It was an accident that I discovered that anyone could teach a child how to read. My part-time nanny showed my 16-month old my letter “A” and explained what it was. Surprised to discover that she remembered it the next day, I was even more surprised.
Before I had children, I read somewhere that reading was essential for academic success. I realized that my daughter could recognize letters from a young age. I decided to continue teaching her alphabet and eventually teach her how to read at age 3.5. Although it could have happened much sooner, I decided to make it enjoyable and keep it short.
My Simple 5 Step Formula below will help you teach your child how to read.
1. Begin at 14 months ….Sing and practice the ABC song with your child …. Continue singing it until your child can sing it back ……..(You should make it a daily habit …..
2. Once your child is able to sing the ABC song …., you can move on to letter recognition.
If you prefer to print the Alphabet, include a Capital Letter and a lower-case letter. Also, include a picture of the ……
3. Begin with A-G ….ensuring that your child recognizes both the capital and lowercase letters. To make sure your child recognizes the letter, cover the picture and ask them what it is. Then get them to name the sound the letter makes. You should only spend 10 minutes …. a day and can only increase that if your child asks.
4. Continue the above steps with letters H-P. Repeat the above steps with letters H – P. YOU must ensure that you are using English phonetics and are sounding out the letters correctly.The correct sounds for English can be found here, http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics
5. Once your child is able to recognize all the letters and sounds ….., you can introduce them to reading by purchasing a book at any bookstore that teaches beginner readers. The book must be at the beginning level of the reading scheme. (You may need to ask the school where your child is going to learn which scheme they are using and then start with that one.
Start by reading the book aloud to your child. Then, encourage your child to continue reading the book. Your child might initially use the images as cues to read the words, but they will soon be able to phonetically sound out the words using the phonetic letters sounds they have learned from you.
Be patient, have fun and be patient. Don’t increase the time unless they ask. The bigger goal, aside from teaching them how to read, is to make learning enjoyable.
