I recently found this great website http://www.literacycenter.net from a link directory at www.childavenue.com.
The LiteracyCenter.Net provides safe learning activities for parents and teachers to share with young children. All online lessons are free of advertising and free of charge.
I love their approach to teaching through lessons that do not use branded characters:
Learning how an alphabet looks, sounds, and performs in words is a big job for small children.
Our research has found that characters, which are generally larger than the actual subject matter and often bouncing around and talking, can confuse the learning environment.
Children who have trouble recognizing letters report that they have no trouble remembering how characters look, sound, and behave. This is basically because most characters are actually branded products such as Big Bird, Barney, Thomas the Train, etc. … Small children in the United States are exposed to branded characters throughout the day. When they find these loved characters in educational environments, their attention is naturally more drawn to the character more than the subject matter.
Based upon the feedback we have received, it appears that this choice is helping children master material. Many report that children who play at the LiteracyCenter.Net begin to think that letters, colors, numbers, and words are as fun and engaging as branded characters.
Add it to your favorites and enjoy this free tool that will help you teach your young children early reading and number recognition skills.
Try it out with your kids and let us know how it goes. We would love to hear your feedback.
I am a mother of 5, preschool, K, and ESL teacher with a love for fine art, classical music, and child friendly (developmentally appropriate) methods of teaching young children to read. With the help of 45 Utah kindergarteners, I have development an early literacy program in which young children learn to read with their whole bodies through music, repetition, and play. Results have been amazing for all children, from the precocious to the reluctuant learner, the English Language Learner, and Resource student. The program can be used in the public school setting, homeschool setting, preschool setting, etc. Visit my website for a very thorough overview: http://www.allofmeliteracy.com.
Let me know if you have questions. I would love to help in any way!