Oak Tree Literacy
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Reading Tutor, Early Childhood Educator, Outschool Educator.
Supporting parents to raise confident and creative kids by building a strong literacy foundation through quality, everyday experiences.
08/14/2026
Pushing kids to learn skills they aren't developmentally prepared to learn is not just a waste of time, but it's harmful their emotional health. Let little kids be little kids!
Development follows a sequence, not a schedule.
Parents, you've probably seen those "Kindergarten Readiness" lists of things your child should be able to do before they start school. I recently ran across one that listed sitting still, knowing all the letters of the alphabet, segmenting syllables, and phoneme isolation as helpful skills kids should have before kindergarten! Here's the truth: the development of these skills will happen in time for most kids, as they play, listen to read alouds, have conversations, sing songs, and do all the things kids do in a play-based kindergarten program. If kids are expected to have these skills before kindergarten, then it's not kindergarten. It's first grade. Ditch the list and let five year olds be five year olds.
Kindergarten is early childhood education, and the best way young kids learn is through play. Play-based kindergartens help build a strong foundation that supports literacy development. Follow if you're a parent of young kids looking for developmentally aligned activities that build literacy skills.
08/12/2026
As a reading tutor, I know the importance of building early literacy skills, but as an early childhood educator, I also know that kids need to build these skills through play. Play-based kindergarten programs don't require kids to be "ready" to learn because five year olds need no preparation to be five year olds.
08/12/2026
If you're a first time kindergarten parent, you might be worrying about the journey ahead. What if my child isn't ready? What if my child struggles? It's normal to feel uncertain about the future, but remember to embrace who your child is today. Save this for when you need a bit of reassurance that your child is perfectly ready for their next adventure!
08/11/2026
If you're a first time kindergarten parent, you might be wondering if your child is ready for school. There's lots of advice available, like making sure your child can tie their shoes, write their names, and know all the letters of the alphabet! Do they really need to be able to do all of this before they go to kindergarten!? I share my thoughts in my latest blogpost. Please check it out and follow me for more about early learning and literacy.
Rethinking Kindergarten Readiness — Oak Tree Literacy Are you a first-time kindergarten parent? Starting school is an exciting milestone, but you might feel like your child is a little fish who’s not quite ready to swim in such a big pool. Before you start overthinking all the ways your child might not be ready for kindergarten, let’s consider what...
As a parent, I enjoyed reading these and many more books to my own kids. Now, as a reading tutor, I get to share them with more kids. Have you read any of these books to your kids? What are some of your favourites?
08/09/2026
As parents, we want our kids to do well in school but we don't always know how to help. Reading out loud to them, no matter what age they are, builds literacy skills that support them in all areas of learning. Save this for when you need a reminder that reading out loud to your kids is your most powerful teaching tool.
Kids love hearing the same book read to them over and over. These are a few of the books I read on repeat to my kids when they were little! What books do your kids love to hear over and over again?
08/08/2026
Screen time is fun for little kids, but research tells us too much means they're not spending enough time on foundational literacy activities. To make sure they're getting a healthy start, we can read out loud to our kids every day. Then a bit of screen time can be added in, just like enjoying ice cream after eating a healthy dinner.
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