Most people don’t think about the literacy process until they decide to start teaching their children to read English at home.
Contrary to what some people think, learning to read is not a “natural” process, it happens on its own. This is a complex process that requires appropriate teaching of various skills and strategies, such as phonics (understanding the relationship between letters and sounds) and phonemic awareness.
The good news is that while reading itself is a complex process, the steps you need to take to develop these skills are straightforward. To teach children how to read English and make it a positive and rewarding experience, try these simple and tested methods below.
Some Steps To Teaching Your Kids To Read English
1. Use Children’s Songs and Rhymes To Build Phonemic Awareness
Nursery rhymes and nursery rhymes are more than just fun — nursery rhymes and rhymes help children learn to read English by helping them hear the sounds and syllables in words. A great way to build phonemic awareness (one of the most important skills for learning to read English) is to hum and sing along. This fun and intimate activity is a great way for children to develop reading skills and strategies that will prepare them for success in reading.
2. Make Simple Word Cards At Home
Cut out the simple cards and write one word with three sounds (e.g. ram, sit, pig, up, sun, pot, fin) on each card. Ask your child to choose a card, then read the words aloud and hold up three fingers. Ask them to say the first sound they hear in the word, then the second, then the third. This simple activity requires little preparation time and builds basic phonics and decoding skills (helping them learn how to pronounce words). If your child is just starting to learn the alphabet, focus on the sounds each letter makes, not the letter names.
3. Put Your Child In A Rich Home
Create daily opportunities to develop your child’s reading skills by creating a rich environment at home. Seeing words printed (on posters, pictures, books, signs, etc.) helps children see and make connections between sounds and letter symbols. When leaving, please refer to the messages on posters, bulletin boards, and signs. Over time, you can rearrange letters to make words. Focus on the first letter of the word. Ask your child “What is the sound of that letter?” “What other words start with that sound?” “What word does that sound like?”
4. Play Word Games At Home Or In The Car
Building on the previous step always introduces a simple word game. Focus on playing games that encourage your child to listen, recognize and control sounds in words.
5. Understand The Skills Involved In Teaching Children To Read
It is important to remember that learning to read involves many different skills. You can read the five main parts of the reading here. These are skills that all children need to learn to read well. In summary, these include:
- Phonological awareness – the ability to hear and control different sounds in speech
- Phonics – Recognizing the connection between letters and the sounds they make
- Vocabulary – understanding the meaning of words, their meaning, and context
- Reading comprehension – understanding the meaning of a text in newspapers and letters
- Fluency – the ability to read aloud quickly, clearly, and accurately
6. Play With Alphabet Magnets
Middle vowels can be tricky for some kids, so this activity is helpful. Prepare a letter magnet on the refrigerator and draw out the vowels in one part (a, e, i, o, u). Say the CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) word like “cat” and have your child translate it using the magnet. To help them, say each vowel out loud (/ayh/, /eh/, /ih/, /awe/, /uh/) while pointing to the letter and ask the child if you sound is called the middle sound is similar.
7. Use The Power Of Technology To Engage Your Children
Learning to read should be an enjoyable process for children to progress. Sometimes a child may be interested and interested in learning at first, but when they hit a wall, he may feel depressed and fall quickly. As a parent, you may feel like you can’t lift anymore, and knowing where to fill any gaps can lead to frustration.
8. Read and Ask Questions About The Book Together Every Day
Most people don’t realize how many skills can be learned from reading to a child. Not only did you show them how to pronounce it, but you develop comprehension skills, expanded their vocabulary, and made them hear what a good reader sounds like. Most importantly, close reading helps your child develop a love of reading, and it’s the best way to develop their intelligence.
