
dazzling diagrams, wonder webs, teeny-tiny theater
learn to use fiction and non-fiction material, retell stories

Great source for an Early Childhood Curriculum. This book gave me wonderful ideas on teaching little ones to read. This book helped me plan lessons for my home toddler/preschool daycare. This book is a MUST HAVE for home daycare providers and home schooling parents.

As a librarian working with parents to help their preschoolers develop pre-reading skills, I have recommended this book hundreds of times. The activities in this book are fun, easy, inexpensive ways to develop all the essential skills children need to master before they can learn to read. Activities include letter knowledge, rhyming, word families, recognizing environmental print, and other important pre-reading skills. Most can be done with no special materials, or with paper plates, magazine pictures, and other materials you probably have lying around the house. Hauser is tuned in to how children learn and how they play; activities are age-appropriate and avoid the "drill & kill" approach by keeping activities fun and filled with child appeal. The first (and possibly only) resource you need to raise a child who's ready to read.

I bought this book for the first time when my oldest child was about three. Playing through these activities, he was reading solidly by five. The progression of activities is perfect for language development. Each page builds on ideas learned in the last section, yet they can also be done out of order for fun. This is a perfect resource for home schoolers who have pre-school aged children. Some activities are quiet, some are active, some are creative, but all are fun. This is not a workbook, so it can be used over and over again. The supplies used for some of the games are easily part of a household. You won't have to run to the store for some obscure item just to do a lesson. (That happens a lot with other books...so annoying.)

I have bought this for many friends to use with their youngsters, and all of them have found great success with it. The whole series is wonderful.

This book is a pre-k teacher and pre-k mom must have. It is packed with truely great ideas.

This book is so cute is it filled with really fun learning activites. We use it for Kindergarten homeschool. Very fun and educational!