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Reading is like a puzzle.  There are many distinct components that need to come together in order for a child to reach reading fluency.  Letter recognition, understanding the sounds that letters make, building a sight word vocabulary, and having children recognize words within the context of text are integral parts of becoming a fluent reader.  I’ve always thought that it is important to integrate both phonics and whole language into a child’s reading curriculum to provide a balanced literacy approach because there is no one-size-fits-all approach when teaching kids to read.

Our two children (ages 3 and 5 ½) have always loved reading classic stories like Olivia, Click Clack Moo, and others by Dr. Seuss with their Tag but I’m happy to see that LeapFrog has added the Learn to Read Phonics Book Series to their book collection.  The classics have always been instrumental in providing my daughter with the opportunity to increase her sight word vocabulary and fluency but couldn’t assisted her in the decoding process when she was a beginning reader. 

The new Learn to Read Phonics Book Series helps children deconstruct words so they can sound them out.  There are currently 2 six book sets for sale- Short Vowels and Long Vowels, Silent E and Y- which are designed to introduce long and short vowels, phonics skills, word recognition, and reading basics.

The Learn to Read Phonics Book Series is a nice addition to a beginning reader’s Tag library because it provides a way for students to develop decoding skills.  When used in conjunction with existing Tag stories that provide more experience with reading words, beginning readers can learn to use a variety of different strategies to learn to read. 

In one of my previous posts for LeapFrog Teacher Tagvocates, I wrote about how Tags are the new listening center.  Tags could replace the old styling listening centers in classrooms where children sat around a tape or CD player and used headphones to listen to a story together.  While there is value in listening to text being read, Tag provides the auditory stimulation and a more interactive reading experience for emerging readers.  The interactive nature of the stories and the new phonics based books provide young students with the opportunity to work independently and engage with text that could assist them in their decoding skills while motivated to use the new technology.

So many kids struggle with reading because the strategies that they are taught don’t fit their learning style.  Since there are so many pieces to the reading puzzle, learning to read can be a daunting task for many young children. LeapFrog has recognized that whole language needs to be balanced with the new phonics based Tag books.  They have found a way to keep the content interesting so children will be motivated to learn to read and then maintain their fluency by reading new titles featuring their favorite characters.

The Tag and Learn to Read Phonics Book Series were given to "Leticia-Tech Savvy Mama" by LeapFrog in exchange for her honest feedback. The opinions expressed in this blog are her own.