Teaching your child how to read is crucial as reading is the basis for most future learning. Children who can read well and are confident in their reading will have a better kick start in school and also a more positive attitude towards learning in general.
You as the parent or guardian play the most important role in your child's learning process as you are your kid's first teacher. There is a lot of information to be found on this matter and it can be confusing to know where to begin. Here are my top 7 tips that you can immediately implement to improve your child's reading:
Tip 1 - Teach lower case letters for starters
Nearly all ABC building blocks and books for young children and toddlers are written in uppercase letters. Yet ironically capital letters only count for about 5% of all letters in written English. So it is more important to put emphasis on lower case letters for developing reading skills.
Tip 2 - Teach the sounds of letters along with their names
When we read, it is the sound that matters. However the sounds of most letters are differ from the name of the letter itself. Let's take the letter "c" for example. You can tell your child the name of the letter is "see" and it can make two different sounds, namely "ss" as in "soft" or it can make the sound "kk" as in the word "camel".
Ask your kid to give you different examples. Elaborate if he has questions on different letters with differing sounds. Accept a reasonable effort from your child. See that learning the sounds is only a stepping stone to learning to read.
Tip 3 - Grammar is irrelevant at this stage
It is not important to teach about the difference between a consonant and a vowel and short and long sounds. Children can learn equally well without these rules.
Preschoolers, kindergartners and even first graders think differently, in reading it is the mechanics that count at first. The complicated concepts of grammar will come in due time in school.
Tip 4 - Don't give your child a dictionary to learn, start small
Reading is a very delicate process. There are a lot of words that can't be read using easy phonic rules. Many important words have to be learned by eyesight. A young child only needs a number of words to read well, these 400 key words are called Dolch words. Teach the easier and common words firstly and then gradually increase the difficulty.
Tip 5 - Reading and writing goes hand in hand
It is much easier and faster for children to learn reading and writing at the same time. Seeing the letters in writing and listening to them will reinforce better learning.
Teach your child to write letters and say them. Then move higher to words. The best place to start is to show them how to write their name. After that they will want to wright their names everywhere. =)
Tip 6 - Read consistently and make reading fun
Kids love routines and fun. Read with your child everyday and read something that she/he wants to read, even if you have read it a 100 times. It is great for the child's love of reading and it is something that you and your child can look forward to everyday.
Make turns on who has to read and be patient if your child struggles with more difficult words. Be creative and try make it as fun as possible. Yes, reading is probably the most important skill a child has to master for school and further education, but there is no need to make it a pain.
Tip 7 - Without a tool, there ain't no product
There is nothing worse than having to read something that one does not like or having nothing to read at all. Try creating your child's own small bookshelf at home that he or she can access at any time.
Let your child chose a few books. They will be more likely to read on their own and improve their reading skills by reading something that they enjoy.
Reading is a vital part of a child's young life and I cannot stress enough how important it is that a child learns how to read as early as possible. At first, we learn to read. Then with time we read to learn.
>> 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
