How to Teach a 4 Year Old to Read

Instruction your child to read can be 1 of the most rewarding experiences of your life! Here we share 10 tips on how to teach a kid to read, from pre-readers all the way to schoolhouse-age children!

When Do Kids Larn To Read?

As a old outset grade instructor, teaching children to read is one of my greatest passions! But considering most children don't start really "reading" until around vi years sometime (which is upwards of the targeted age range for my blog), I didn't desire parents to feel pressured that their 3-yr quondam needs to start reading (which, by the style, they don't!). However, the information shared below is general information that is benign for children of all ages, whether your kid is ready to read or not. Don't implement all of these strategies at one time, nor should you look your kid to be able to practice everything right away. Learning to read is a process and the information beneath is simply for you lot to implement when you feelyour child is ready.

In one case your child is ready to begin reading, you will need to find a systematic and explicit program that teaches phonemic awareness and phonics. This is essential. Learning to read is like breaking a cipher lawmaking (and contrary to what the title of this postal service suggests, it is Not easy). Every child must learn the code and it makes the near sense to teach this explicitly rather than depending on kids figuring it out on their own. Please also recognize that although the suggestions beneath are labeled as "steps", they are non necessarily in consecutive order, nor are they in order of importance. The data yous will notice here is simply a guide to help y'all come across how each of the components of reading fit together for your pre-reader. If your child is school-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

i. Read Aloudto your child

Pedagogy your child to read is truly a procedure that begins at infancy. No, I am most certainly NOT advocating programs that claim 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 fourth dimension building a special bonding time for the ii of you, it instills in her a dear for books. Enjoyment while reading is one of the single greatest predictors of reading success in school-historic period children. If children don't acquire from an early on age to enjoy reading, it will nigh probable hinder their ability sometime down the road.

How much you read to your child is completely upwards to you and your family, but I suggest y'all aim to read at least 3-iv books a day, even while your kid is very young. As she gets a trivial older and tin can sit for longer stretches of time, brand information technology a family goal to read together for at least xx-minutes each day.

Hither are a few suggestions for the types of books to read to your kid. But by all ways, read any your kid responds to and enjoys!

Birth-1 Year: Lullabies, Lath Books (with real pictures), Cloth Books (with various textures), Vocal Books
1 Year-iii Years: Rhyming Books, Song Books, Short-Story Board Books
3 Years-v Years: Alphabet Books, Song Books, Picture Books, Rhyming Books

2. Ask questions

Asking questions while reading to your child is non simply great for encouraging your kid to collaborate with the book, simply it is also extremely effective in developing his ability to comprehend what he is reading. You see, if our chief objective in "reading" is getting our child to "sound out" words, we take missed the boat entirely. Even children who can decode words and "read" with great fluency still might not exist able to cover what they are reading. If a child can't encompass what he is reading, in that location really is no indicate to reading at all!

While your kid is a babe, ask him questions such as, "Practice you see the cat?" while pointing at the flick of the cat. This will non simply develop his vocabulary, it will besides encourage him to interact with the book that he is reading. As he gets older, ask him to point to things in the book himself and brand the noises of the animals he sees.

Once your child is most 2 or three-years of age, begin request questions before, during, and after reading the book. Show your kid the cover of the volume and ask him what he thinks the story is going to be about (predicting). While reading, ask him what he thinks is going to happen in the story or why he thinks a graphic symbol made a particular selection (inferring). If a character is depicting a strong emotion, place that emotion and ask your child if he has ever felt that manner (connecting). At the end of the book, ask if his prediction(s) came true. Afterwards, ask him to tell you what he remembered happening in the book (summarizing).

Modifying each of these techniques during read-alouds to meet the developmental phase of your child is a dandy mode to promote and increase reading comprehension!

three. Be a adept (reading) example

Even if your child is fascinated with books from an early age, her fascination volition apace dwindle if she does non see reading modeled in her habitation. If y'all are non an avid reader yourself, make a conscious endeavor to let your children see you reading for at least a few minutes each twenty-four hour period! Read a magazine, a cookbook, a novel, your Bible…it'due south up to you! But show your child that reading is something that even adults need to do. If you accept a son, share this commodity with your married man. Sons demand to see their fathers read, specially since it is not something that young energetic boys are naturally prone to doing.

Equally parents, nosotros tin can sometimes get wrapped up with what exactly our children should exist doing to be successful. But we often forget that children often larn past example. Grab a book and take a load off…for your child'due south sake, of course!

4. Place messages in natural settings

Earlier our boys were born, we painted and hung large wooden messages spelling their proper name higher up the cribs equally a decorative accent in their rooms. I would have never guessed that those wooden letters would have such a learning incentive for Big Brother! Effectually age ii.5, he began asking what letters were above his name. That's honestly how he learned to spell his name…and he can spell his brother'due south name besides because he has taken an interest in his letters as well. In technical terms, this is called "environmental impress" and includes all of the print we are surrounded by–fast food signs, labels, traffic signs, article of clothing, magazines, etc.

Often times, we want to force our children to larn letter names by a certain age. Nosotros buy flashcards or DVDs challenge to teach our children their letters. We drill our ii-yr old over and over for minutes on end. Don't buy into this…allow your kid to exist a kid and accept advantage of the "teachable moments" as they come up along! Children's minds are like sponges and are certainly capable of memorizing the alphabet from drilling, simply that's non the most effective method that will produce the all-time long-term results. Your kid volition exist curious nigh the impress he sees around him and will ask questions. That'due south your take a chance to jump in with a practical application that really has real pregnant and significance to your child.

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

v. Incorporate multiple domains of evolution

Children larn best when multiple senses or areas of evolution are included. That's why hands-on learning produces longer retentivity and more meaningful awarding. Once your kid has shown an interest in letters and y'all have already begun to utilize natural settings for identifying those messages, begin implementing activities that comprise every bit many senses as possible. Keep in mind that learning letter of the alphabet names isn't nearly as important as learning their sounds!

There are a plethora of ways to incorporate multiple domains of development in regards to letter recognition and early on-reading skills. Alphabet crafts allow your child to learn the shape of a letter of the alphabet along with an clan of the sound information technology 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 appropriate letter) are also wonderful ways to include motion. Of course, every child loves songs and rhymes! Take an inventory of your child's strengths and areas of interest and target activities to fit them!

6. Classify the Genre

Once your child is effectually 5 and tin recognize the deviation between existent and brand-believe, I would suggest starting to help your child understand various genres of books during your reading time together. This might seem complicated, just information technology's really not. There are effectually 5 unlike genres of children's books that I would encourage you to signal out to your fiddling one. Of course you can utilize the term "type" rather than "genre" if that is easier to recollect.

Nonfiction (real stories or facts nigh animals, places, people, etc)
Fantasy (brand-believe, tin can't happen in real life because of magic, talking animals, etc)
Realistic Fiction (a made-upwardly story, but it 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 accept to first summarize the book in their head and recall details. And then they take to use that information to make up one's mind which type of genre that particular books fits into. Finally, your child will exist recalling details from other books in the same genre, making connections between the ii. This simple action that might have 5-x seconds of your time after reading a book but it certainly packs a punch of thought and processing in that young encephalon!

Also, information technology's important to note that not all books will fit into one of these genres, peculiarly books that are considered "phonics readers." I would advise that you exercise this exercise only with high-quality children's literature, not with books that are attempting to go your kid to "sound-out" on their own. Most flick books found in children'southward libraries will fit into one of these genres.

Recollect, our goal is for our children to acquire to encompass what they're reading…otherwise reading volition honestly practise them little good. When we encourage our children to think most and procedure the book we've just read together, nosotros are inadvertently modeling what we hope they'll 1 solar day do independently!

7. Focus on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics

"Phonemes" are the smallest sounds in the English language (go here for a complete list of phonemes). These sounds are made up of consonants, short vowels, long vowels, and digraphs. "Phonemic Awareness" consists of learning those sounds and how to manipulate them inside a discussion. Digraphs are unique sounds comprised of private messages like /thursday/, /sh/, /ch/, etc.

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

9. Decoding

Decoding is often referred to as "sounding it out." One time your kid knows the sounds each alphabetic character makes (which is taught in real, meaningful situations), she is ready to begin putting words together. Decoding is a procedure that requires strong phonemic awareness skills and gives way to orthographic mapping, the process by which words are stored as "sight words" in long-term retention.

Equally children decode words with more than frequency, they volition become more than adept at automatically identifying that discussion. Researchers say it tin can take between i-four exposures of decoding earlier a word is transferred to long-term memory for automated retrieval. Sometimes this task is tedious, and can't be brusk-changed, and then it'southward important to find creative ways to make information technology fun. When I taught outset grade, I used to buy trivial finger puppets that my students could utilise to point to the letters equally they were decoding. This was a huge hit and made this process so much fun!

ten. Use a reading program with explicit, systematic instruction once 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, can piece of work on during our child'south primeval years to brand the process of learning to read much easier for our children. Once your child reaches school-historic period, be certain that you are using a program rooted in the science of reading, with explicit and systematic didactics in both phonemic sensation and phonics. If your child is headed to schoolhouse, inquire to wait over the curriculum to ensure it is strong in these areas specifically. Some children will naturally learn the phonetic code more hands than others, as Nancy Immature's Reading Ladder suggests, only ALL children do good from early code-based instruction.

In that location is no better foundational reading plan, in my opinion, than Pathways to Reading. The original curriculum has been used in classrooms and clinical settings for the last 20 years. The programme has been involved in numerous research studies, showing statistically meaning results. Pathways to Reading Homeschool now offers their groundbreaking curriculum for home educators, starting with Bones Foundational Reading (which is the equivalent of kindergarten-age pedagogy). All 5 areas of reading instruction, as identified by the National Reading Panel, are incorporated: Phonemic Sensation, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Reading Comprehension. This is such an incredible resource for families and I can't recommend it highly enough!

Learning To Read is a Journey

In summary, here are some practical suggestions yous tin can implement every mean solar day based on the learning to read strategies shared with yous in this postal service. Obviously, y'all can't implement all of these suggestions with children of all ages, so use your judgement about what is the best way to teach a child to read.

Read to your child every day!
Inquire your child questions before, during, and after reading.
Permit your child see you reading.
Look for letters while out and well-nigh and in the environment around y'all.
When teaching letters and letter sounds, incorporate every bit many senses as 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 child to sound out short words (consonant, vowel, consonant).
Most of all, have fun together!

This post was kickoff published Feb 2012. Updated 2018.

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