The foremost concern as a parent when the baby grows old is to teach them to read. Learning to read is not a crash course but a process. It develops gradually and starts the first time the baby looks at you and hears you talking to them. We will look at some easy ways on how to teach a child to read.
There would not be one best way to teach your child to read, but plenty of methods. Try to know your child more every time you read to them, using different techniques. Figure out what works for your kid the best. Yes, initially as a parent or a teacher, you will have to read it to them until they learn and develop the love for books and become independent readers.
How Do I Teach My Child to Read? Read below:
- Read to your child – This will be the very primary step as a parent you might want to do for the kid. Read out some bedtime stories and let him get used to this by following it each day.
- Sing the Alphabet song – Sing the alphabet rhyme (R) to teach your kid the alphabets. This song is the best-known English language song for the kids. Not only do they learn the alphabets quicker but also have fun reciting it in front of others. Make sure to teach the kid the right and particular pronunciation for each alphabet.
- Play rhyming games – Teach as many rhymes as possible to the kid and let him sing with you. Later, you could pick some random words and ask which rhyme does this fit in. A fun game to learn and remember.
- Label things with the names – Right from the very early age, try to label most of the items that the kids use. Could be a pen or a crayon but if it reads “PEN” they know soon what it stands for if they read it elsewhere. Isn’t that a smart way to teach kids to read? Few more examples here could be to name your kid’s toys like car, bus, monkey etc. You will be surprised to see them recognizing these in real life very early.
- Visit the Library – Going to the library along with your kid when they start speaking. It is the best ways to teach your child to read. Not only does the child observe others reading, but also develops the interest. There are a lot of options in the library for kids interest too. If your kid does not show interest initially, ask them to just pick up any magazine or a storybook of their choice and randomly browse the pictures. Gradually, they would not even realize when they start reading. This happens especially when the kids grow curious to understand the picture or find out what the subject is trying to do in the picture.
- Books shelf at home – Many a time you are just too lazy to walk to the library or there might not be one in your vicinity. Try to build a mini library for the kid at home. Buy as many books as you can for the kid and let them enjoy reading at home. Encourage them to read books once every day regularly.
- Play-dough letters – From toddlers to a child, all the kids enjoy getting their hands dirty with the playing dough. Show the kids to play with it and make some alphabets. Later you can ask them to make letters by getting the alphabets together. Interesting and simple, isn’t it?
- Play word association games – We have an article to learn how to play the word association game. Play this on a road trip or on the drive to the store, doesn’t matter.
- Read the mail together- Do not be over-excited to read the letter all by yourself when the postman drops it. Read it along with your kid and let them know what it means and who it is from.
- Reading notes – It is a good habit to make reading notes. Teach your kid to do the same. Might just make it fancy by using sticky papers and pasting it for a note added to a page.
- Syllable clapping game- Pick a random word and clap out for each syllable. For instance, if the word is “BUTTERFLY”, you clap three times with the kid to repeat it with you. “but -(clap)- ter -(clap)- fly-(clap)”. A really cute way to teach kids to read.
- Make Letter craft – Let your kid make some craft by using a chart paper and cut out letters and stick it on the wall. Fancy it further by adding colors to the paper if required. For example, make an Owl face in a letter O. Probably could be their name cutouts too.
- Environmental Letters – You could teach your kid every day just by looking around. Spell out the words to your kid even when you are taking a walk with them or relaxing in the garden. For example, Tree is spelled as T-R-E-E and get him to repeat it after you. Show him what it means and other related words like T-R-U-N-K, L-E-A-F etc.
- Lunchbox notes – Wouldn’t that be the cutest thing to do? Write a simple note to your kid each day when you pack their lunch box. They might struggle initially to read but could ask their teachers for some help. Don’t worry, they will get to know, much you love them. No wonder, teaching kids to read is an art too.
- Gift books – Gift books to your children and appreciate them gifting books to their friends too.
- Read Billboards – Encourage your kid to read the advertisement boards and let you know what they mean whenever you are on streets with him.
- Let them see you reading – It is good to teach what you preach. Let them see that you read books for fun and that it is a good thing to do.
- Do not use shortcuts or informal words – Speak to your kid in a good language and not use any informal words like “kiddie” or “poopsie”. Use the right word so that your kid learns the same and uses it appropriately.
- Word search game – If you have a newspaper in front of you, spell a word for the kid from the newspaper and let them search it. Hint them the section of the page only.
All the kids have their own learning speed and intellectual milestones. Try to take one step at a time and keep changing your techniques like we said at the beginning of the article here. Give time to your child to deal with it. Do not put any pressure on teaching kids to read as it will end up only frustrating them and yourselves. It might as well turn off their interest in reading. In the end, nurture the love of reading in your kids patiently.
