A Home Reading Station and Literacy Journal

The one big thing Ty’s kindergarten teacher asked us to do at home with him was read. Nightly. And keep track of the books finished. I wanted to do a little something more…so, I set up a Reading Station:

The contents: books that will be rotated/changed monthly, Ty’s reading chart that is to be handed end at the end of each month, a literacy journal, and a timer: it gives a five-minute warning and turns red when time is up, it has been a lifesaver in our house. The visual cues make it easy for Tyson to do this independently if needed.

The literacy journal is made up of fun bits and pieces spied on Pinterest. I love the idea of having him draw pictures to represent major pieces of the story or serve as a synopsis of his take on what we read:

First entry. So far, so good…he LOVES explaining, in GREAT five year-old detail (read: never-ending) his pictures. I am hoping in the near future, he can write a one sentence description himself. A good goal to work towards…

We’ll keep his monthly class sheet nearby so that we don’t lose it and he can color in the train cars himself:

I found these fantastic drawing prompts online: here and plan to use them as well:

Since it is currently our one and only “homework” assignment, we’ll keep the station in our family room where the books and journal are easily accessible for Tyson and the family:

And Tyson LOVED picking out his favorite washi tape colors and prints to personalize his journal. Working on the cover…