I have had so many people show amazing interest in my product, Reading Noodle, over the past year since I launched! The response has been amazing! I have been getting a ton of questions, and it made me think that it might benefit my customers and future customers alike to answer some of those questions more in depth in a blog post!

So here is a little FAQ about Reading Noodle:

1. What is in the boxes?

The boxes contain 4 weeks worth of reading material. Each week is a particular sound packaged with activities and a lesson template to support that sound. The activities are often repetitive, but repetition is key to building confident readers! The more comfortable your child is with a game or activity the more they will be able to focus on the content attached to the activity.

The activities include word games, fluency passages and sentences, and a simple lesson plan to follow. Along with a new sound/spelling pattern (letter combination and the sound they make) there is a set of sight words (words that cannot always be sounded out) with each week. There are also materials included depending on the needs of the box such as dry erase markers, dice, bingo chips, etc.

2. Where did I obtain the material to put in the boxes?

As a former first grade teacher, and a Masters degree in curriculum and instruction, I have years of experience with a variety of reading curriculums. After careful study, I created what I considered to be an appropriate scope and sequence of learning sound/spelling patterns and sight words. After creating the scope and sequence I developed activities to accompany each one based on activities my students loved, as well as activities that developed strong readers. I chose activities that encouraged repetition, fluency, and accuracy. That being said, I made sure the activities were engaging and fun too! All of the activities you receive are hand crafted by yours truly!

The artwork is from a variety of sources either free or I purchased a license for, and it is cited in each box where the artwork comes from.

3. How do I (the parent) know when to teach which activity?

Each box comes with a weekly calendar template where you can write out your plan for the week. Here is an example!

4. How are the materials organized in the box?

Each week is separated into a large ziploc bag with a sticker stating which sound and which week it relates to to help keep you organized! All of the activities are color coordinated too, so if you chose to organize it in colored file folders you should be able to do so with ease.

5. What age levels can use the Reading Noodle boxes?

There are TWO subscription sets. A Pre-K (ages 3-5) and an Early Elementary Box (ages 5-8)

It’s important to know how to use it for each age.

PRE-K Box:

-Age 3: Your child must be showing a consistent interest in learning their letters. This age should still be full of play and social skills. However, if your child is starting to pick up letters and show an interest in learning letters the Pre-K Box is a great way to jump start into learning letters and their corresponding sounds.

-Age 4: This is a prime age to learn letters! The Pre-K box is a perfect match for 4 year olds.

-Age 5: If your child still hasn’t learned their letters start with the pre-k box, it will be a great review during kindergarten, or a great jumpstart if they haven’t yet started kindergarten. It is also a wonderful way to support them WHILE they are in kindergarten, especially if you or their teacher sees them struggling.

Early Elementary Box:

-Age 5: Your child must CONFIDENTLY know their letters and sounds and be showing an interest in reading! I don’t want Reading Noodle materials to be a frustration because they were pushed too early to start. I only suggest the Early Elementary Box for 5 year olds if they are showing above average strength in reading, or acting like they need a challenge.

-Age 6-7: Ideal, especially if they are in 1st grade or toward the end of kindergarten. This box set covers all the typical sounds and sight words a first grader would learn throughout the year.

-Age 8 and on: Use Reading Noodle if your child is below grade level in reading, or just really struggling to keep up. Reading Noodle is a great tool to use for students that are needing extra support, in fact it is those very students that inspired Reading Noodle.

6. How many boxes are there in all? 

Pre-K: There are 8 boxes, the program runs for 8 months.

Early Elementary: There are 7 boxes, so the program runs for 7 months.

7. How does the program work?

It works how YOU want it to work! There are guidelines and materials supplied to guide you (like the calendar, activities, instruction guides, etc). But I want this to be something that feels doable and accessible! Not something that is overwhelming and wasted. You do not have to follow my steps (outlined here and below). You can add your own spin, extend or shorten, just play games and forget the lessons. It really is flexible to fit the needs of your family. It can be used as practice to keep skills up, or it can be used as a program to increase your child’s reading skills outside of school.

You can see my example video of how I would utilize the Early Elementary  program. Here are the written out steps too:

Spend anywhere from 10-30 minutes, 3-5 days a week, doing the following:

-Introduce the sound/spelling card and put it somewhere where your child can see it daily.

-Practice some words that include the sound/spelling (example short e spelled e and ea) on the white board, where you write the word and your child sounds it out.

-Practice saying a word and having your child stretch the sounds and write the word down

-Introduce and go over sight words for the week (put them somewhere your child will see often)

-Practice sentence strips for fluency in the new sound and the sight words

-Read the fluency story together

-Choose an activity to do!

Again, you do not have to do all of these steps. Pick and choose, or follow it to a T. It’s completely up to you!

Best of luck as you embark on this amazing adventure of teaching your child how to read. The English language is a tricky thing, I hope these tools can help guide your child to love reading!

Please always feel free to ask me any questions!