Teaching Your Toddler to Read
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Teaching your toddler to read can be a lot of fun and very rewarding not only for your child, but for you as well! When you see your child begin to read you will fill with pride and joy. Reading is something that is important to being successful in life, without having a firm foundation in reading you cannot succeed at much in this life. It’s never too early to begin teaching your child to read!
Reading Begins Now
You can start teaching your child to read by reading to them. From the time they are little, read to your child every day. Make reading a part of your daily routine. Your child may enjoy being read to at naptime or before bed. Reading may start as memorization of stories that you read, and while this is not truly reading, it is the beginning of the process. When your child is able to flip through the pages and look at the words as they say them, this is memorization, but it is also the understanding that when you put letters together they form words and words have meaning. This is something that a lot of children struggle with, so when your child gets this concept they will have a leg up on others.
Another thing that you can do to help your child begin reading is to encourage them to look at the road signs as you go about your daily lives. You may groan when they see the McDonald’s sign or the ice cream shop, but this is all a part of reading, as well. Being able to recognize the signs and the words that go along with them is usually an indication that a child has what experts call reading readiness.
You should start out slowly with your toddler and not expect too much. Start out with two to three basic words such as a, the, and we. Write these words on flash cards and show them to your child. Make a game out of it and see if you can’t get them to begin recognizing these words. When they understand these first two to three words, add a couple more words in. When a child knows these common words it will be easy for them to learn to read more difficult words later on.
If your child does not show an interest, don’t worry about it. Focus on the alphabet and the sounds that the letters make. Return to the high frequency words when the child has more interest. Try to make it as fun as possible and slowly start introducing simple books to the child. Reward them for all of their efforts, even if they struggle or become frustrated. Reading is something that should be enjoyed and is a skill that your child will need for their whole life. When you take it slow and make it rewarding, you’ll be fostering a lifelong love of reading which has the ability to make your child a better writer and speaker, as well.
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