Learning Path Stones

Phonics Skills

Phonics Skills
Before they can read independently, children must learn the relationship of letters to their sounds and be able to distinguish individual sounds, or phonemes, within words. Phonics skills help children sounds out new words (If I can read "pot", then I can read "hot" and "spot").

The Alphabet

The Alphabet
Knowing the letters of the alphabet is one of the first steps toward learning to read and write. Introducing letters to young children helps them learn to recognize the different shapes and names - an early indicator for reading achievement.

Consonants

Consonants
There are more consonants sounds than there are consonants in the alphabet. A consonant digraph is a pair of consonants that stand for a single sound (ch, sh, th, wh).

Sight Words and Homophones

Sight Words and Homophones
Sight words are words that can't be sounded out and so must be learned by sight (the, he, she , was, and so on). Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently, such as to, too, and two.

Vowels

Vowels
Spelling begins with regular short vowel sounds (cap) and long vowel sounds (with silent e, cap becomes cape). Finally, children learn the rules and patterns of vowel pairs (ee), digraphs (ai in train), dipthongs (oi in boil) and r-controlled vowels (farm, bird).

Art and Design

Art and Design
Creating art is an exercise in learning how to see. With increased confidence in their skills, children discover that art is a vehicle for self-expression.

Shapes

Shapes
Identifying and manipulating shapes lays the groundwork for geometry by giving children concrete experience with angles, symmetry and relative sizes.

Early Number Sense

Early Number Sense
As early as 6 months, babies begin to understand the concept of numbers, noticing small groups of one, two or three things. As children develop number sense they learn to count by ones, skip count and count backwards, gaining the foundation for operations. Children who have good number sense find learning operations like addition and subtraction much easier.

More Than, Less Than

More Than, Less Than
The concept of more than/less than deepens a child's number sense by teaching him to compare numbers. Children begin with informal and approximate comparisons using the terms "more" and "less"; then they learn the terms and symbols for greater than (>), less than (<) and equal to (=).

Number Recognition

Number Recognition
To begin their study of math, children must distinguish numerals from letters and shapes and understand that numbers are symbols for amounts.

Sequencing

Sequencing
Even toddlers can often recite number names in order, but the ability to compare and order numbers in sequence indicates a practical application of number concepts.

Addition

Addition
Once children know that numbers are symbols for objects (2 stands for two cars) they learn to count sets, or groups of objects, to find sums. Finally, sets of objects can be replaced by numerals and added together in equations.

Subtraction

Subtraction
The inverse of addition is subtraction - to take away objects and tell how many are left. Once children grasp subtraction, sets of objects can be replaced by numerals in equations.

Awards

• 2008 - National Parenting Publications, Honors Award