Teaching a kid to read can be a challenge sometimes. It is mostly because parents take a lot more pressure of reading of the kids. Because the kids will eventually learn to speak and recognize the colors and other things around them, but reading is a major milestone.
While some kids learn to read very quickly, some kids might take some time to adapt to the new thing that they are learning. It is very important that the kid is given enough time and attention to grasp to the new ideas. Putting a lot of pressure on them will only make them dislike this whole thing and they might not even put that much effort. It is very important that the parents and the teachers understand the nature of each individual child because every child is different and needs a different kind of attention.
With that being said, the next step is how to teach your child to read. It is very important that this new learning starts at home. Because is the child’s first school and the parents their first teachers. So, set a good example.
Now let’s talk about the best steps that you can take to teach the kid to read.
1. Make them interested in the books
For children, it is very important that the anything that they are doing is interesting and fun for them because if it’s not they won’t do it and if you pressurize them to do it, they won’t learn it that good. So, pick out something fun for them. Look for some interesting and colorful books. Something with cartoons or any other thing that your child is interested in. if the child finds the book interesting, he/she will be even more interested when you read it to them. Gradually they will start to repeat after you and slowly they will start pronouncing the words.
2. Set a good example
The kids do what their parents do, and there is no doubt in that. Kids don’t do what you tell them to do, they do what they see you doing. So, set a good example for them. If they see their parents reading books, they will eventually be fascinated by it and would want to learn what it is and how it is read. Their curiosity will lead them to learn. So, if you do not have a habit of reading, you might as well adopt it now or at least fake it until your kid learns to read.
3. Read to them
The child will learn when he hears. Just pick out a good storybook and read it to the kid while he flips the pages over. The colors and the pictures on the book will help in the imagination of the kid and while you pronounce the words they will start to recognize the pictures associated with those words. This will be a big step towards the reading. It’s up to you how many books you read to the kid but at least 2 or 3 books a day will help a faster learning. Maybe one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one as a bedtime story.
4. Interact with the kid while reading
It is very important that the kid learns to associate the words that he is listening with what is written on the book in front of him, so for this, you will need to interact with the child while you read. Ask questions while you read, like if there is a dog on the page, ask ‘do you see the dog?’ or anything like that. This will help the child learn much faster because it will increase the interest of the kid and will encourage him to learn more and answer the questions. It is very important that the child decides what he is hearing.
5. Teach the alphabets
The alphabets are the basis of this leaning. For a child to start reading it is very important that he recognizes the letters written on the page only then he will be able to combine them as a word. Teaching the alphabets will be made much easier if you use videos to make the kid learn alphabets. Videos are a very effective way to make the leaning faster and much more efficient. The child will see the alphabets appearing on the screen while he hears their sound and how they are pronounced. This will help the child to learn the sounds related to alphabets too which will make the pronunciation much easier for them. So, alphabets will be your first step to reading.
6. Keep the books accessible to the child
Kids work on mood and it would be very bad if your child is in a mood of reading but has no books around. Therefore, it is very important that the books are in the access of the child so that he/she can read them whenever they feel like it.