What Book Should I Read to My 6 Year Old Son to Teach Him About His Body

Teaching your child to read can be i of the nigh rewarding experiences of your life! Here we share ten tips on how to teach a child to read, from pre-readers all the way to schoolhouse-age children!

When Do Kids Learn To Read?

Equally a sometime showtime course teacher, teaching children to read is one of my greatest passions! But because most children don't commencement actually "reading" until around 6 years old (which is upwards of the targeted age range for my blog), I didn't want parents to feel pressured that their 3-yr old needs to commencement reading (which, by the way, they don't!). Notwithstanding, the information shared below is general information that is benign for children of all ages, whether your child is gear up to read or not. Don't implement all of these strategies at one time, nor should you expect your child to be able to do everything right away. Learning to read is a procedure and the information below is simply for you to implement when you experienceyour child is ready.

Once your child is ready to begin reading, you volition need to find a systematic and explicit program that teaches phonemic sensation and phonics. This is essential. Learning to read is like breaking a cipher code (and contrary to what the title of this post suggests, it is Non like shooting fish in a barrel). Every child must acquire the code and information technology makes the most sense to teach this explicitly rather than depending on kids figuring information technology out on their own. Please likewise recognize that although the suggestions below are labeled as "steps", they are not necessarily in consecutive order, nor are they in order of importance. The information yous will find here is just a guide to aid you see how each of the components of reading fit together for your pre-reader. If your child is schoolhouse-anile and you are looking for a curriculum on how to teach a child to read, I highly recommend Pathways to Reading Homeschool.

How To Teach a Child To Read

one. Read Aloudto your kid

Teaching your kid to read is truly a procedure that begins at infancy. No, I am most certainly Non advocating programs that merits to teach your baby to read using flashcards! What I AM encouraging you to do is to begin reading with your newborn within days of welcoming her abode! Not only is ongoing reading time building a special bonding time for the two of yous, it instills in her a dear for books. Enjoyment while reading is ane of the unmarried greatest predictors of reading success in school-age children. If children don't learn from an early age to relish reading, it volition most likely hinder their power quondam down the road.

How much yous read to your child is completely upwardly to y'all and your family unit, simply I advise you lot aim to read at least 3-iv books a mean solar day, even while your child is very immature. As she gets a little older and can sit for longer stretches of fourth dimension, make information technology a family goal to read together for at least xx-minutes each 24-hour interval.

Here are a few suggestions for the types of books to read to your child. But past all ways, read whatever your child responds to and enjoys!

Nascence-1 Year: Lullabies, Board Books (with real pictures), Material Books (with various textures), Song Books
1 Yr-3 Years: Rhyming Books, Vocal Books, Short-Story Board Books
3 Years-five Years: Alphabet Books, Vocal Books, Moving picture Books, Rhyming Books

ii. Ask questions

Request questions while reading to your kid is not only bang-up for encouraging your child to interact with the book, but it is also extremely effective in developing his ability to comprehend what he is reading. You run across, if our master objective in "reading" is getting our child to "sound out" words, we have missed the boat entirely. Even children who tin decode words and "read" with not bad fluency nonetheless might non exist able to comprehend what they are reading. If a kid can't comprehend what he is reading, there really is no indicate to reading at all!

While your child is a baby, ask him questions such equally, "Do y'all see the cat?" while pointing at the film of the cat. This will not only develop his vocabulary, it will also encourage him to interact with the volume that he is reading. Every bit he gets older, inquire him to point to things in the volume himself and brand the noises of the animals he sees.

Once your child is about 2 or 3-years of age, brainstorm asking questions earlier, during, and after reading the volume. Evidence your child the cover of the book and ask him what he thinks the story is going to be about (predicting). While reading, inquire him what he thinks is going to happen in the story or why he thinks a character fabricated a item selection (inferring). If a character is depicting a strong emotion, identify that emotion and ask your child if he has e'er felt that way (connecting). At the end of the volume, ask if his prediction(s) came true. Afterwards, inquire him to tell you lot what he remembered happening in the volume (summarizing).

Modifying each of these techniques during read-alouds to see the developmental stage of your child is a great way to promote and increase reading comprehension!

iii. Be a good (reading) example

Even if your child is fascinated with books from an early age, her fascination will quickly dwindle if she does not see reading modeled in her home. If y'all are not an avid reader yourself, make a witting effort to let your children encounter you reading for at least a few minutes each day! Read a magazine, a cookbook, a novel, your Bible…it's up to you lot! But bear witness your kid that reading is something that even adults demand to exercise. If you take a son, share this article with your husband. Sons demand to encounter their fathers read, especially since it is not something that immature energetic boys are naturally decumbent to doing.

As parents, we tin can sometimes get wrapped upward with what exactly our children should exist doing to be successful. But we oftentimes forget that children frequently learn by example. Take hold of a volume and take a load off…for your kid's sake, of grade!

4. Identify letters in natural settings

Earlier our boys were born, we painted and hung large wooden letters spelling their proper noun above the cribs equally a decorative accent in their rooms. I would have never guessed that those wooden messages would have such a learning incentive for Large Blood brother! Effectually age 2.5, he began asking what letters were above his name. That'south honestly how he learned to spell his name…and he can spell his brother's name too because he has taken an interest in his letters likewise. In technical terms, this is called "environmental impress" and includes all of the print we are surrounded by–fast nutrient signs, labels, traffic signs, clothing, magazines, etc.

Oft times, nosotros want to force our children to larn alphabetic character names by a certain historic period. Nosotros buy flashcards or DVDs claiming to teach our children their letters. We drill our 2-yr old over and over for minutes on cease. Don't purchase into this…let your child to be a kid and take advantage of the "teachable moments" as they come up along! Children'south minds are like sponges and are certainly capable of memorizing the alphabet from drilling, but that's not the virtually effective method that will produce the all-time long-term results. Your child will be curious nearly the print he sees around him and volition ask questions. That'south your run a risk to jump in with a practical application that actually has real meaning and significance to your child.

Don't misunderstand me and think that I don't think learning the alphabet is important. It is certainly important…but the method in which we teach them is even more important! E'er keep in mind that our ultimate goal is to foster a lifelong learner who loves to read, not a child who has just memorized without whatsoever significance.

v. Contain multiple domains of development

Children learn best when multiple senses or areas of evolution are included. That'south why hands-on learning produces longer retentivity and more than meaningful application. Once your child has shown an interest in messages and y'all have already begun to utilize natural settings for identifying those letters, begin implementing activities that contain as many senses as possible. Keep in mind that learning letter names isn't about as of import as learning their sounds!

In that location are a plethora of ways to incorporate multiple domains of development in regards to alphabetic character recognition and early-reading skills. Alphabet crafts allow your kid to acquire the shape of a letter along with an association of the sound it makes all the while utilizing fine motor skills in the process of cutting, gluing, and creating! Playing games that involve gross motor skills (like tossing beanbags on the advisable letter) are too wonderful ways to include movement. Of course, every child loves songs and rhymes! Accept an inventory of your child'south strengths and areas of interest and target activities to fit them!

six. Classify the Genre

Once your child is effectually 5 and can recognize the difference between real and brand-believe, I would propose starting to help your child sympathize various genres of books during your reading time together. This might seem complicated, but it's actually not. There are effectually 5 dissimilar genres of children's books that I would encourage you to betoken out to your little one. Of grade you can use the term "blazon" rather than "genre" if that is easier to remember.

Nonfiction (existent stories or facts about animals, places, people, etc)
Fantasy (brand-believe, tin't happen in existent life because of magic, talking animals, etc)
Realistic Fiction (a made-up story, but information technology could technically happen in real life because the characters and situations arebelievable)
Alphabet Books
Song Books

When children classify a book into a certain genre, they have to first summarize the volume in their head and recall details. Then they have to use that information to decide which blazon of genre that particular books fits into. Finally, your child will be recalling details from other books in the same genre, making connections between the two. This simple activity that might accept 5-10 seconds of your fourth dimension afterwards reading a book but it certainly packs a dial of thought and processing in that young brain!

Likewise, it'southward of import to note that not all books will fit into one of these genres, especially books that are considered "phonics readers." I would suggest that you lot do this exercise merely with high-quality children's literature, non with books that are attempting to become your child to "audio-out" on their own. Well-nigh picture books plant in children's libraries will fit into one of these genres.

Remember, our goal is for our children to learn to encompass what they're reading…otherwise reading volition honestly do them little good. When we encourage our children to think about and procedure the book we've merely read together, nosotros are inadvertently modeling what nosotros promise they'll one mean solar day exercise independently!

7. Focus on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics

"Phonemes" are the smallest sounds in the English language (get here for a complete list of phonemes). These sounds are fabricated up of consonants, short vowels, long vowels, and digraphs. "Phonemic Awareness" consists of learning those sounds and how to manipulate them inside a give-and-take. Digraphs are unique sounds comprised of individual letters like /th/, /sh/, /ch/, etc.

"Phonics" includes learning how to spell those sounds and the diverse rules that the English language follows. Learning the rules of phonics is an essential tool that helps a kid larn to decode and spell. I used the Pathways To Reading plan in the classroom equally my phonemic awareness and phonics program and loved it! It made learning all of the tricky spellings then much fun! Pathways at present has a homeschool version, which is amazing!

9. Decoding

Decoding is oft referred to as "sounding it out." Once your kid knows the sounds each letter makes (which is taught in existent, meaningful situations), she is gear up to begin putting words together. Decoding is a process that requires strong phonemic awareness skills and gives manner to orthographic mapping, the process past which words are stored as "sight words" in long-term memory.

As children decode words with more frequency, they volition go more adept at automatically identifying that word. Researchers say it can take between 1-iv exposures of decoding before a discussion is transferred to long-term memory for automated retrieval. Sometimes this task is slow, and can't be short-changed, and so information technology's important to find artistic ways to make information technology fun. When I taught first grade, I used to buy pinkie puppets that my students could utilise to signal to the messages as they were decoding. This was a huge hit and made this process so much fun!

10. Use a reading program with explicit, systematic didactics one time he/she is in kindergarten and beyond

Most of the skills up to this point are what I would consider "pre-reader" skills that we, as parents, tin piece of work on during our kid'southward earliest years to brand the process of learning to read much easier for our children. Once your child reaches schoolhouse-age, be sure that you lot are using a program rooted in the science of reading, with explicit and systematic educational activity in both phonemic awareness and phonics. If your child is headed to school, ask to look over the curriculum to ensure it is strong in these areas specifically. Some children volition naturally learn the phonetic lawmaking more easily than others, as Nancy Young's Reading Ladder suggests, but ALL children benefit from early code-based instruction.

There is no amend foundational reading plan, in my opinion, than Pathways to Reading. The original curriculum has been used in classrooms and clinical settings for the concluding twenty years. The program has been involved in numerous research studies, showing statistically significant results. Pathways to Reading Homeschool now offers their groundbreaking curriculum for habitation educators, starting with Basic Foundational Reading (which is the equivalent of kindergarten-age instruction). All 5 areas of reading didactics, as identified past the National Reading Panel, are incorporated: Phonemic Sensation, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Reading Comprehension. This is such an incredible resource for families and I tin't recommend it highly enough!

Learning To Read is a Journey

In summary, hither are some practical suggestions you lot can implement every twenty-four hour period based on the learning to read strategies shared with you in this mail service. Obviously, you tin can't implement all of these suggestions with children of all ages, and then employ your judgement about what is the best way to teach a child to read.

Read to your child every mean solar day!
Ask your kid questions before, during, and after reading.
Let your child come across y'all reading.
Look for messages while out and about and in the environment around you.
When teaching messages and letter sounds, incorporate as many senses every bit possible.
Read a variety of books and make a game out of guessing the genre.
Have fun rhyming
Play these oral phonemic awareness games together (no materials required)
Encourage your kid to sound out short words (consonant, vowel, consonant).
Most of all, have fun together!

This post was first published Feb 2012. Updated 2018.

massenburgarly1977.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.icanteachmychild.com/10-steps-to-teaching-your-child-to-read/