Early Childhood Toolkit
Early Childhood Toolkit
Read-Aloud from Home
Read-Aloud from Home
Parents & Families
Parents & Families
EARLY CHILDHOOD TOOLKIT
The Victorian Government has suggested some guidelines to support parents and carers to engage in learning activities with their children at home:
Also, you may want to access information to talk to your children about COVID-19.
Literacy Apps
Early childhood education apps are one way to keep kids engaged while they learn at home. There are hundreds available, so it can be hard to know where to start. Here are a few that feature free activities you can check out today!
Alphabet Hero teaches the alphabet using a proven learning method. It creates a custom learning plan for each child by testing their letter knowledge using special games. Playful puzzle games will adapt as your child learns. Alphabet Hero teaches both upper and lower case letters at a perfect pace customized for your child. You can see a report on your child’s learning progress right in the app. See which letters they have already learned and which they are now learning by playing Alphabet Hero.
This game helps kids learn the alphabet by sight, sound, and touch. Even babies who are a few months old can use this one. What’s great is you can record sounds in your own voice, so it suits both English speakers and those from migrant and indigenous backgrounds who want to use their native tongue. You can even take photos of your child’s favourite items to make it more fun and personal.
Aimed at kids from 2-6 years, this app encourages imagination and creativity through open play. Based on ABC’s Play School TV show, it features characters and songs kids will recognise, hands-on activities and a strong focus on storytelling. Kids can create their own pictures, animated movies and slideshows narrated with their voice. <>Parents can join the creative process for family bonding.
This one has a space theme and can be customised for different ages and abilities which is good if you have both toddlers and older kids at home. You can select from First Words, ABC Letter Names and Sounds, Counting Numbers or Shapes and Colours. The different themes help kids learn a variety of core skills important for development.
Interactive stories with illustrations in this app enhance learning.
Each word is highlighted as it’s being read and spoken aloud if touched.
You can add your own voice, so your child hears you tell the story in English or another language if you’re from a migrant or indigenous background.
Each word is highlighted as it’s being read and spoken aloud if touched.
You can add your own voice, so your child hears you tell the story in English or another language if you’re from a migrant or indigenous background.
For kids who love nursery rhymes, this is a great option. It includes five activities that teach musical notes, rhythm and pitch. Children can touch characters and animals to play lots of songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb, Happy Birthday or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It helps kids develop memory, listening and pronunciation skills while they sing or dance along.
This one has a large range of games, books, activities and songs for toddlers and young children of different ages and levels. Interactive activities and lessons can be customised to improve reading, language, writing, maths, problem-solving, social and motor skills. Activities and games like drawing, storytelling and colouring encourage creativity and self-expression.
READ-ALOUD FROM HOME
Read-aloud sessions equip parents with the ability to further develop their child’s literacy experience at home. They also foster a love of books and expand a child’s vocabulary. The more words children hear the wider their vocabulary becomes, and their ability to communicate and express themselves increases, all of which are basic foundations of becoming literate. We have created a playlist of read-aloud videos below which can assist you to implement a read-aloud routine with your child today!
How to read with your child
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie read by Bri
THE RAINBOW FISH read by Awnie
Clark the Shark read by Chris Pine
Quackenstein Hatches a Family read by Kristen Bell
The Very Hungry Caterpillar read by Ms Linda
Audio Resources
Parents and children can also discover a wide range of interactive audio stories, games, and sing songs. Some stories help explain COVID-19 to young children. Start listening to audio stories with your kids today!
eBOOKS
We are committed to supporting parents in continuing the learning and development of their children at home by reading together. We are making available FREE eBooks from African Storybook to read at home. Additionally, we are making available two coronavirus eBooks for kids. You can download them at any time and start your reading journey with your child.
Activities
To support parents and children during the coronavirus pandemic lock-down, we have put together a bunch of FREE activities and resources which you can download now to get started. Below you can find activities for children from babies to 5 years old.
PARENTS & FAMILIES
Reading out of Poverty has published the Step by Step parent booklet, which is designed to assist new parents in their child’s development.
Children’s growth and milestones are all reached at different stages therefore, their development is about their own journey.
Below you can find an online version of our Step by Step booklet and you can also support us by purchasing a hardcopy via our eBay shop.
