7 TV Shows That Teach Literacy Skills

There is constant debate about screen time for children.  Some say no screen time, some say a little is okay.  If you are allowing your children to watch television, why not let it be educational?
Here are seven television shows your children can watch while learning to read.


1. Wally Kazaam  

Wally Kazaam is a fairly new show in Nick Jr. that made its broadcast debut early 2014.   The program is centered around a young troll named Wally Trollman.  Wally uses his magic stick to turn words into physical objects or occurrences.  The show goes over phonics and letter recognition.  Visit the Nick Jr. website for full episodes. 

2. Super Why! 
Each of the four main characters in Super Why have a literacy “power” that helps them solve a problem in every episode.  Princess Presto has spelling power, Wonder Red has word power (rhyming), Pig has letter power and Whyatt has the power to read.  Whyatt usually does sentence completion activities and changes the outcome of popular folk tales and stories.  This show is excellent for beginning readers as it covers letter recognition, phonics and spelling in a fun and entertaining way.

 

3. Word World

This 3-D animated series turns each character and object into a word.  You can see the spelling of each character and object in their design.  This show also covers both spelling and phonics.  When characters in the show want to have something, for example a pie, they search for the letters to “build a word” and once they have all the letters, they put them together and the object appears.  Most of the words that are built are spelled out. However the show also emphasizes on phonics.  One episode for example, focused on the “sh” sound, and centered around a shark who had a hard time making friends.  

4. Electric Company 
I mentioned this show in my post about classic TV shows that are streaming on Hulu and Amazon.  However there is also a new modern version that is currently airing on television.  The current version of The Electric Company has the same focus and goals.  The entertainment is geared toward a crowd older than Sesame Street that needs a boost in phonics.  One of my favorite clips is the song about silent “e.”

5. Word Girl
Word Girl, as implied by it’s title focuses on words and vocabulary.  Word Girl, who is an alien with super word powers was born on the fictional planet Lexicon.  Each segment begins with instructions for the viewers to listen for key words that will be used through the episode.  Words such as “diversion,” “cumbersome,” and “idolize” are introduced, defined and applied throughout the episode.   Although this show is geared towards children ages 6-9 older and younger children can appreciate it as well.


   

6. Martha Speaks
Martha Speaks is based on a children's book about a talking dog named Martha. This show focuses on tacking children vocabulary, and each episode has a theme that illustrates key words. Check out this short clip where the vocabulary focus is on the "characteristics."
  

7. Sesame Street

No children's show list would be complete without this classic.  Parents who watched the show as children probably remember that each episode was “brought to you by the letter "E" and the number "3”  now in addition to letters and numbers, they also have a segment called the “Word on the Street” that helps children define more complicated vocabulary words.   Always current, fun and entertaining, Sesame Street continues to be the standard in educational television.  

Also do not forget, when you child is watching any TV show or movie, turn on closed captions, this aids in reading skills.  

Do your children watch any of these shows?  Are there other educational shows that you watch that are not listed here? Please share.

18 Creative Ways to Teach Letter Recognition To Your Toddler

Toddlers are constantly learning from play, their environment and their interaction with you as a parent. There are many ways to combine letter recognition and play in a way that encourages early literacy in your child.  

1. Play dough Letters Make letters with play dough and have your child rub his or her finger across the dough to feel the shape of the letter. 

2. Sensory letter hunt Make a sensory bowl out of beans or rice and add the letters to it. Have your child look for the letters and call them out once they find them.

   

3. Dance to letter songs Listen to this vowel song and hold up letters while you sing it. Alternatively you can dance on a letter mat, or take it outdoors and dance on letters written with sidewalk chalk. But get moving and have fun learning. 

 4. Play Alphabet Peek-a-Boo with a paper bag and letter sticker. 

 

5. Wear an alphabet T-Shirt Wear a shirt that has large letters on it and talk to your child about the letters they see.  

6. Find foods in the grocery store that are based on letters Sometimes we see alphabet cookies, Alpha-bits cereal, Alphabet pasta and more. Having letters to eat is a fun way to learn letter recognition. Have your child name the letters then eat them. 

 

7. Play with alphabet bath toys Foam letters that float in the bathtub are so much fun. They also stick to the bathroom walls. Try mixing all the letters in the tub and then have you child find the letter "B." If you have a set of upper case and lower case letters have your baby match them.

 8. Match foods to their corresponding letter Put a few letters on a paper plate and have your child point to each letter as they hold the plate. For added fun place a small piece of food next to each matching letter. S for strawberry, R for raisin, C for cereal, etc  

9. Put letters on clothespins Write letters on clothes pins and have your child try to pick up the corresponding letter from a bowl.  

10. Write letters in sand On the beach or in a park or even salt in a tray.  

11. Make letters out of foods Like raisins or blueberries before eating them.

 12. Hide letters under cups And have your child guess which letter is under each cup.

13. Play alphabet games with hand puppets Have a puppet hold up a letter and talk to you child about all the things that begin with that letter.  

14. Make letters with whipped cream Create letters on a plate with whipped cream.

15. Make letters with straws

 16. Play with refrigerator magnet letters Let your child play with refrigerator magnets letters

   

17. Write on a dry erase board Write letters on a dry erase board and have them erase them as they say the letter.  

18. Read books! Don’t forget to read alphabet books. Additionally everything I wrote about with teaching your child sight words can be applied to learning letters. Instead of writing the sight word on the balloon, sidewalk, etc, just write the letter.  

Do you teach you child letter recognition? What methods do you use? What activities would you add to this list? Share in the comments below.

Originally posted on Baby & Blog