How Do I Teach My Child How To Read??

I was on the phone with a good friend recently and she asked, "Karen, how do I teach her how to read?" I was a bit shocked being that she and I really never discussed what I do for a living or literacy for that matter. As a reading specialist, I'm constantly getting that question from teachers however I was actually thrilled that a parent of a toddler was making the inquiry this time around. I wouldn't say there's a cookie cutter approach to teaching a child how to read being that every learner is different. However, there are some general strategies that can be implemented in order to invoke literacy in your household! So to answer her question, I decided to write this blog; I'm sure her future primary teacher will be eternally grateful.

10 Helpful Tips on Teaching Your Child How to Read 

1. Be sure to read age appropriate books to your child(ren) from infancy; it's never too early! It's pivotal in early oral language, bonding and it helps them become lovers of reading. Many children with reading difficulties never developed a passion for it. 

2. Ask questions while reading! Prior to reading the book, create your own "checkpoints". Your checkpoints will be where you stop and assess comprehension of what's being read. Questions can also be asked before (to tap into prior knowledge) and after (to assess summarizing ability). 

3.  Model being a good reader! Can't expect your children to know and want to read if they never see you picking up a book yourself.

4. Rote memorization of the alphabet is boring! Take advantage of the teachable moments and be sure to shed light on environmental print i.e. stop signs, billboards, fast food menus, etc in order to teach and help your reader recognize letters/words. 

5. Have your child engage in multi-dimensional literacy activities. 

6. During the late emergent stage of reading, start working with your child on recognition of genres i.e. real, make believe (non-fiction, fiction, etc). 

7. Word classification activities will help your reader(s) in recognizing the similarities and patterns in words!

8.  Let's not forget the good old Phonics and Phonemic Awareness. (I did a previous blog explaining the difference between the two if you're unfamiliar.) It's important to teach letter sounds and the smallest part of words, the letters. 

9. Work on activities that support the decoding of words. Decoding is what we all know as "sounding out". Google decoding games!

10. Stop by Wal-Mart, teacher store, Staples and pick up Sight Word flashcards! These are words that your reader will often encounter and  may not necessarily follow the spelling "rules".

Hope this blog post is helpful! 

Until next time, 

K.Charles