4 Tips to Get Started Teaching Your Child to Read
4 Tips to Get Started
Teaching Your Child to Read
Learning to read is one of the most important skills that your child will learn. Reading is fundamental in almost every area of life. They need to be a good reader to excel in school, learn to drive a car, or land a good job later in life.
Today, I wanted to share a few tips on how to get started with teaching your child to read.
1. Be a good reading role model for your children.
As your kids grow and develop, they will begin to take notice in the things you do. It's common for two and three year olds to even mimic your actions. If your children see you reading often, they are likely to become interested in books as well. Reading as a hobby will also allow your kids to see how fun it can be, and that it shouldn't be seen as a chore. Luckily, I enjoy reading so my son is exposed to seeing me with a book often.
2. Know that it's never too early to start reading.
It's a very good idea to begin reading to your children as soon as they are born. We've been reading to our now 2 year old son every day since he was about 3 months old – it's a great part of a toddler's bedtime routine. This early, it's highly unlikely they will look at the book, but hearing your voice as you tell the story is very beneficial to a baby's growth and development. Starting early makes reading a common occurrence in your child's life – one that becomes natural to them.
3. Ask your toddler questions as you read to them.
As your babies get older and they are able to listen as you read, be sure to ask questions about the story. This further promotes problem solving and listening skills. It also promotes comprehension, an important skill for reading. You can draw questions from the story itself or the pictures in the book. For example, I will often ask my son what color something in the illustration is or how many of something there are.
4. Promote letter recognition.
Most two to three years olds can begin to recognize the letters of the alphabet as you read to them. Books that are perfect during this time are those that focus on the ABC's rather than a story. For example, colorful books with simple sentences such as "A is for Apple" and "B is for Ball" are beneficial. Letter recognition is an important step for reading, as once children learn letters, they can learn that letters form words and words form sentences.
What tips do you have for teaching children to read?
Kecia is a WAHM to a two year old boy, wife, blogger, freelance writer, and self-proclaimed social media enthusiast. Southern Girl Ramblings is her spot on the web to ramble about parenting and life in general as well as feature product reviews and host giveaways!
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