As a teachermama, I love that I can give my child the gift of reading.
Learning how to read is definitely something your child will learn at school but I also believe that each child has a huge capacity to learn prior to school. If you have a preschooler around 4-6 years old, you can prepare him/her with some early reading skills so that he/she is ready when school starts.
Having taught my little one the basic foundations of reading prior to school, she had a huge boost of confidence when she first started school and it helped her settle in class with ease. She is now in the top maths group and second highest reading group, and even though academics isn't the only thing that is important at school, it's still nice to know that your child is coping well with the curriculum!
As an introduction to reading, I'm sure many of the #steemitmamas and their #steemitkids already know the alphabet song. The alphabet song is great to help your child to understand that words are made out of letters (well, the English language anyways!) and there are 26 letters in the alphabet from A - Z. Another great way to introduce reading is by reading to your child as part of their bedtime routine. I am sure many of the mamas already do this naturally, but we can't underestimate the power of model reading and shared reading with our children!
So if you are already doing this, now what?? Here are some simple steps to follow:
1. Explain to your child that each alphabetical letter has a name but also has a SOUND
Go through all the SOUNDS of the alphabet and use this helpful video for yourself and your child:
Courtesy of KidsTV123
Once they are familiar with their beginning sounds, move onto some everyday games.
2. Play games to reinforce beginning sound knowledge
My favourite game to play with my kiddo is "I spy...", we love playing it when trying to pass time, like travelling in a car.
It goes something like this:
"I spy with my little eye something beginning with B" - but instead of saying the letter name B say the sound the B makes 'buh buh".
And hopefully, your child can work out words like ball, bus, bum (hehe) all starts with the B sound.
After beginning sounds are mastered, move onto...
3. Blending
Time to jump in the deep end and try to put the sounds together! Now this is tricky and I've seen many children struggle with it, so don't be so hard on yourself or your little darling if they struggle at first. Over time, they will get the hang of it!
Start with some CVC words, that's teacher lingo for Consonant - Vowel - Consonant words.
Such as:
c-a-t
b-e-d
f-i-t
m-o-p
m-u-m
These words are very basic and easy to blend together. In the beginning, SHOW them how it's done, say something like:
"I am going to SOUND the letters of this word out. C-A-T. C-A-T. Can you tell what word it is?"
Over time, guide your child so that they try to sound the word out themselves. Give them lots of praise for their effort!
If you're looking for some CVC words to start, here are some free printable ones via The Measured Mum.
Well, I've really loved sharing a few tips on how to kickstart your child's reading journey! As I'm writing this, I feel my passionate writing juice flowing! Yay!
If you would like more advice in any area of education (primary/elementary is my specialty) or would like me to post more about how to teach your child to read, spell, etc. Please upvote, follow and comment below for some topics - I'd love to post more for you!
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