Reading Flashcards for Adults

Here you will find custom reading flashcards for adults. They are custom because you can actually customize the text that is printed on the back of the cards to make them more specific to your student or students. They are for adults because the images don't have the cutesy child look; they have a more mature look.

Some cards have more sentences than others, others are more basic.

Not all students are on the same level, and you can change the words to fit your needs. When I taught reading to adults, some were very beginners, and some of my students already knew quite a lot of sight words.

I am in the process of creating more categories, so if you have a request for a category that I haven't covered yet, or want additional items in the categories that I've already done, just let me know.

This first category is Transportation.

Transportation Reading Flash Cards
by Custom Flash Cards

Another common category that is helpful to adults is Food. This would be really helpful should your student shop in stores that don't show pictures on the can goods.

Food Flash Cards
by Custom Flash Cards

Visit my Custom Reading Flashcards on my other blog to see all the options:

Another set of words that could be helpful to your students, is to draw the various images and words that are posted on restrooms in your area. In my area, there are not just Men and Women, but gals and guys, mexican words, and more. This can be a very helpful lesson plan to persue to make life easier for your student.

All the best.

Cheryl Paton

Provide Fun Reading for Kids

My college age daughter was doing some research on literacy and found out that boys weren't doing as well in reading. It was reported that the problem was that the reading materials that were presented to them in school wasn't that interesting to them.

Yes, I know that reading materials in the schools may not be all that interesting to anyone. The key is that we want to keep our kids learning and reading; it will help them to become literate adults.

If the school isn't providing interesting reading materials, find out what your kids are interested in, and provide them with some books that are appealing to them. If they aren't really interested in "books", check out comic books and/or song lyrics. Perhaps they'll want to sing along to their favorite artists. A karaoke machine can be used for learning activities and birthdays too!

Have them dictate a story to you, write their words down, and then read it back to them. Then have them read their story back to you.

If they are also writing, reverse the roles, and dictate a story to them and have them write it down and then read it back to you. It can be a made up story, and or an experience story, or about something that they would like to do have or do.

Change things up a bit by having them write with a paint brush. Get some poster board or larger paper so that they can write l a r g e.

You don't have to do all of the above; the idea is to provide some fun reading activities that are outside of the school environment that is just for fun.

If you have any other ideas, please share in a comment below.

Cheryl Paton

Literacy activity, build a puzzle with instructions

Many people need to read instructions to do a particular job, to fill out an application, to build a toy for their child, etc.

Following instructions is a different type of reading than reading a story, a novel, a biography, the newspaper, etc. It requires people to think about what they are doing and to also probably follow a certain order or procedure.

One way to help your student(s) become accustomed to this type of reading is through actually building something that has written instructions to follow.

Something that you can do with them is to have them build a wood kit. Not all kits come with written instructions, so do check it out first to see if it would be an appropriate choice for your student and their goals.


If your student isn't into metal and gears, they may enjoy working with paper. Origami can be a fun craft to get in to; this origami kit explains what to do, and also illustrates the various folding techniques.

These are just a couple of examples. Find out what type of things your student might be interested in building. Do your research and make sure the selected item includes written instructions to follow. Then let the fun of learning and reading for a designated purpose begin.

It isn't so much that they build something that they can use; it can also be a gift for someone. Also, the practice of following written instructions is a transferable skill.

Cheryl Paton

Cheryl Paton earns income from qualified purchases made through links on this page.

Improve Literacy - Have your child dictate a story

When children first look at letters, it might look rather foreign to them. However, by writing down something that you child has said, and then read it back to them, makes a stronger connection.

A simple way to do this is to first show the child a picture and ask the child to tell you something about the picture. Then write down each word that the child says, and then read it back to them.

You can also read it again, pointing to each word as you read it.

If you have done a simple outline drawing for the picture, you can also have the child color it in. It helps them to identify with it more, and it also adds an element of fun.

Their early stories will probably be pretty short, maybe two to three words. As the child's vocabulary expands, they will begin to tell longer stories.

These stories can be easily made by adding a photo or drawing a picture on Blank Index Cards,, showing it to the child, and then writing down what they say.

Their stories can be read again and again. My daughter loved sitting down with me to read her stories.

The children's stories, whether short or long, can be placed in pages in mini photo albums. It keeps the pages safe and clean, and makes them more enjoyable to read.

Related Articles
Creative Writing for Kids provides other book ideas to spark your child's creative writing.
Personalized Family Flashcards is a great way to help kids to adults to recognize words that describe family members.

Cheryl Paton

Literacy and Phonetics - Alphabet Shirts

Children learn in a variety of ways. It's a good idea to incorporate different activities when teaching reading. It helps to reinforce the text when there is an activity to connect the reading to, other than just what is visual on the page, or the sound of one's voice.

This fun activity involves the kids coloring in letters on a shirt that they can wear.

Alphabet shirt, lower case, red, blue, purple toddler t-shirt

by CherylsArt

Of course, they don't have to color in the letters, they can just be fun to read and recite, to learn the order of the alphabet.

If you notice, the alphabet letters are shown in three different colors. The consonants are in red. The vowels are in blue. The crossover letters are in purple. Crossover letters are letters that sometimes act like a consonant, and sometimes like a vowel.

Most people are taught that the letter Y is sometimes a consonant and sometimes a vowel. Now Y has a pal; W.

W is also a crossover letter. The W acts like a consonant in the word - who. The W acts like a vowel, like a silent E in the word - flow.

Y can represent a variety of sounds. Y is a consonant in the word - yellow. Y acts like a long I in the word - fly, and like a long E in the word - baby.

A coloring alphabet shirt is a fun way to reinforce this concept. Teachers can wear alphabet shirts too.

Outline Art - Alphabet shirt, yellow, blue, green T-Shirt

by CherylsArt

Whether you're ordering a shirt for a teacher and/or student, I recommend acrylic paint markers for fabric. to color them in. The paint markers are quite permanent, and it's pretty simple to apply. Be sure to place a sheet of flat cardboard between the fabric layers before doing any coloring or painting on the shirts.

Happy reading; and coloring.

Cheryl Paton

Cheryl Paton earns income from qualified purchases made through the links on this page.

Literacy and Phonetics - Making Reading Fun for Kids

Part of learning is to make it fun. My daughter loved reading before starting school. She loved being read to and was learning how to sound things out. She had favorite books and looked forward to more. When she started elementary school, the school had a Book It Reading Program. The kids were rewarded for reading a certain number of books, and she loved that too.

Then came a higher grade, and the school wanted the kids to do timed readings. Do you want to be timed while you read? Do you think that would be fun? Well I know that my daughter didn't. She was pretty quick at reading; she had been reading pretty fluently for her grade levels and beyond for a while. But having to be timed, took the fun out of it. Reading became a chore.

After that class was over, she eventually learned to put the fun back in, and began to enjoy reading again. If you have any kids in grades that are doing timed readings, you might want to have a chat with the teacher. It's more important to give kids a reason to read, than to time them. Talk to them a bit about what the book is about. Spark their interest in wanting to find something out. You can do this by asking the child about what they think will happen.

My daughter is has graduated from college now, and recommends that the kids keep a reading journal. The kids read for a block of time and then write a short summary; a couple of sentences about what they've read. She remembers doing this in first grade and enjoying that activity.

Having kids enjoy learning to read as kids, is a great way to create adults who also enjoy to read.

Having the child dictate their own stories is a great way to build reading skills. Find out more on Dictate a Story.

Cheryl Paton