As hard as it is to believe, we will have a kindergartner on our hands in just a few short months. I really can’t even talk about it in person without wanting to tear up, so I’m not even gonna go down that road right now, because that’s not what this post is about anyway!
With Lucas, we’ve always been very lucky in the sense that he truly does enjoy learning about numbers, letters, and words. From a young age, he’s always showed this interest, and I’ve been so happy to see it flourish as he’s gotten a little older. Who knows if it’ll be a forever thing (the kid actually gets excited when he sees he has homework from preschool!), but I’ll take it for as long as I can.
Last fall, he started showing more of an interest in wanting to know which words we were reading while doing stories at bedtime, which then evolved a bit into him pointing out a couple of words here or there that he knew (or didn’t, but tried!). At this point, we hadn’t really done much in terms of practicing reading, per se, but more working on letters, their sounds, etc.
So shortly before Christmas I decided to invest in the “My First Reading Library” from Usborne Books.
Most of you probably already know by now that I am a consultant with Usborne Books. While I have scaled back my work as a consultant a bit this year (haven’t talked about it much, probably soon), I am still an active consultant because I just love getting the boys more books for home and I like the extra discount!
But back to this reading library. Ohhhhh, my goodness. Talk about a game changer.
My First Reading Library
The library contains 50 (!!) books, which are divided into three groups
- Books 1-22 – Very beginner readers, using traditional phonics methods for teaching various words, patterns, etc.
- Books 23-34 – Taken from Usborne First Reading Level One, very short stories meant for children to read on their own
- Books 34-50 – Taken from Usborne First Reading Level Two, slightly longer stories meant to build reading stamina and confidence
I honestly cannot BELIEVE how well Lucas has been doing with reading them, and he gets so excited to choose different ones each night. While we’re still very much in the very beginning books from the library, it’s been amazing to watch his skills and confidence grow.
The very beginner readers are formatted in a way where the adult is meant to read the smaller, more difficult text; then the child is able to read the larger, simple text.
And each book also contains a number of teaching tips for parents plus different types of activities to do with your kiddo, such as comprehension and memory games, cause and effect, rhyming, and more.
Not only that, but the books are CUTE! There are a few that Lucas will chuckle out loud at, and two of his favorites right now are Bad Jack Fox and Dog Diary.
So if you’ve got kiddos at home who are at the same stage with reading, I would highly recommend checking out the My First Reading Library. Not only are the books wonderful, but for 50 books, the price is a steal.
**PLUS, for anyone who places an order for a My First Reading Library, I’ll also send along a FREE Phonics Reader book to you as a thank you!
Other Usborne Books Great for Beginner Readers
- Very First Reading Box Set
- Phonics Readers (sold as a box set HERE or individually, which can be found HERE!)
- Read with Usborne – Levels 1 and 2 – ONLY $3.99 each!!
- Dual Readers
**If you have kiddos that are above the very beginning levels of reading and are curious to see how some of our other titles match up to various reading levels (i.e., Fountas & Pinnell, Lexile, etc.) you can CLICK HERE to check out our UBAM Leveling site!
Question for the Day: What were some of your favorite books you can remember as a young child?
Molly Petsch says
We actually have this set but haven’t been using it (Mom fail). Charlie starts Kindergarten in the fall as well and this post has inspired me to pull the library out and make practicing reading our goal each day this summer!
The Phonics Readers are awesome as well… maybe I need to add some new ones into the mix!
Shashaqueefa says
Lucas is going to be such an intelligent young man as he grows older! Same with Alex! So wonderful they love reading materials!
My mom read me Cat in the Hat, Where the best thangs are at, Clifford’s adventures! When i misbehaved she read me scary stories like the electricity and gas bill! I still shiver to this day!