Learning to read at a young age is
important for the development of the child. It helps them develop a
better understand of their surroundings, allows them to gather
information from printed materials, and provides them with a wonderful
source of entertainment when they read stories and rhymes. Children
develop at different rates, and some children will develop reading
skills quicker than other children; however, what's important is that as
the parent, you are keenly aware of your child's maturity and reading
level to provide them with appropriate books and activities to help them
improve.
As parents, you are the most important
teacher for your children. You will introduce your child to books and
reading. Below we have some tips to help you teach your child to read.
Teach Your Child How to Read Tip #1
Teach your child alphabet letters and
sounds at the same time. Studies have shown that children learn best
when they are taught the letter names and letter sounds at the same
time. In one study, 58 preschool children were randomly assigned to
receive instructions in letter names and sounds, letter sound only, or
numbers (control group). The results of this study are consistent with
past research results in that it found children receiving letter name
and sound instruction were most likely to learn the sounds of letters
whose names included cues to their sounds. [1]
When teaching your child the letter
sounds, have them slowly trace the letter, while saying the sound of the
letter at the same time. For example, if you were teaching your child
the letter "A", you would say:
"The letter A makes the /A/ (ah) sound."
Then have your child say the /A/ sound while tracing the letter with his or her index finger.
Teaching a Child How to Read Tip #2
When teaching your child to read, always
emphasize with them that the proper reading order should be from left
to right, and top to bottom. To adults, this may seem so basic that
anyone should know it. However, our children are not born with the
knowledge that printed text should be read from left to right and top to
bottom, and this is why you'll sometimes see children reading from
right to left instead - because they were never explicitly taught to
read from left to right. When teaching your child how to read, always
emphasize this point with them.
Teach Your Child How to Read Tip #3
Teach final consonant blends first.
Teaching words such "at" and "and" can lead your child directly to
learning words that rhyme with these. For example, for "at", you can
have:
Lat
Pat
Mat
Cat
Sat
Bat
Spat
Chat
For "and", you can have these rhyming words:
Sand
Band
Land
Hand
Stand
Bland
Brand
Grand
and so on...
You can start teaching blends once your
child has learned the sounds of some consonants and short vowel sounds.
You don't need to wait until your child has mastered the sounds of all
the letters before teaching blends.
Learning to read is a long process, but
it doesn't have to be a difficult process. Broken down into intuitive
and logical steps, a child as young as two years old can learn to read,
and older children can accomplish even more.
>>
Click here to for a simple
step-by-step program that can help your child learn to read
watch a video of a 2 year old child reading
Notes:
1. J Exp Child Psychol. 2010 Apr;105(4):324-44. Epub 2010 Jan 25.
Learning letter names and sounds: effects of instruction, letter type, and phonological processing skill.
Piasta SB, Wagner RK.
Preschool Language and Literacy Lab, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
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