Learning to Read Tips
September 22, 2009 Posted by The Wanna Have Fun Hen
When my son started learning to read, I went to the library and picked up some learning DVDs to help. He was not interested. When he started kindergarten, a mom let me borrow her child’s Leapfrog learning to read DVDs. Both my son and daughter (two-years old at the time) loved them. My daughter now knows all of her letters and sounds because of the Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD. And my son started sounding out words and learning reading rules with the Leapfrog Talking Words Factory DVD.
Now, every night, my son reads a beginning reader book to me and I read a book to him. A habit I would definitely recommend.
When your child starts reading, I would also recommend teaching them sight words. Sight words are the most commonly used words in the English language. You can find a list of sight words on the internet. One place is edHelper.com. I pick five sight words every week and he writes and reads them once a day. The next week, I give him five new sight words. I let him have weekends off. Never over do it. Keep it fun for them.
My advice for moms with toddlers, make it a habit to read to your child and talk about their day, every night (It can take as little as 15 minutes). It is a wonderful learning and bonding experience for your child.
Little Red Hen says:
September 22nd, 2009
My daughter participates in a reading club run by two Early Childhood Educators in our neighborhood. Once a week, they pick up the kids from school, read part of a chapter book together, and do fun activities related to the book. She’s a great reader, and I can’t say the program has, by itself, improved her reading skills much. But it has helped her to become VERY enthusiastic about reading, which is more than half the battle! I would definitely recommend a similar program for every kid who just isn’t really into reading yet.
Caralee says:
September 22nd, 2009
Our 3 year old son loves the Letter Factory. After he watches it, he walks around the house singing “Every letter makes a sound! The V says vvvv!”. It’s so cute. I second the recommendation for Leapfrog’s videos, they’re great. And reading with your child everyday is so important too.
The Wanna Have Fun Hen says:
September 22nd, 2009
Thanks for the response Caralee. My daughter does the same thing!
Denise says:
September 22nd, 2009
My children also watched Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD which greatly assisted them in learning basic phonics. A great way to expose children to sight words is to play Er-u-di-tion which incorporates both letters of the alphabet and their basic phonic sound as well as over 300 sight words.
Evan says:
September 22nd, 2009
We used the Dolch sight words DVD with our kids and they seemed to really do well with them. We also had success with the same Leapfrog DVD’s you mentioned.
Dana says:
September 22nd, 2009
I agree fun Hen! Reading with our kids is not only an important way for them to find reading to be fun, but what a great bonding experience!! Reading shows the kids that we care about them and love spending time together. Reading also lowers stress levels in all of us!
The Wanna Have Fun Hen says:
September 22nd, 2009
Thanks Dana! I agree with you too! These are the times our children will remember when they are grown. These are great memory making moments. Good point about the stress levels too.