As parents, we all want our kids to get the most out of life. A big part of this is to do everything we can to help them be successful in school which translates, many times, to success later in life. One way to ensure your own kids’ success in school is to teach them reading skills early on! Teaching your child to read can seem impossible, but here is how I taught my 3 year old how to read!
First Steps
Where do you start?
Make sure they WANT to read first and foremost. Teaching your child to read can be difficult but it will be impossible if they are not interested in reading yet. Some kids want to learn before others. If you child is not interested in learning his or her letters yet, try to get them excited about reading first; but make sure they decide this is for them first.
Once your child is ready, start things off essay, allow your child to look at pictures and tell their own story with those pictures. You can even allow them to create their own pictures and tell you the story they’ve created.
Next you should focus on letter recognition. The first thing that everyone should do when trying to teach their child to read, is to make sure they understand the letters in the alphabet. This is not just about the names of the letters, but making sure your kid can recognize the letter and match that letter with the sounds the letter makes. The best thing you could do is call the letter by its sound and NOT by its name.
Have fun, enjoy the game. They are not in school yet.
Fun Outdoor Activity to Help Promote Letter Recognition
Teaching your child to read doesn’t have to happen sitting quietly inside at the table. For most kids, this might make it a nightmare. Let kids have fun and learn at the same time! First, write out all the letters of the alphabet in chalk on the sidewalk or patio. Then toss a rock, ball, or toy to a letter. Ask your child the following questions.
What letter is this?
Can you tell me what sound it makes?
What words start with that letter?
And, it’s a game so have FUN with it. Take turns and let your child see you play the game. Then think of funny words that your child will enjoy. If you have a hyperactive child you can use action words and act them out while also playing this game. To demonstrate, let’s look at the letter “J”. You recognize the letter, say the sound and then connect it to the word Jump, and then let your child jump around for a few minutes.
Another Perk of this Game
While playing this game, kids will probably use words that don’t actually start with the letter you are working with. This is a GOOD thing, because it gives them the opportunity to learn that some letters make different sounds.
Be prepared, some kids will ask you to go ahead and spell the words out, but just go with it!! Again, our goal is for kids to learn their letters, the sounds they make, and have FUN at the same time!!
Fun Indoor Activity to Help Promote Letter Recognition
Show your kids how to spell their favorite words!
Cut out Letters from colored paper (or use white paper but let kids color the letters).
Have your child pick a word or two that they want to learn to read. Then write the word on a piece of paper.
Now let your child arrange the cut out letters on the paper to make the word. Then help your child glue the letters down.
The final step of this activity is to draw a picture to go with the word (or words) they have chosen.
Above all make sure you are using words that your child likes or wants to learn. It is a well known fact that kids remember things they connect with most, which is true of ALL ages. So encourage them to learn words that are associated with their favorite colors, foods, stores, characters, or toys. Even if the word seems big, go with it!
Play off your kids interests just to get them in the right mind frame to learn, remember and use their letters!