There are no shortage of studies which find many benefits in teaching children reading at an early age. For example, one study administered a Stanford achievement test at the start of kindergarten and then again at the end of grade one found that early language based skills were highly associated with later academic performance in school aged children. Similar studies also found that a high level of letter knowledge in kindergarten can reliably predict better later literacy skills.
Having a home environment that's conducive to literacy growth is critical in a child's development, and directly affects a child's language and literacy development. Studies have found that responsiveness and support of the home environment is the strongest predictor of children's language and early literacy skills. My point here is help make parents aware that children who enter kindergarten with highly developed early reading skills will achieve greater success with systematic reading education.
It's never too late to start home lessons and programs to teach your children to read. Regardless how old your child is, starting a reading program at a young age will have ample benefits. Start with lots of talking, singing, and reading to your child right from birth, and once your child is able to speak, you can start a simple reading program.
Begin with teaching your child some basic letters and their sounds, and even as soon your child learn just a few letters and their sounds, you can begin teaching them simple blends using the letter knowledge that they have acquired. Work on ear training with your child on oral blending and word segmentation. One of the keys to teaching children read is developing phonemic awareness. Studies have shown that phonemic awareness is one of the best predictors of reading success in children. We developed a simple step-by-step teaching children reading program that we have used to successfully teach our young children to read.
>> Click here to for a simple, step-by-step program that can help your child learn to read, and watch a video of a 2 year old child reading
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What parent doesn't love to read to their child? There are so many professionals, and PhD's out there that really promote reading to children and about how it is so good for them. I have found that this is true with my own children.
I am not sure if it is the book or the fact that you are spending quality time with them; Undivided time that they will remember for their entire life. Reading to children is one of the most bonding experiences you can have.
The children enjoy cuddling on your lap while your voice flows over them. As the reader it is fun to watch their little faces as they are moved with the flow of the story. They are laughing one moment and on the next page the story has moved them to tears.
As the story teller, I am just as moved as they are; caught up in the story as our emotions flow up and down. You can easily lose a whole afternoon to reading.
This is an experience that the children then try to emulate to younger children, reading books to them. My daughter was so into reading that if she couldn't line up some neighbor's children she could be reading her books to, she would line up her stuffed animals and read to them.
Well, she also tried to teach her neighbors and teddy bears Math, and about "ocean science" as she called it. She would read anything she could to them. And to my astonishment the neighbor's parents told me they really appreciated the fact that their children were doing so much better in school.
Now that is a testament to reading to your children. And, I am thinking that those stuffed animals know way more than they are letting on - when they have children reading books to them.
>> Click here to for a simple, step-by-step program that can help your child learn to read, and watch a video of a 2 year old child reading
Before a child learns to read, he or she must first learn the spoken language, and this is one of the first instances where family members such as dad, mom, older siblings, and grandparents play an important role in "teaching" the child the spoken English language. Whether young children realize it or not, they gain very early exposure to the alphabet when parents sing the alphabet song to them. They begin to develop language skills by being read to and spoken to. One of the keys to teaching children reading early on is by exposing them to alphabet letters, books, and reading to them often.
Reading nursery rhymes and children's books are an important part of getting children to understand printed text. Talk to your children, and talk to them often, whether they understand or not is not important when they're just babies. The more you talk and interact with your little ones, the better they will develop. The key is exposure, and repeated exposure. Once your child learns to speak, you can begin teaching them reading at home.
I often hear parents say that they don't want to "push" their child too hard. How can teaching your child to read at a young age be considered "pushing" them too hard? If you as a parent already have the mentality that reading is a chore, and teaching them to read is pushing "too hard", you certainly can't expect your children to be excited about learning reading. On the contrary, learning to read offers a young child an opportunity for a lifetime to learn, discover, and enjoy the wonders of reading.
Parents (including myself) will often underestimate the abilities and learning capabilities of young children. When we first began our teaching reading program with our first child when she was 2 years and 8 months, little did we expect that in just a few short weeks, she would be reading not just words, but sentences and story books. After about 3 months, by the time she was 2 years 11 months old, our daughter could read "Step in to Reading - step 2 (pre-school to grade 1 level)" books with some guidance. The benefits of learning to read were apparent - improved speech clarity, and better reading ability and reading comprehension.
>> Click here to for a simple, step-by-step program that can help your child learn to read, and watch a video of a 2 year old child reading
How can you keep children reading books?
Kids tend to really dislike reading and it can be quite a difficult task to get them into opening books!
But reading is essential. Reading not only increases children's vocabulary and literacy skills. Many expert studies have shown and proven that reading also has an effect on the brain and actually increases children's intelligence. Children who read often and who enjoy reading also tend to do well in school and become more intelligent and successful individuals later in life.
Reading therefore is very important and parents can play a key role in keeping their children reading books. They can help them feel comfortable with books and make them enjoy spending hours reading and exploring a book. That's why a child's bedroom should always contain many books especially ones designed for children. Kids should be able to easily pick a book and explore it in their bedroom.
Parents should encourage children to read from an early age. Even toddlers can be introduced to reading with picture books. There are many beautiful picture books that children can really enjoy and that can help them develop a love for reading early on. Parents can explore them with their kids and pictures are ideal before bedtime.
How should parents read a picture book? When reading a picture book, parents should change the tone of their voice and read clearly and slowly so that the toddler understands the book. Parents should not hesitate to read the same story over and over again especially if the toddler likes it.
For older children, parents should not hesitate to get quality comic books for their kids. There are actually excellent comic books available that are instructive, well-written and that can get children into developing a taste for reading. Children's encyclopedias can also encourage kids to read and they can also help with the schoolwork. Children's encyclopedias are actually fantastic educational books, they are designed specifically for children and they keep children reading books. They are ideal for children as they contain lots of images and are easy to read.
Parents shouldn't hesitate also to get books specifically designed for children and that contain crossword puzzles, analogies and decoding messages. There are also books that can help children improve language skills, increase their vocabulary and have them learn interesting facts from cross-curricular topics.
>> Click here to for a simple, step-by-step program that can help your child learn to read, and watch a video of a 2 year old child reading
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Why Should Children Read?
Reading is an essential skill children must learn to be successful at school. Why? Because reading is REQUIRED to learn about most other subjects. Most of their learning is done from reading, whether it is books, magazines, workbooks from the teacher or writing on the blackboard, the ability to read is a must.
After all, how can you answer maths, science or social studies questions if you can't read them? It's impossible right? Yes, the ability to read is crucial and the better a child can read the easier they will learn in school.
How To Get A Child To Read!
There are plenty of ways to encourage your children to read. Remember, they are children, so get them involved and make it fun, fun, fun. They can help you bake and read recipes, read toy coupons and pamphlets that come in the mail, read comics, labels at shopping or road signs while driving. Think of fun games you can play while shopping, driving or walking to school, it will be of great benefit to your child.
5 REASONS To Encourage Reading
1. Smarter Children: Pretty obvious really. The more they read, the more they learn - the more they learn, the more they know - the more they know, the smarter they are.
2. Reduces Stress: Wow, that's interesting! Think about it, when you're reading you sit in a quiet place, still your mind and focus on reading. Your mind slows down and you're generally calm and relaxed. This relaxed state is similar to meditating and kids will benefit in developing the habit of relaxation.
3. Develops Cognitive (mental processing) Skills: Reading develops children's imaginations and creativity. What better way to encourage your child to dream! It also encourages logical thinking and problem solving skills.
4. Enhanced Concentration & Discipline: Along with reading comprehension comes a stronger self-discipline, longer attention span, and better memory retention, all of which will serve your child well while learning at school.
5. Better Communication Skills: By witnessing the interactions between the characters in the books, as well as the contact with you during reading time, your child is gaining valuable communication skills. It's also a perfect opportunity to spend quality time together and bond with your child, many of us have fond memories of times spent reading with parents.
5 WAYS To Encourage Reading
Okay, so reading is important now how do you get your kids to read?
1. Make Books Available & Accessible: Children who become readers usually come from homes where books and other reading materials are present throughout the house. Keep plenty of books around the house and make sure they're easy to get to, don't hide them away so they can't access them whenever they want.
2. Lead By Example: Children often adopt the habits of their parents so it's a good way to encourage your child to read. If your children see you enjoy reading, they are more likely to develop the same habit.
3. Visit The Library Regularly: Take your children to the library often. Let them get excited about choosing their own books. Most libraries have story time where librarians read stories to children or they run different activities to encourage reading. Become a member of the library and participate in activities so your child looks forward to visiting the library.
4. Make Reading Fun: Children prefer to do things that are fun. Make story time enjoyable, act out stories, use different voices and read with enthusiasm. A boring reader makes for a boring story no matter how exciting the story may really be. You'll find you'll enjoy reading time too.
5. Personalized Books: Get your child a personalized book of their own. Children are amazed when they realize the story is about them. They boost self-esteem and are a great way to encourage reading. The books are fantastic keepsakes your child will treasure for a very long time.
>> Click here to for a simple, step-by-step program that can help your child learn to read, and watch a video of a 2 year old child reading
