Hi, I’m Charity!
Welcome to Literacy 4 Little Learners! I’m so glad you’re here.
My journey in education began in a kindergarten classroom, where I spent nine years learning right alongside my students. Along the way, I earned my Master’s in Education, completed LETRS training, and developed a deep passion for helping young learners build strong foundations through purposeful instruction and play.
However, most of what shaped my teaching didn’t come from a textbook, a training, or a curriculum guide.
It came from the children sitting in front of me every day.
How Literacy 4 Little Learners Began
Like many teachers, I was constantly creating things for my own classroom. We are given a curriculum as teachers, but the curriculum does not know the students sitting in front of you.
Sometimes my students needed more practice with a skill than our curriculum provided. Sometimes the activities felt too boring or overwhelming for five-year-olds. Sometimes I just needed a version that was more visually appealing, more hands-on, or better suited to the students in front of me.
So I made what my students needed.
Over time, I filled my classroom with resources I had created myself. One day, my husband pointed out that if I was constantly looking for these types of materials, other teachers probably were too.
At first, I didn’t think anyone would want them.
But…(don’t tell him I said this!) he was right and I was wrong.
What started as resources for my own classroom eventually became Literacy 4 Little Learners, a place where I could share the things that were helping my students and hopefully make life a little easier for other teachers along the way.
The Moment That Changed My Thinking
During my first year of teaching, one of my students was struggling to stay engaged. I went over to check on him and he looked at me and said, “My body is telling me I need to be running outside.”
That simple comment stuck with me.
He wasn’t showing “work refusal”.
He was five.
The more time I spent with young learners, the more I realized that play isn’t a reward after learning… it’s one of the ways children learn best.
When children are playing, they’re invested. They’re curious. They’re willing to take risks. The pressure disappears, and suddenly they’re practicing skills they may have otherwise avoided.
That’s why you’ll find games, hands-on activities, and purposeful play woven throughout so many of the resources I create. Not because they’re cute. Not because they keep students busy.
Because they work.
When Things Stopped Making Sense
A few years into teaching, I started noticing something else.
Every year, I had students who knew their letters and sounds but still struggled to read. I followed the reading practices I had been taught. I did what I was told. But deep down, I knew something wasn’t working for some of my students.
Then I discovered structured literacy.
Everything clicked.
It wasn’t that my students couldn’t learn. They simply needed more explicit instruction than they were receiving.
My LETRS training further reinforced what I had already begun to see in my classroom: when instruction is systematic, explicit, and grounded in how children actually learn to read, students thrive.
That experience completely changed the way I approached literacy instruction and ultimately influenced every phonics resource I create today.
What You’ll Find Here
Over the years, I’ve learned that kindergarten teachers are often expected to choose between things that shouldn’t be competing with one another.
Play or academics.
Engagement or rigor.
Developmentally appropriate practice or strong instruction.
I don’t believe we should have to choose.
I believe play has a purpose.
I believe explicit instruction matters.
I believe kindergarteners deserve resources designed specifically for the way five-year-olds learn.
And I believe that every activity should earn its place in the classroom.
Nothing here is included simply because it’s cute.
Every resource is designed to help students build skills, confidence, independence, and a love of learning.
More Than Anything…
I hope teachers who use my resources feel like they were created by someone who truly understands kindergarteners.
Because every resource, every update, and every idea starts with the same question: Will this actually work for a five-year-old?
If the answer is no, I go back and make it better.
Thank you for being here. I’m honored to be a small part of your teaching journey.
