Teaching your child to read can be daunting, especially when you notice that the traditional approach is not clicking with your child.
If you have been researching curriculum or resources, you may find that these include filler activities and concepts that are taught in isolation. You may be thinking I just want something simple and that will get the job done so that my child won’t become or continue to be a struggling reader.
Well, you are in the right place. With an abundance of new findings, determined researcher Marnie Gensberg has opened up new ways to teach reading that does not involve worksheets and workbooks necessarily. It also gives teachers, parents, and tutors the ability to adapt to the need of the child!
In fact, exposing early readers to pictures and other different cues can stunt their progress in learning how to read, because they rely on outside sources and not breaking the word down by sounds.
This is not saying context clues and pictures don’t have their place, yet they should be used sparingly while teaching children to read words. This will be a future post, so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you will know when it is posted.
If your child is not quite ready to read, the following post shares the ways to help build pre literacy skills, so that your child’s transition into literacy will come more easily.
How to teach your child to read:
Tip #1: Integrate phonemic awareness activities throughout your day.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds in a word.
A beginner reader should practice manipulating the sounds in words by hearing a word and then stating each sound in the word with a pause in between. Starting out you will have to provide a lot of support and modeling. Once they catch on, they should become more automatic with stating the individual sounds.
So, for example, we can have the word “mat” and ask your child to say each sound. That would be /m/ /a/ /p/. Then you can ask the child to change “mat” to “mitt.” He should then say /m/ /i/ /t/.
Learn how to do this activity by watching these videos from Reading Simplified.
Many kids who struggle with reading fluency, struggle with this skill.
How to teach your child to read:
Tip #2: Teach letter sound over letter names
At this point in your child’s learning journey, teach the letter sounds and NOT the letter names.
During my years of teaching, I have spent a lot of precious instructional time, reminding the students to say the sound and not the letter name. If the child had a strong base of sound letter connection, they could transition a lot easier. Learning the letter names has its place, but this should come later down the road, since our goal is to teach reading.
When you first teach your child the sounds, they are ready to put those sounds together to make words. They can manipulate the sounds with the letters by making words and manipulating words into new words by changing one sound in the word.
Bonus Tip:
When your child is writing a letter, word, or sentence, have him write it sound by sound. This will help your child start seeing that a certain sound can be represented sometimes with just one letter but many times by multiple letters. It also conveys that one sound can have multiple letter combinations.
This really helps your child see that the squiggles on the page have meaning that is beyond a one-to-one connection.
So, when you are ready to teach letters, introduce them by sounds.
How to Teach Your Child to Read
Tip #3: Introduce the basic and advance code early on
You want to give your child a big chunk of phonics early on. This means that your child is being exposed to the basic code and advanced code, according to Reading Simplified. The basic code is focusing on the consonants, digraphs, and short vowels. While the advanced code is the long vowels and other vowel combinations.
This approach keeps your child’s brain thinking flexibly as it works to figure out new words. Giving the code meaning systematically, allows your child to make connections in his/her brain so that he can read more words automatically. It also gives the child tools to figure out unknown words.
While working on phonics, teach a targeted advance vowel combination, for example “oo” or “oe.” As you introduce them, make sure you teach all the spelling combinations at the same time. This will help your child retrieve and process the information more easily.
Read here to learn more about the order of introducing new phonic sounds.
How to Teach Your Child To Read:
Tip #4: Practice reading Decodable Texts
Once you have taught your child the targeted phonics sound, you will want to give them practice reading these types of words in decodable text. Decodable Texts are texts that target a certain phonics combination. Read here to learn about decodable texts.
Once you have taught your child the targeted phonics sound, you will want to give them practice reading these types of words in decodable text. Decodable Texts are texts that target Reading these books will help your child apply the phonics knowledge to actual reading. These books are not completely predictable, so it causes the student to pay attention to the word and break it down sound by sound.
Bonus Tip:
To extend their reading practice, have them read outside of their lessons or homework time. If you are at a store and see a word with phonics they have learned, have them read it with you.
How to Teach Your Child to Read
Tip #5: Ask questions
While reading, it is important to ask questions to check comprehension. Many students will blend and even say the word correctly, but not know what they just read. I usually ask my learners to make a sentence with the word they just read. If they struggle to do so, I will coach them again. Or sometimes read the word slowly and see if they can get it.
At this stage of learning, we are ensuring that the child is reading the word accurately and attaching meaning to words. When they become more fluent, we can start asking the 5 w questions to check for comprehension. This is important because comprehension of reading doesn’t matter if a child cannot read the words. We spend valuable time teaching our children to read so that in upper grades they can start reading to comprehend.
Additionally, ask questions about how to figure out unknown words. Ask what sound a certain letter or letters make. This helps you understand how they are processing and applying the information.
Summary
Teaching your child to read will take time and consistency. Be intentional regarding your child’s progress and follow the researched tips regarding how to teach your child to read.
Remember to focus on phonemic awareness and letter sounds, as well as the basic and advanced codes, systematically and within a short period of time. Use decodable readers and ask questions. If you do this, you will see your child make strides in becoming a stronger reader.
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To continue to learn how to help your child become a strong reader, sign up for our Newsletter. It will update you with new posts, resources, encouragement, and new research.
If you are not sure how to best support your child, sign up for your Free Reading Assessment. I will be able to share with you where your child is and some activities you can do at home to help your child.