SensoryEdge Kids Furniture and Educational Toys Blog


Monday, June 23, 2008

Flipping for Phonics


Reading unlocks new worlds to children. They're able to learn on their own and discover the wonders of the written word. Some kids need an extra boost when it comes to reading. Phonics is an instructional method for teaching children to read in English. They learn to connect sounds with letters or groups of letters and then blend the sounds together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words.

We recently came across a phonics course that looked really fun and interactive for kids that might shy away from reading. The Hands on Phonics Method Flipping For Phonics has been an instant success and is recommended by educators as the MUST HAVE educational tool. Nova Southeastern University Parent resource centers recommends these products for early readers. This patented flip book is the only one of its kind on the market with 6 columns of letters allowing children to make up to 6 letter words. Flipping For Phonics is self contained easy to use, and child friendly.

Carefully chosen real life pictures represent pure phonetic sounds. This educational tool is used in public, charter and private schools, as well as at home use.
Two other products offered at www.flippingforphonics are a story book featuring 6 delightful word family stories and a musical CD. Recommended for children ages 2 - 7 however really like the fact that Flipping for Phonics can also be used for children with special needs, older children who didn't get a proper reading foundation, or adults who have a reading disability. The kinetic hands-on approach reinforces learning and makes learning to read fun and easy. Flipping for Phonics makes learning FUN and EASY.

In this example we built words with 'ending sounds' by flipping to the letters 'at' and changing the first letter only to make the words: 'bat', 'cat', 'mat' etc. You can just as easily build words with 'beginning sounds' instead and just change the last letter like: 'ba' - bad, bag, bam, ban. You could also keep the same first letter and last letter changing only the vowel like: 'bad', 'bed', 'bid', 'bud'.

The wonderful thing about Flipping for Phonics® is that it can be adapted to be used with whatever reading program you are currently using! In other words, you can:

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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Learning to Read Through Play

There is one way to divide children into two groups. Those that love to read and children that will do anything to avoid reading. Many parents bargain, plead, punish, make deals and still can't get their kids to crack open a book. The secret is to make it fun. Knowledge gained through play is the easiest and most effective way for children to learn any task, including reading.

Wordspot is a great way for kids to learn to read and they'll be having so much fun doing it they won't notice they'll learning!

The object of the game is very simple. Find hidden words among the lettered tiles and mark them using the included WordSpot tokens. Words may be spelled in almost any direction. They can go up, down, across, backwards, and diagonally. The first player to use all of his or her tokens wins the game!

This game is so easy to learn and kids will play round after round. Not only are they developing their cognitive skills for recognizing words quickly no matter what order they are laid out in, your kids will be encouraged to awaken the creative sides of their minds and create new words.

When your child has mastered small words in this game, increase the minimum word length to accomodate growing skill levels. This is a great game to have on hand to keep the kids busy and interested, adults too enjoy this game. If you're tired of toys that are little more than gadgets that don't expand the minds of your children and teach them little to nothing, get them a fun toy that will let them learn to read and enjoy every minute of it.

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Friday, July 20, 2007

A-B-C's of Fun Learning


As parents, you naturally want the best for your children and that includes education. While watching your toddler you may think it's too soon to be thinking about their education. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Keep in mind that they are literally like sponges, watching and absorbing everything around them. Obviously, they take their cues from parents and caregivers, their role models. It is never too soon to set examples or begin to expand their horizons. Take the time to really be a teacher, role model and parent to your child. Show them the benefits of being curious about things and of learning everything you can about them.

Not all of this learning and education pertains to actual scholarly knowledge; it may be about animals, people or anything else that interests them. However, this does not mean that formal education should take a backseat to everything else and it is important to make that a part of your teaching also.

Of course, not all children learn at the same rate as their peers, but there are some things that you can watch for to make sure they are getting what they need. Watch for signs that they are not really understanding what is being taught. Sometimes this is shown in their frustration of the subject.

A great tool for encouraging learning while still being fun is the ABC Chalk Talk, a winner of the Family Fun Magazine Toy of the Year. This amazing toy is an interactive touch pad with over 30 sensors to help teach kids the alphabet, phonics, colors and numbers. With five fun activity modes and many levels of play it keeps children motivated to learn. Who says learning isn't fun?

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