3 Easy Tips a Busy Mom can Do to Teach Your Child How to Read

By : ChildrenLearningReading.com

Are you wondering when your child should start reading? Does it matter if your child isn't reading by 6 years old? Are you panicking because your child doesn't know his or her phonics? What is phonics anyway?

Learning to read at a young age is important for the development of your child. It helps them develop a better understanding 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 3 simple and easy tips to help you teach your child to read.

Teach Your Baby How to Read Tip #1

Teach your kid 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 toddler 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 as "at" and "and" can lead your child directly to learning words that rhyme with these. For example, for "at", you can have:

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, and 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.

Recent Articles

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

1. The Anti-Cancer Diet - The Ketogenic Diet and Cancer

   Mar 11, 24 04:47 AM

   If you have always wanted to know what an Anti-Cancer Diet would be like and learn why you should be on a Ketogenic Diet (A Low Carb Diet).

   Read More

2. Earliest Signs of Pregnancy

   Jan 22, 24 04:14 AM

   What are the Earliest Signs of Pregnancy? Are you wondering, "Am I Pregnant?" Early pregnancy symptoms are listed here.

   Read More

3. Hot Paprika Shrimp Recipe - Is your food making you FAT?

   Jan 22, 24 02:51 AM

   Healthy Foods like Hot Paprika Shrimp can form part of a weight loss diet with Metabolic Cooking. Is your food making you FAT or burn MORE fat?

   Read More

MomsWisdom, a Complete guide for Pre pregnancy preparation, Pregnancy care and New mom guide for Childhood

Gives honest parenting advice to mothers on how with the right mindset and preparation, you can raise happy, healthy, well-adjusted children who outperform others academically.