How to Teach Your Child to Read Before Entering Preschool

Recently, published results of a study of reading practice among children and their parents found that too few parents read to their children regularly and this failure has long-term effects on learning as the children progress through the school system. In this article, you will learn how to develop the habit of reading aloud and to teach your preschooler to recognize whole words and read. This habit has benefits for the individual, children, elders, everybody! Reading aloud helps develop confidence, expressiveness, comprehension, and diaphragmatic breathing in the reader, and familiarity with the language, letter and word recognition, comprehension, lengthened attention span, and rote memory in the hearer.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Good lighting.
• Comfortable seating.
• Reading material like a book, article, ebook, comic strip or book, flash cards, etc.
• 10-15 uninterrupted minutes, at the start.

1. For a preschooler, select a book with colorful pictures and simple words. Books by Dr. Seuss, Bill Peet, or other rhyming authors work well and are often quickly remembered by the hearer with repetition.
2. Select a reading spot with lighting that does not cast a shadow on your text. It could be in the middle of your bed, a rocking chair that can be rocked to the rhythm of your reading, or any other seating arrangement that allows you to maintain close contact with your child and allows them to see the pictures and text.
3. Begin reading. Adopt the persona of the main character. Make voice changes that reflect the characters. Modulate your voice volume in keeping with the type of story you are reading by reading bedtime stories softly, or adventure stories very animatedly, for example.
4. Repeat daily, gradually increasing reading time to at least 20 minutes per day for your preschooler. Over time, your preschooler will memorize the text of their favorite reads and will likely recite along with you. Begin pointing to the words as you read and your preschooler will learn to read them. This is the "whole word" method of teaching reading.
5. Invite your child to read with you and, eventually, to you. Continue to share the habit of reading aloud over your lifetimes.