what is the best way to teach a child how to read?

Good Day! - posted on 06/08/2010

I forgot to add...Margaret Hillert wrote tons of books that use just sight words. Its a great way for kids to gain confidence in reading once they know a few sight words. You may be familiar with her Dear Dragon books. Your library should have an abundance of her books.

Catherine - posted on 06/08/2010

Read lots and lots of books to introduce your child to words. Teach them the alphabet and the letter sounds. I find it helpful when reading to my four year old to point at the words as I say them. Sometimes I have her try and pronouce some of the words. I also bought flashcards called sight words. She is starting to read and it is amazing. There is a great website too that they will in enjoy....www.starfall.com once they start playing on the computer.

Good Day! - posted on 06/08/2010

I agree with Joanna. Reading to your child is the BEST thing you can do for them educationally early on. You'd be surprised how many kids enter Kindergarten not knowing the proper way to hold a book, that you read it from front to back, or that the words match the pictures. So read to your baby and let her/him play with books. Right now my 2 year old pretends to read to herself. She'll chose two books, give me one to read aloud (while she listens) and pretends that she's reading the other one. It's all part of the learning process. She see me running my finger under the words as I read, so she is becoming aware that the words and the pictures go together. We also talk about the pictures.

When your child is ready, introduce letters. Start with the first letter of their name, because that is special to him/her. Make if fun. Don't force him/her to sit and do flashcards if they'd rather be running. If that's the case, you can do all sorts of relay games with letters. Draw letters together with crayons and sidewalk chalk. Point out letters on his/her favorite food labels, etc. If he/she can recognize signs (McD's, WalMart) and labels (on favorite yogurt or cereal, etc.) that's great and a major step towards actually reading.

Next would be a combination of letter sounds and simple sight words. This is usually around late 3's (at the earliest) or 4's. Sight words are words that you know without having to sound them out. This helps with the child's reading fluency (speed of reading without mistakes) and comprehension (how much they understand). Here is a website with common sight words to give you a guideline: http://gemini.es.brevard.k12.fl.us/shepp... Here is a website with activities to do with sight words: http://www.edhelper.com/dolch_sightwords... Again don't push and go at your child's pace. You want it to be fun, not something to dread.

When it comes to letter sounds here is a fun website: http://www.starfall.com/ This website has different levels so your child can do it at his/her level. It's great once you start teaching phonics and actually reading as well.

Don't forget about comprehension! Ask questions as you read a book. What do you think will happen next? What do the pictures tell us about what is happening? What happened at the beginning, middle and end? Who were the characters and what did they do? This is just as, if not more important than, the other parts of reading.

Sorry I wrote so much. You will do great. Remember...if you do NOTHING else, READ to your child! And don't push and go at his or her pace.

Candice - posted on 06/08/2010

Read to them!Go over letters and words while you read and slowly they will put together letters and words by themselves.Keep reading together until well after school age.

JuLeah - posted on 06/08/2010

Teach letter sounds more then letter names - the sounds come together to make words, but yes, I agree with Joanna - read to them every day + play rhyming games - sing songs -

Joanna - posted on 06/08/2010

Read them a lot of books from infancy on, teach them ABC's as an infant/toddler, then once they're ready, just go into teacher mode and spell out words. Eventually it comes together!