Every parent knows that it is a wonderful experience when you teach your child how to read. Most parents believe that this is supposed to be left to the specially trained and experienced teachers, but you as a parent should actually be the first to educate your child on how to read. If you want to take part in this important developmental stage, here are a few tips that you can follow.
Reading is a part of the language development of your child. Teaching your child how to speak and at the same time teaching him/her how to read will have a lasting effect on the child. Furthermore, it will help the child acquire reading skills well ahead of his/her peers.
The brain’s ability to process information challenges the ability to concentrate on your work if you have a lot on your mind. You should therefore be patient when you are teaching the child how to read and not yell at him/her if mistakes are made. Make this a memorable experience rather than one that the child would prefer to forget.
A good approach to teaching your kid how to read should involve a routine of reading to your child. This is best when the child is relaxed after bath time or just before they go to bed. This routine will become an integral part of the child’s life, thus encouraging him/her to develop the desire to practice reading.
Just as it takes time for your child to learn how to sit, crawl, walk and finally run, it is important that you realize teaching your child how to read is a process as well. When your child begins to speak, they mumble words with lots of mispronunciations. A good parent corrects the child through repetitive pronunciation of the difficult words. When you teach your child how to understand writing you should bear this in mind. Your child will pronounce most words incorrectly and you should lovingly correct the child. Provide your child with many books so that he/she can have a variety of words to learn.
There is a close relationship between what a child sees and what a child reads. Picture books are perhaps the best way to coach your child on how to read. The child learns how to relate the words to the object(s) in the picture. For example, a picture of an apple and the word apple will help the child relate to the word easier in the future when the picture is no longer there.
Sounding out words and rhyming are a perfect way to improve the self-confidence of a child when learning to read. It is important that you come up with fun ways for your child to practice the words that they have learned to read.
When you train your child how to read, you must realize that this is a new activity for the him/her. Be patient and loving and you will help the child become fluent in reading.
About the author: Haliyma Barrow is a freelance journalist based in New York. Haliyma has keen interest in the latest education resources and teaching theories, and loves to contribute articles on education issues.
Credits: Photo courtesy of Aline Dassel.