How to Teach Children to Read

Teaching a child how to read at a very young age is one of the best and most rewarding activities you may do with your child. It is never too early to teach your child how to read. In this guide, you will learn techniques for teaching your child how to read at a very young age.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Books
• Patience
• Time

It's Never Too Early to Teach Your Child to Read

1. Incorporate reading to your newborn baby as part of your bedtime routine. Include books that are colorful with single item pictures. Read in a calming and soothing voice, and reading will be a pleasurable experience for your child. As the baby grows, simply point to the pictures and spell out some of the small words. Point to each sound as you read a word.

2. Choose a word of the day and point it out as often as possible. This can begin with newborns. When talking about the word of the day, be sure to sound it out, spell it and repeat it often. Examples of these words are: cat, dog, mom, dad, fan, book.

3. Sing the alphabet song as often as possible. Some researchers suggest singing the sounds of the letters to the tune of the alphabet song. Example: "Ah, Buh, Kuh, Duh..."Make letter sounds with your baby, especially when she makes the sound first. This assures her that her opinion is important to you and makes them comfortable with language.First sounds for babies vary. More common are: "mmmmm", "guh" and "duh"

4. Use your hands to count, spell or sound out words. Because most languages are written and read from left to right, it is very important that you hold up your left hand and begin counting, spelling or sounding using your thumb. This trains the child's eyes to move from left to right while following your fingers.

5. As the child gets older, allow him to "read" to you or to repeat the words you have read aloud from a page. You might discover that your child is pointing to words or pictures on the pages. This is imitation and is an excellent learning process.

6. Teach your child to respect the pages of a book. Young children will instinctively want to tear pages. Try to incorporate books with pages that are made of paper and talk to your baby about how soft you are being while you turn a page.

Tips & Warnings

• Both parents as well as caregivers should incorporate reading to your child on a daily basis.
• This provides amazing bonding time between an adult and a child.
• As the child grows, he or she will be comfortable around books and will begin to request certain books to be read. Always do your best to honor these requests.
• Do not get frustrated. By starting as early as newborn, when you are already apt to me gentle, you are actually teaching yourself a valuable tool: patience.
• Do not allow young children to play with destructable books while alone. The child can tear pages, and may put paper in his or her mouth.

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