There is a lot of pressure on parents and teachers to teach and reinforce reading skills at an earlier age. One way to reinforce early-literacy skills is by playing quality online games. There are literally hundreds of interactive online reading games for preschool but which online reading game is right for your preschool child? Do you have to spend a lot of money on these reading websites? Below are a few suggestions for free sites that have age-appropriate games for the preschool-aged child.
Keep in mind that it is perfectly normal for your preschool child not to be reading yet. In fact, competent reading skills are often not fully developed until about the age of 8, a fact that is often overlooked by many of our schools. There are many developmental milestones that need to be reached before a child is able to be a strong, successful reader and these are directly linked to your child's physical and emotional development. However, allowing your child opportunities to be exposed to letters and their sounds is a great first step to introducing your young child to the concept of reading.
Starfall.com is a free online phonics support program that was started in 2002. There are several well developed interactive online reading games for preschool that you can either read to your child or let them read, depending on their skills. Start with letter sounds and recognition. It is an easy site to navigate and is not overrun with advertisements. The site is broken into four categories based on reading levels, plus several seasonally themed games.
Here are the four levels to choose from:
1. Letter sound and recognition. (ABC'S)
2. Beginning reading skills. (Learn To Read)
3. More advanced support with poetry, riddles, tongue twisters and more. (It's Fun To Read)
4. Introducing fiction/non-fiction, mythology, fables and folk tales and more. (I'm Reading!)
Gamequarium.com is a site designed to help you find free interactive online reading games for preschool. However, It is not limited to just reading games, so take your time and be sure to guide your child through the various links until you find an appropriate game. This site collects games from all over the web and organizes them so you don't have to spend too much of your time finding safe, appropriate games. A word of warning: not all games work, depending on your computer. We also found it a bit harder to navigate but there are some hidden gems. For preschool, click on "Junior Pre K-2" which will give you lists of themes. Beware that many of these sites were heavily advertised with flashy boxes and bright colors.
Funschool.com is a site that is bright and cheerful and loaded with eye candy for kids. But it is also heavily loaded with advertisements for Disney products, sugar cereals and credit cards! This was more tricky to navigate. Choose Preschool tab . I have a new computer and I was not able to view the games without downloading new plug-ins. I don't recommend this. There are plenty of other sites to use that work just fine without having to download anything new into your computer.
Your child will have to know how to use a mouse or have an adult with them to guide them through the lesson games. You'll find good advice for introducing children to the mouse and keyboard in this article: Computer Games for the Younger Classroom.
Interactive online computer games for preschool should be used only as added support to what you are already teaching your child at home or at school. Reading skills take time to develop. Tracking left-to-right does not come naturally and modeling this by tracking with your finger is a helpful supporting strategy. Use your finger and your child's finger to follow the words from left to right when you read together. Focus on letter sounds rather than letter names. For example: show your child the letter "f" and say "ffffff" rather than "eff". You may also want to introduce only the lower case letters in these early years. Look at this article and notice the ratio of upper to lower-case letters. Do you see my point? All of this practice will help to set the foundation for successful reading in the future. Interactive online reading games for preschool may be a useful tool for you and your child.
Related Preschool Reading Links:
Teaching Toddlers to Read
Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Preschool Reading Activities
Free Preschool Games
