Develop Kindergarten Reading Skills With a Guided Reading Pack

Your child is about to start a monumental new chapter: kindergarten! The summer before that special first day of school can be instrumental in preparing your little one for a successful year (and years to come).

Though students entering kindergarten aren’t required to be readers already, your child can definitely benefit from learning to read — which is so crucial to academic success — before jumping into school. To gauge if he’s ready, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does my child recognize most of the letters of the alphabet in print, and know the letter sounds?

2. Does my child show a desire for learning to read?

3. Does my child have a strong sense of phonological awareness? (That includes the ability to rhyme and count syllables.)

If you answered yes to all three questions, your child is probably ready to get started! A great place to begin is with the First Little Readers Guided Reading Pack (Levels A-C). This set provides a curated collection of books at a level perfect for emerging readers, important because too-difficult texts can lead to a whole lot of frustration for your child, which isn’t fun for anyone.

For context, students move through certain levels of text that increase in difficulty in every grade. Many schools encourage kindergarten students to move through Scholastic Guided Reading Levels A, B, and C — the first beginner reading levels that usually involve plenty of sight words and predictable or repeated phrases — during the school year.

Exploring the books in the First Little Readers Guided Reading Pack over the summer exposes your child to important early reading concepts and helps build reading confidence. Also, here are two savvy tricks to help ensure that your child gets the most out of them.

Your first strategy: When you first open one of the books in the pack, start by taking a ‘picture walk’ by flipping through the book and talking about the images inside with your budding reader. It’s a great way to get a basic understanding of the book before you read it, and helps to boost your little one’s reading comprehension.

Of course, the single most important thing we can do to prepare our kids for kindergarten is to simply spend lots of time reading out loud to them and reinforce the idea that stories are fun, entertaining, and a great way to bond. That being said, guided reading books can certainly enhance what they get out of the experience — and help your little reader prepare for an incredible, happy first year of elementary school. 

Spend five to 10 minutes each day reading these mini books with your child, and he will gain beginner reading skills like focusing on print and sight word recognition, and will also build his confidence as a new reader. As a result, he’ll be more prepared to read on his own once kindergarten begins.

Find more expert-approved kindergarten books, tips on kindergarten-readiness, and resources at our guide to getting ready for kindergarten. Shop kindergarten workbooks, the best series for kindergarten readers, and kindergarten school stories at The Scholastic Store!

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