Top Tips for Teaching Your Child to Read

The process involved in teaching someone to read isn’t something that people tend to think about, until they have a child of their own or someone else whom the have to teach.

It isn’t something that happens overnight, and you will have to be patient. Most importantly, try not to listen to the other parents who will undoubtedly find opportunities to brag about how well their child is coming along really well with their reading! Every child learns at their own pace. Here are some tips for teaching your child to read from a nursery in Blackpool.

Start young

Give your child a head start by exposing them to books when they are still a baby. Read to or with them every day in a comfortable, cosy environment where they can learn to love reading, rather than seeing it as a chore.

Essentially, they will start to associate reading with a loving embrace and a bonding experience with their favourite people. Talk to your baby about the pictures you see in the books, rather than sticking to the words, as this stage of their learning is all about hearing the sound and rhythm of your voice.

Singing

Help your child with their phonemic awareness by encouraging them to sing nursery rhymes with you and clap to the beat. This will help them learn to cope with the different sounds within different words. Introduce them to easy, three letter words like dog, bag, cat, hat, and show them how to sound out the words, one letter at a time.

As they get older, you can introduce them to trickier words and books with more text. Make sure they have easy access to words and letters by placing a child friendly book in their toy box or pinning an alphabet chart to the wall. This will help them become increasingly more familiar with the words and letters and therefore more familiar with reading. 

Practice at home

Of course, when your child starts nursery or school, their teachers will play a huge role in helping your child learn how to read, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on expanding this essential skill at home. If you’re struggling, have a look on YouTube for an age-appropriate reading lesson for your child to engage with. 

If you’re looking for a fun way to engage with letters, check out this list of things that start with A!