Little Reading Nest

Little Reading Nest Erin Goldman, M. Ed. | Reading Specialist

Helping children become confident readers through research based learning | Children’s Author | Charlotte, NC

Does your child make the same reading mistakes over and over? You may be seeing clues about what’s making reading diffic...
08/31/2026

Does your child make the same reading mistakes over and over? You may be seeing clues about what’s making reading difficult.

Substitutions, skipped words, insertions, reversals, and difficulty decoding can all happen as children learn to read. But when these errors happen frequently, they can make reading less accurate and eventually interfere with reading fluency and comprehension.

That’s why it’s important to notice the type of mistake your child is making not just whether they got the word wrong.

•Are they struggling with letter-sound patterns?
•Are they skipping or adding words?
•Are they stopping frequently or reading very slowly?
•Are they correcting themselves—or continuing without noticing?

These patterns can help you understand what might be breaking down and where your child may need additional support.

Reading mistakes are information. They can help us figure out how to better support a developing reader.

📌 Save this for your next reading session

Starting school can bring big feelings. Ollie’s Brave Bundle is designed to help children ages 3–7 build confidence, cou...
08/23/2026

Starting school can bring big feelings. Ollie’s Brave Bundle is designed to help children ages 3–7 build confidence, courage, and self-belief as they navigate new experiences.

Inside:
• Ollie: A Little Owl’s First Flight
• 6 confidence-building affirmation cards
• Wishing star
• Certificate of Bravery
• Ollie stickers

A meaningful back-to-school gift for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and little learners who need an extra reminder that they can be nervous and still be brave.

Shop Ollie’s Brave Bundle:
https://littlereadingnest.etsy.com

As a reading specialist, here’s what I’d focus on this week before school starts. Not a test. Not a checklist of things ...
08/19/2026

As a reading specialist, here’s what I’d focus on this week before school starts.

Not a test. Not a checklist of things they should already know. Just a few quick ways to wake up those reading skills after summer:

✨ Refresh letter sounds for a few minutes to get those sounds back into quick recall.

✨ Practice blending a handful of 3–4 sound words together.

✨ Read aloud together a couple of times this week. Keep it relaxed and enjoyable.

✨ Choose a “just right” book — something they can read with some success without it being too easy or frustrating.

✨ Give them a moment with mistakes. Instead of immediately telling them the word, pause and let them try to work it out.

And remember: they do not need to be perfect readers on the first day of school.

A few minutes of low-pressure practice is plenty.

📌Save this for the week and work through it at a pace that feels manageable for your family.

08/18/2026

Back-to-school schedules are BUSY.

The good news? Reading can fit into the little moments you already have.

Books in the car. A bedtime routine. A Target run. A quick menu or sign. Even an airplane safety card counts!

No pressure. No perfect routine. Just more opportunities to read. ❤️

As back-to-school season gets busier, finding time to read together can feel like just one more thing on your list. But ...
08/17/2026

As back-to-school season gets busier, finding time to read together can feel like just one more thing on your list.

But reading doesn’t have to mean sitting down for 30 minutes every night.

Try weaving small moments of reading into your busy family routine:

☑️Read a quick story at breakfast or before bed.

☑️Keep books in the car for appointments, practices, and waiting rooms.

☑️Listen to audiobooks during car rides or quiet time.

☑️Point out everyday words on signs, menus, labels, and stores.

These little moments all count—and they help build early literacy skills, vocabulary, comprehension, and a positive relationship with reading.

As you head into a new school year, remember: you don’t need more time. You just need to find the reading moments already hiding in your day.

Save this post for those extra-busy school weeks!

08/17/2026

What if your child could take a little bravery with them to school?

Starting school can bring big feelings—and sometimes little reminders of bravery can make all the difference.

Meet Ollie’s Brave Bundle, created to help little ones feel confident and supported through new beginnings and big transitions.

Includes a wishing star keepsake, Ollie sticker sheet, certificate of bravery, and six affirmation cards that can also be used as lunchbox notes.

A sweet back-to-school gift for your little brave.

Available now in my Etsy shop—with or without the book.

Comment “BRAVE” and I’ll send you the link! 🤎🩵

Why Review CVC Words When Teaching Digraphs?When introducing digraphs like SH, CH, and TH, don’t leave those familiar CV...
08/14/2026

Why Review CVC Words When Teaching Digraphs?

When introducing digraphs like SH, CH, and TH, don’t leave those familiar CVC words behind!

Start with a word your child already knows and then change just one part:

sip → ship
cat → chat
ten → then

This gives children a concrete way to see and hear what is changing.

Instead of simply memorizing that SH says /sh/, they can connect the letters to a word they already know and notice:
“I changed S to SH, and now I have a new word!”

This kind of word building helps children connect phonemic awareness + phonics + blending while strengthening their understanding of how letters represent sounds.

And remember, CVC words are not something to move past as soon as you introduce a new phonics skill. Keep reviewing them! They provide the foundation children need to successfully apply new patterns like digraphs.

📌Save this tip for your next phonics lesson!

08/13/2026

When you’re ready to introduce digraphs, keep the instruction explicit, systematic, and simple.

Try this routine:

👂 Hear the sound
👀 See the letters
🧲 Build the digraph
🔤 Blend it into words
🖕Trace for phoneme-grapheme mapping
✏️ Spell words with it
📖 Read it in decodable text

Start with one digraph at a time. I like introducing a beginning digraph first, such as SH in ship or shop, using words where the rest of the word is already within the child’s phonics knowledge.

Once the child is comfortable with the pattern, show that the same digraph can appear in other positions, too—like SH in fish or dish.

The goal isn’t to memorize a list of digraph words. It’s to help children connect sounds to letters and use that knowledge to read and spell.

📌 Save this for when you’re looking for a simple, structured way to make digraphs stick!

⬇️Comment CARDS for the digraph picture cards

Your child has mastered CVC words… so what comes next? Once your child can confidently read AND spell CVC words, it’s ti...
08/11/2026

Your child has mastered CVC words… so what comes next?

Once your child can confidently read AND spell CVC words, it’s time to build on that foundation with digraphs—two letters that work together to represent one sound, like sh, ch, th, wh, and ck. This is a natural next step in explicit, systematic phonics instruction and aligns with the Science of Reading.

⬇️ Comment LIST and I’ll send you my Digraph Weekly Practice Checklist with simple activities you can do at home this week!

📌 SAVE this post so you’ll know exactly what to teach next when your child masters CVC words.

08/04/2026

Does your child know all their letter sounds but still can’t blend simple words?

Sometimes the missing piece isn’t more practice—it’s the right starting point.

Instead of jumping straight into CVC words, the science of reading suggests to start with VC (vowel-consonant) words like at, in, on, and up. Have your child stretch the vowel sound and slowly slide it into the consonant (aaaaat… iiiiin…). This continuous blending helps their brain connect the sounds into a word.

Using magnetic letters adds a powerful tactile and visual component. As your child physically pushes the letters together while saying the sounds, they’re seeing, hearing, and feeling the blending process—all of which can make learning easier and more meaningful.

Once your child can confidently blend two sounds, simply add one beginning sound to build CVC words. You’re only asking their brain to learn one new sound at a time, making blending feel much more manageable.

💛 Save this for later and share it with another parent who has a beginning reader!

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