One of the most important things you can do for your child is to prepare him or her for reading. There are millions of people walking around today that cannot read or write their native language and for them life is very hard. Statistics show that many high school graduates are actually illiterate. How these kids get through their whole school career without anyone noticing they cannot read is beyond me but unfortunately, it does happen. When you see a situation like this you cannot help but put the brunt of the blame on the parents. After all, isn’t it our job to know whether or not our children can read? While there are some learning disabilities such as dyslexia that may hinder kids from reading well, there are even more cases of pure negligence and laziness. There is no excuse for a parent to allow his/her child to slide by without knowing how to read. The good news is you can help your child from a very early age to ensure that he/she never has to struggle through a life of illiteracy.
It Is Never Too Early to Begin
There is nothing written in stone that tells us that we must wait until our child reaches kindergarten to begin learning to read. I had a grandmother who worked with me diligently and by the time I was 4 years old I was ready to read to her each morning from the newspaper, and I did everyday. She started by singing the alphabet song to me with each and every diaper change from the day I came home from the hospital. By the time I could talk I was able to sing my ABC’s. From there we started working on the sounds of each letter and how they could be used. I learned all of my vowels and how they could be pronounced in long or short form. I learned what syllables were and about the letters that are sometimes silent when they sit next to another letter. After awhile, I was able to start linking the letters together and sounding them out. We used flash cards and memory games and she dedicated at least an hour every day to teaching me how to read, spell and write. When I reached kindergarten I was already on a 3rd grade reading level. This is not to say that all parents should have their children reading this well by the time they start school but it is important to understand that base knowledge is going to start at home.
A Large Portion of Reading Is Memorization
After we have been reading for some time we actually do so by memorizing what each word looks like. It is no longer a matter of sounding the word out. We see the word and we know what it is because we have read it and written it so many times. This is why memorizing words and what they look like is so important when teaching children to read. This does not mean you do not have to teach your children phonetics and how to sound a word out but it does mean that you can help them greatly by helping them to identify words by memory. Flash cards using pictures and words are great tools to help children learn new words. For example, you may want to use flash cards that show animals and the corresponding word. You will also want to do the same for body parts and all sorts of other things in the world. After doing this for some time your child will be able to look at a tree or another object and tell you how it is spelled. Repetition is very important when children are learning to read.
Get Your Children Interested in Reading by Reading to Them
Another thing my grandmother always did with me was read. Each and every night she read to me until I feel asleep. She picked the most interesting books and I can remember being so eager to find out what happens next. To this day I still remember her reading "The Trumpet of the Swan" to me and how I wished the story would go on forever. By doing this she taught me that opening a book could take me to a wonderful new world and that in those pages I would find adventure beyond my wildest dreams. This inspired me to want to read myself as it was very frustrating when she was unable to read to me because I could not get the story without her help. If you have young children read to them. It doesn’t take much out of your day to sit down and read your kids a story and you will be doing them a great service in doing so.
Teach Children to Comprehend What They Read
A huge part of reading is comprehension and just because your child may be able to read a sentence to you does not necessarily mean he/she has understood what was read. If a child does not comprehend the material he/she is reading it will become very boring to him/her. Try asking your child after each paragraph what he or she has understood from what was read. If you find that he/she is lacking in reading comprehension then you should tell him/her to go over it and read it to her/himself one more time. Do this until he/she picks up on what was read. Once your child learns how to comprehend what is being read it will open up a whole new world for him/her.
Always keep up on what is going on with your child’s school life and academics. It is easy for a working parent to allow some things to slip through the cracks but being aware of the areas your children are struggling in and doing something about it will help your child achieve success.
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