The Cleanup Song

On screen - your kid, alone

• 1Day 1 - Meet the story
• 2Day 2 - Word work
• 3Day 3 - What it means
• 4Day 4 - Fix & re-read
• 5Day 5 - Show what you know

Offline - with you

Print the pages for offline work together; the answer key is for you.

Sit close to your child and read the cleanup song out loud with a sing-song voice, tapping or clapping along to the rhyming pairs like block/box, book/look, and cat/mat. After each couplet, pause and ask, "Did you hear two words that sound the same at the end?" — a good answer is your child repeating the rhyming pair back, even if they giggle or sing it. For beginning-sound questions, stretch the first sound yourself ("bbb-book") and ask, "What sound did you hear first?"; a strong answer is the sound /b/, not the letter name. If your child gets stuck, say the word again slowly, then offer two choices instead of three ("Does *sock* rhyme with *block* or with *cat*?") so they can hear the match. For syllable questions, put their hand under their chin and count the drops, or clap together — one clap for *mop*, two claps for *crayon*. Keep it playful and short; five minutes of listening and rhyming is plenty at this age, and singing the song again at real cleanup time is the best practice of all.