Dear Parents and Guardians:

While reading Ranger Rick Jr. with your child, you can reinforce what he or she is learning in the classroom. The magazine is full of numbers, shapes, colors, letters, and early learning sight words.

This month, focus on colors as you read the magazine with your child. Turn to pages 4–5 and ask him to name the colors of the picture frames found on these pages. Then talk about the colors of the various animals.

Another fun game can be asking your child to find a specific color within the pages of the magazine. First, ask him to name his favorite color. Then flip through the magazine and see how many pages have that color on them. Now it’s your turn. Ask your child to name a color for you to find.

Reading aloud to your child has many benefits. It can help develop comprehension skills, expand vocabulary, and increase a child’s ability to focus. Try to be as expressive as you can when you read the Ricky and Pals story “The Ghost” on pages 26­–29. Use a different voice for each character. Make hearing “a loud crack” (page 27) more exciting by speaking in a louder voice. Then look around and sound scared when Sammy asks “What was that?”

Try to make Flora’s voice lower and scarier as she starts telling the ghost story on page 29, “Once, there was a scary tree in the middle of the woods. A ghost lived in the tree.” Make Sammy’s voice excited and frightened when he yells “I saw a ghost!” and “It flew right past us.” 

Be sure to talk about the pictures as you read. Show page 29 to your child and ask what she thinks might have scared the pals. The “ghost” in the picture with Sammy Skunk looks a lot like the owl in the tree.

Enjoy the cooler October weather and look for vivid colors as the leaves change.

Mike Wilson, Founder
Prekindergarten Reading Encouragement Project
PREP – Helping childhood literacy one family at a time.
facebook.com/PREPDelaware