This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but I’ll get a small commission. Thanks for reading!
Have you ever sat down to read with your child and you find that they are guessing? Or they are looking out the window and still trying to read? Or they look at the pictures and try to read based on what they see? If you have experienced any of these situations I’m sure you are frustrated.
It is such a wonderful time in your child’s life when they learn how to read. They get so excited, they read everything that they see; it’s so fun! It seems easy enough to help your child learn how to read, until you actually sit down with them. There is a lot more to teaching a child to read than just opening a book.
Here are tips to help you become an awesome teacher and your child to become a great reader.
- Learn the alphabet and the most common sound for each letter. This may sound like a no brainer, but without a base, your child will become frustrated and won’t want to try. The best tool that I have found for this is “The Letter Factory.” When my girls were little, I would turn this show on. It was amazing to see the growth! They have a catchy song that teaches them the letter and the sound. for example, “The A says ahhh, the A says ahhh, every letter makes a sound the A says ahhh.”
- As soon as your child can start identifying a letter and its sound, start putting together combinations of letters for your child to sound out. Example: at, pod, tub.
- Practice encoding- No this is not for computers hahaha. All this means is that you say the word and your child breaks it down and writes the sound. For example: you say “cat” your child breaks it down, sounds it out and writes down what they hear. This works best with CVC words (consonant vowel consonant)
- Have your child memorize high frequency words. These are words that cannot be sounded out, so they need to be memorized. Example: like, said, for. I have put in two lists of these words below.
- Allow your child to read books that are at their level. This might sound like another no-brainer, but it seems so easy to look at a book and think, “My child can read this! It’s so easy!” I have found that many books that have the text, “Beginning to read” are very hard for your beginning reader. In elementary schools we use leveled books that go from A-Z. Your beginning reader will be at A. I have found leveled books on Amazon for very cheap. They come in huge packs and are called, “First Little Readers.”If your child can read 80% of the book without help, this is a book that is at their level. They can read this book independently or on their own. When you read with your child, pick one that is slightly higher, so if your child is at a level A, pick a level B book when you read out loud together.
- Be patient! Your child WILL struggle!
- Give them positive feedback. When they read a really hard word say, “Wow! That was a super hard word! Great job in figuring it out!”
- LET THEM STRUGGLE! This is probably one of the biggest tips for success. If you have picked a book that is at their level, let them sound out the words, let them get it wrong! It’s ok! Don’t swoop in and save them as soon as they struggle. If you start to do this, they will make a mistake on purpose and wait for you to do it for them.
- If you or your child are getting frustrated, put the book away and go do something else!
- Read for 20 minutes EVERYDAY! Research has shown that when children read at least 20 minutes everyday, they will grow at least 1 year or grade.
