Teach Your Child to Read!
Here is a simple little trick for parents to help you teach your child to read in a fun and painless way. Surprisingly this will even work with very young children and will help get them interested enough to sit still for a story. All you need to do is to make sure that the print is large enough for them to see the letters very clearly - about an inch to two inches high. Otherwise you can choose any book that you think would appeal to them.
When you sit down to read your story, determine ahead of time several words you want your child to "read". Names of characters or other words that are repeated frequently in the story work best. It doesn't matter if it is a short word or a long one, in fact a longer word is easier to recognize because it is a more unique pattern. The first time you come to the designated word in the story, point to it and say the word clearly. Then each time you come to that word, simply pause, point to the word and look at your child expectantly. You may have to prompt them a couple of times, but they'll catch on very quickly and they'll learn to recognize "their" words. At the end of the story, praise them and give them a big hug, then put the book away.
The next day, they will likely BEG to read the same book. Let them read the same words and add two or three new ones. By the time they get tired of the book, they will have learned at least 8 to 10 new words and will be able to recognize them in other books as well. Don't repeat a book more than 3 times and don't "test" them. Just believe that they know it and they will demonstrate it to you in time. Kids learn shockingly fast and will be happiest with fresh material every 2 or 3 days. Keep this up and before you know it, your child will be reading confidently and easily.
Here is another trick I used to get my older child to enjoy reading. When he was 7 or 8, Matt could read quite well, but he wasn't particularly interested in books. So I went to the library one day and picked out a few books I thought he would enjoy (I think they were R.L. Stein's Goosebumps books). Then I casually dumped them next to him in the backseat of the car and said the magic words "Don't touch those, they're your brother's". Problem solved! He nearly ripped the covers off them, he read them so fast!
I think he ended up reading nearly every Goosebumps book the library had on the shelves and by the time he hit High School, his scores were in the top 3 to 5 percent in the nation on his reading comprehension. Blake has been reading at a college level since about 7th grade. I know teachers do their best, but with overcrowded classrooms and ridiculous mandates from the Government, I wasn't about to leave anything to chance. And, at least in our case it seems to have worked out pretty well.
If you want more information on this method, there is a book you can find at any library or bookstore, in virtually any language or country in the world. It's called Teach Your Baby to Read by Glenn and Janet Doman.
2 comments:
hey, I'm going to have to try this stuff. thanks for sharing - they are great tips!!!
hugs,
Jen
Great tips! Good for you for taking matters into your own hands!
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