10 Ways to Teach Your Child How to Read

Do you have a baby that has grown to that age when you need to start teaching him how to read? If yes, then you’ve just seen the perfect guide that will help you to teach your child how to read very well.

Reading has to do with being able to identify letters, their sounds and then, combining these sounds.

Just like most things, you need to teach your child how to read for him to know how to read.

And yet, just like most things, teaching your child how to read can be a hard nut to crack.

I hear you say that’s the job of their teacher, but it is absolutely not.

Never depend on their teachers alone to teach your kids how to read.

But is it even necessary to teach your kids how to read?

Let’s find out…

Why you need to teach your child how to read

Learning how to read doesn’t occur naturally and is rather a painstaking process…for both the teacher and the student.

However, some children will grasp it’s concept faster than others.

And the very few who have dyslexia will even find it more difficult.

Knowing how to read is important because the need to read must arise someday, if not every day.

We read instructions on manuals, directions on billboards, etc.

As important as this skill is, research has found that one in three children don’t know how to read efficiently and this number is even worse for children in rural areas or in less developed countries.

It isn’t that these children are suffering from some dysfunction.

They just weren’t taught to read right.

Their foundation was faulty and if not corrected immediately, can pose some serious trouble for the child in future.

A child who doesn’t know how to read may do well in Math but won’t do as well in English or any other language.

Before a child enters kindergarten, he/she should have reached a certain level of aptness in reading – maybe two-letter words.

Perfecting this stage is necessary as this will then serve as a building block to reading bigger words.

Guess who the first how-to-read teacher of a child is? Yep, you got it right – Mummy and daddy.

This article will tell you ways you can use to help your child learn how to read.

These tips can also be used by teachers too. You’re welcome 😊

What are the Ways to Teach a Child How to Read?

Now that you know the importance of teaching your child how to read, here are some ways that will help you to teach them very well.

1. Point Words And Read To Your Child:

Many people don’t understand the importance of reading to a child. It isn’t far fetched that reading to a child is actually the first way he is exposed to reading.

While reading to your child, a lot of things happen. They are:

His comprehension skills broaden
An understanding of the relationship between letters and sounds creeps in
Then, he hears what a fluent reader sounds like
He can be able to point out some words and pronounce them
He’d start being able to relate some words with the corresponding drawings, etc.

While reading to your child, make him see what you are reading.

Bring the book to his level and show him some words.

You can even tell him to repeat after you as you read.

After reading the book, you can also ask him to look for the word _____.

Additionally, you can tell your child to bring out all two or three letter words in the book. Or you can do that yourself and teach your child.

2. Buy Word Magnets:

I have a friend who bought her little daughter an alphabet set.

Often, she’d tell the little girl to arrange some words that she has learnt newly.

Other times, she would arrange the alphabets herself and tell her daughter to pronounce the word she had spelt out.

This is a fantastic thing to do for your child as well.

You can start early to teach your child vowel sounds.

Also, you can pull them to one side and sound them for your child to hear.

For example say, “A, E, I, O, U are the vowel sounds.

They are pronounced this way /ah/ /eh/ /ih/ /awe/ /uh/.”

3. Play Word Games With Your Child:

Learning should be fun and playing word games with your kids helps them to learn faster.

In fact, playing word games should be on your list of fun things to do with your kids during the holidays.

Apart from making two, three or four-word puzzles for your child, there are other word games you can play.

Anywhere you are with your child, play games that encourage your child to listen and then identify the sounds later.

For example, you can say a word or repeat a word you heard and ask “What does the word _____ start with?”

Here are some questions you can ask:
What does the word _____end with?
What vowel sound can you hear in the word_____?
Can you tell me what word the word_____ rhymes with?
How many letters do you think are in the word_____?

4. Try Dealing More In Prints:

A print-rich environment helps children identify letters, their sounds and the relationship between letters to form meaningful words.

Create opportunities where your child can see words on charts, books, posters, etc.

While out and about, point at billboards and signs and even at the names of diners or churches.

When you point them out, ask the above-listed questions again.

5. Make Word Cards:

You can write some simple words out on a cut card.

If you’re dealing with two-letter words, make cards for as many two-letter words as you can.

Do the same for three and four-letter words.

You can also add to that by writing words that he already knows from around the house. For example, kitchen, cup, water, rice, play, tidy, etc.

6. Use Songs and Rhymes:

Listening to songs and nursery rhymes will help your child build phonemic awareness.

Research has found that using songs help people learn faster.

The same can be said about using songs to teach children how to read.

The essence of this is to help the children hear the sounds and syllables in words which in turn helps them to read.

You can clap rhythmically together to make it fun.

7. Get Cartoons That Help:

There are lots of cartoons that help children to learn how to read.

These cartoons usually help them identify sounds and their relationship with words.

Oftentimes, it also gives a pictorial representation of the said word.

Dora the Explorer and Mickey Mouse are two popular cartoons that help with phonemics.

8. Teach Them High-Frequency Words:

Make sure to teach them to read words that are usually used every day.

Example: we, do, I, he, she, they, and, the, what, etc.

This is helpful because it shows them not just how to spell words they use every day but also shows how to use and spell them.

9. Engage With Technology:

Technology has helped almost every area of education.

Check online for some reading programs that will be sure to help your child.

There are free and fun YouTube videos for your kids to learn how to read.

Also, you can consider buying children videos that teach them how to read and pronounce words.

10. Be Patient With Your Child While Teaching Him:

Teaching to do anything is difficult.

This is why teachers should be given accolades 🏵🏆.

While teaching at home, don’t get too angry when they don’t grasp the concept of reading fast enough.

Children learn at their pace and will learn even slower if their teacher is scary.

Make reading fun and you can also ‘fix’ some reading lessons when doing other activities with your child.

For example, when you’re sweeping or cooking, you can ask your child to spell broom, dust, bake, cook, food, etc.

Conclusion

Learning should be a fun activity. Teaching your kids to read first at home will help them when they go to school. However, even when they start going to school, don’t stop teaching them. Help make their teachers’ work easier.

For parents who want to home school their children, teaching your children how to read is all on you. Get some online materials that will help and be patient with them.

Reading doesn’t come naturally to be very intentional about it.

Please, share this article with other Moms to help them to teach their kids how to read.

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Love & Light,

Viv 🧡