How Do I Teach My Child to Read?

Read to Succeed!

Early Reading skills are essential for developing good readers. Research shows that starting your child

reading at an early age gives a definite advantage in school. Children who start reading before the first

g ade ai tai thei lead i eadi g a d o p ehe sio . Ea l eade s a e also likelie to e el i other academic subjects.

I have been teaching Pre-School for the last 20 years. The question I often get asked by parents is, How

do I teach my child to ead? The o ept is si ple: Co siste , Repetitio a d I itatio . It really

does ’t atte WHAT ou a e tea hi g ou hild—it could be telling time, it could be tying a shoe; it

could be riding a bike. The most important thing to remember is that you must reinforce any concept

on a daily basis.

Each morning I sit my students down on a large area rug and we do a 10 minute circle time. My circle

time includes: The Alphabet Song, Counting to 20, Months of the Year, Days of the Week, Colors and

Shapes. I also th o i , What ea is it? a d sta t ith T o thousa d a d ……….. A child always yells

out 14! M e t uestio is What o th is it? I start sounding out the name of the month which is

displayed brightly on our calendar. It is currently September so I would begin by sounding out the word.

By doing this daily my students can recite this to me and they can recite this to their parents and to

anyone else who is willing to listen!

What does all this mean?

Consistent-

To be consistent means that you must practice a concept each day.

Repetition-

Repetition means that if you want to learn the Alphabet song, then you should sing the Alphabet song

over and over each day.

Imitation-

Parents should model good reading habits even if it is just by reading a newspaper or even a magazine

daily. If you read daily, your child will want to read daily.

7 Read to Succeed Strategies!

Children are learning from the moment they are born and absorb whatever we teach them. Introducing

eadi g to a ou g hild a e do e simply by reading each day. Make it a daily routine. It could be

after school, or it could be before bed. Whatever you choose will become an expected daily event. Read

aloud to your child and follow each word with your finger. Reading aloud to children helps to broaden

their vocabulary and develop their knowledge of different types of print. Eventually a child will learn

that print is read from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom. They will learn to

correlate the spoken words with the printed words.

1. Read 15 to 20 minutes per day.

2. Keep a variety of books on hand.

3. Discuss the story as you read.

4. Read out loud usi g fu oi es a d a t the sto out. This keeps a hild’s atte tio .

5. Point to the words as you read

6. Create flash cards that help identify letters. If you have mastered letter recognition then create

flash cards that teach letter sounds. If that is mastered then start sounding out or decoding

words.

(Helpful Hint: Learn 3 letters or letter sounds at a time, once that is mastered add two more,

then when those 3 are mastered, add two more, until all 26 letters or letter sounds are

completed or known)

7. Read e e thi g! “t eet sig s, “to e “ig s, Me u’s, Bill oa ds, et .

Please keep i i d the ea lie i a hild’s life ou egi to ead, the ette ou hild ill e. Make it

fun, make it engaging, and ultimately make a solid foundation that begins your hild’s educational

journey.

Beth Costanzo has been educating children for 20 years and is the former owner of Majestic Harbor

School in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She is currently the owner of The Adventures of Scuba Jack

hi h helps oth pa e ts a d tea he s supple e t hild e ’s lea ing with skill building activities,

p oje ts, o k ooks a d DVD’s.

AdventuresOfScubaJack.com