In this article, we are going to discuss 5 steps that can help you teach your kid to read.
These five steps are not a rule that must be followed but serve more like a guide that can help you achieve the goal.
There are of course other methods that can be applied in addition to those mentioned in this article.
Step 1: Observe the child’s behavior before reading
There are activities that help to set the stage for a child to want to read.
These can be referred to as pre-reading behaviors that may be spontaneous as a result of the child observing and mimicry.
The adult can also encourage them through this process.
You can encourage the child through the following:
Being aware of prints
If the child becomes aware of prints on labels, signs and so on.
Kids have the ability to recognize words even before they can read the letters.
Sound manipulation games
If the child engages in a series of sound manipulation games – you can try a popular one like “Hannah Hannah banana, banana-fana, fo-fana, me-my-mo-mana, Hannah”
Becoming aware of rhymes
If your little one becomes aware of rhymes, then this is a good sign.
Becoming aware of the orientation of the print
Understanding which side of the book should be up.
Check if they have a sense of awareness in which direction the pages turn.
Step 2: Learning the letters
At this stage, you do not necessarily have to teach the child the letters in alphabetical order.
Teaching them the letters this way can help them start reading a few words that are simple in a short time.
This gets kids excited and motivated, and they show more enthusiasm to learn more.
Children master the letters by visually identifying the letters and memorizing the sound that is associated with it.
Getting the child to involve their senses with learning the letters help a great deal.
Get them to build letters with clay, or you could draw the letter on their palms with your finger.
You can also associate certain motions with their corresponding letters, for instance, Dancing and making the sound for letter D.
A lot of memorization is involved in this step. Try not to rush the child through this step.
Step 3: Blending sounds together
A child’s progress from learning single letters to reading entire words involves blending sounds together.
Try this:
Write out a 2 to 3 letter word, point at each letter and say the sound of each one.
Go back to the beginning of the word and slowly move your fingers under the letter as you make the sounds of each letter in a stretch, and blend them together.
Finally, get the child to try it.
Tip: Use 2 letter words that have both letters making their normal sounds. You do not want to complicate things.
Step 4: Introduce sight words
Sight words are usually shorter words that appear quite frequently in text and may not necessarily follow sleeping rules.
Some examples are yes, look, the, and do.
Knowing them by sight is a lot better than trying to read them out.
You can introduce flash cards, computers games, or hunting for sight words in books.
Using predictable or patterned texts also helps when practicing sight words.
Step 5: Word families
You will record faster progress if you spend a lot of time on word families.
Teach the kid that once they can read “man” then they should be able to read “pan,” “fan,” and “can.” 2-letter word families are great at this stage (-at, -am, -it, -en, and so on)