Now I don’t know about your kids but mine learn a lot better with a little fun included. This is one of the real problems I’ve found with teaching my children to read, until they get to a certain stage the available books are just too dull for words. However fortunately we live in a world of interactive media, the internet and some genuinely quality educational resources and TV programmes. There are of course loads of resources available online, but I’d like to point you at one site that has just about everything you’ll need to help your kids at the earlier stages of their reading development.
The site is none other than The BBC and it contains a huge section of pages designed specifically to improve literacy. The site is called Bitesize and is split into three sections – science, maths and literacy. Here’s a screenshot from one of the literacy games -
All the lessons are interactive and can be replayed over and over again. This game helps with simple words and sounds that rhyme, most children really enjoy the cartoon type graphics and interactive elements.
But these are more than just a selection of fun flash games to sit your children down in front of. If you look in the site you’ll find much more there is even a teachers/parents section with suggested lesson plans. These incorporate the games and then expand on them with class based activities and tasks which the children can play without access to a computer.
Of course the BBC are primarily known for their world class programmes and the childrens channels are focussed in two specific channels – CBBC and CBeebies for younger children. All these programmes are available online using their custom video player called BBC Iplayer. Unfortunately access to BBC IPlayer is blocked outside the UK however there is a workaround – if you visit this page - http://www.proxyusa.com/bbciplayerabroad2012 you’ll see the solution. It’s not very difficult, you just basically have to surf via a UK based server to make it look like you’re based in Britain, it’s quick and easy to do.