Teaching Your Kids To Read

Don’t do it.

Yep, that’s right.

Don’t teach your kids to read.

Parents, you don’t have to wear this one. Let your child’s Teacher do the formal, nitty gritty teaching of skills.

From personal experience, it is soooo much easier teaching other people’s children to read than your own. Your kid does not want to listen to you. Reading lessons will only end in tears.

However, you do have a very, very important role. You have to lay the foundations. You need to provide the support.

So how do you do this?

1. Talk with your child

Sounds simple doesn’t it? By talking with each other, your child learns new words, hears correct sentence structure (well, sometimes!) and hears all the sounds and rhymes of the English language. Discuss outings you have had, read shopping lists together, talk about a favourite television show – these all count and help your child develop essential pre-reading skills.

2. Read To Your Child

If there was only one thing you did with your child, I would hope it was reading to them. Reading to your child covers ALL of the bases:

• vocabulary
• Story structure
• hearing sounds and words
• seeing letters and words
• spending time together
• developing imagination
• learning facts
• developing a love for reading

3. Listen to the Teacher

If your child’s Teacher contacts you and has some suggestions, it’s probably a good idea to follow them. Some kids just need a little extra practise. Others are overwhelmed by the distractions that come with a busy classroom, so a quick 5 minutes at home going over something can be extremely helpful to your child.

To help your child learn to read, don’t think it has to be anything formal. Day to day language will help lay the essential foundations for your child. Keep it fun, easy and a natural part of your day.

Read and relax!

Leigh

www.facebook.com/theeducationclinic

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