Help Your Child Learn How to Read
Learning How to Read Is Important
When I was growing up my mom always emphasized the importance of reading – which was fine with me since I was “the reader” in the family. Mom told me and my brother if we could read we could do anything. How true is that?! She is right of course. If I can read I can learn how to fix a computer, how to perform brain surgery and how to prepare a mouthwatering roast. The information is out there to learn, to be read. I was taught early on that reading is one of the most important skills I will ever learn. And I have passed this life lesson on to my own children. I often catch myself telling them if they can read they can do anything. Oh goodness – I sound like my mother! Eh, I suppose it’s not all that bad.
Below are some ways to help your child learn to read. Be ready to ignite the passion for reading in your little one.
Let Me Hear From You!
Do You Read to Your Child Daily or Encourage Your Child to Read Daily?
Dont Let the Pigeon Touch the Books video
Getting Ready to Read
5 Things Kindergartners Do When They Read a Book
- Think about the story
- Check the picture
- Go back and get your mouth ready
- Choose a book that is just right
- Determine "does that make sense, would we say it that way?"
The Earlier You Teach Reading Basics The Better for Your Child
Start Early – begin reading to your baby as soon as he or she is born. Baby will enjoy hearing your voice and eventually playing with, looking at, and teething on books. Let baby see you reading the book from front to back, left to right so she recognizes the proper way to look at and flip through a book. I attended some baby showers where the mom-to-be asked for new or gently used books to build her baby’s home library instead of or alongside the traditional baby shower gifts.
In Preschool introduce letters and sounds – you’ll be amazed what a kid can pick up! Read and recite nursery rhymes and continue to show your child that we read front to back and left to right by using your finger to point to each word. Let your preschooler read the words ‘the’, ‘and’, and ‘a’ with you. These can be picked up rather easily and it gets your little one involved in the reading process. (Not to mention these are very frequently occurring words your little one will need to recognize anyways.)
In kindergarten you can ask your child to retell a story, to point out the parts of a book such as the cover, the back and the title and title page and how to recognize where the author’s name might be. If you read a book with rhymes be sure to point out that the words rhyme and why (both words sound like twins at the end – spoon and moon say oooooooon).
Practice recognizing upper and lower case letters and their partners (A and a, B and b, C and c). Make flashcards of the alphabet, point to letters in books, find signs with letters and ask what the first letter is, draw mini-posters of a letter of the week (Look Ann, this week’s letter is Kk, I made a paper of it to hang beside your toybox.)
Fry Frequently Used Word List 1-100
the of and a to in is you that it he was for on are as with his they I at be this have from or one had by word but not what all were we when your can said there use an each which she do how their if will up other about out many then them these so some her would make like him into time has look two more write go see number no way could people my than first water been call who oil now find long down day did get come made many part over
If You Give a Pig a Pancake Reading
Free Reading Resources Online and In the Home
There are many programs you can use to help your child learn how to read. My local school district uses Starfall which is free and Tumble Books which requires a login and password. It does cost but if your school purchases an account parents can get free access.
Participate in library programs – they’re FREE! What else could you ask for?! You get to borrow books free of charge (unless you return them late) and you can enroll your child in a reading program that usually includes stories, a small craft, and a little snack.
Set Example – my daughter didn’t sit and read until she SAW me do it. I would read in bed every night to help me fall asleep – therefore my kids never saw me reading. One day I was bored outta my mind and I KNEW I was at a really good part of my book. I brought the book to the living room and read while everyone else watched television or played video games. Next thing I knew I had two of the three little girls curled up on the couch beside me READING! The next day I tried it again and guess who was on the couch with me again! Now I catch my kids sitting all over the house with their noses in a book.
Make it into a Habit – Set aside 20 minutes each night where the entire family has to sit and read – a quiet time. Mom can read the newspaper or grocery ads, Dad can read a baseball magazine, and children can read storybooks or have storybooks read to them.
Little Giraffes Kindergarten Teaching Ideas - is a free web site full of reading resources and teaching ideas. Each week my daughter's kindergarten teacher sent home reading lists generated from this site. She created the reading pages using the Sentence Practice option. Each reading list focused on a different set of vocabulary words using.
