Many parents are interested in teaching their children to read as an aspect of early childhood home education. According to the National Institute for Literacy, children can begin learning to read long before they enter school--the core foundations for literacy are laid between birth and age five. Parents are critical in the development of reading skills in young children.
Step 1
Read out loud to your children several times per day, beginning in infancy. This can help them to understand the significance of written words and may encourage a long-term fascination with books and reading.
Step 2
Introduce your children to individual letters and their most common sounds using foam bathtub letters, printed blocks or plastic molded shapes. Encourage them to recognize each letter and associate it with its most fundamental "sound name"-- for example, the letter C says "kuh" and the letter E says "eh."
Step 3
Show your children three-letter words that follow easy-to-understand phonics rules. Demonstrate how to sound out words such as "cat," "fun," "hit," "box," "mop" and "pet." Identify these simple words when your children encounter them in books and on labels.
Step 4
Gradually introduce short phrases and sentences that follow simple phonics guidelines. Ask your children to sound out phrases such as "a pet dog" and sentences such as "I ran."
Step 5
Explain more advanced phonics rules to your children after they have mastered more basic skills. For example, explain that the letters T, C and S make different sounds if they are followed directly by the letter H. Demonstrate words such as "shake," "mite" and "rope," in which vowels "say their names" because they are trailed by a consonant and the letter E.
Tips and Warnings
- Keep a large supply of books with you at all times. Bring them along on trips and outings and read them regularly. Understand that children develop reading and writing skills at different rates. According to the nonprofit organization Reading Rockets, learning disabilities such as dyslexia are responsible for many cases of delayed literacy in children. Contact your child's health care provider if your child seems to have consistent difficulty learning literacy or any other key skills.
Things You'll Need
- Children's books
- Foam, plastic or wooden letters
