Children’s Literature

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How to Teach a Child to Read

All children can learn to read, but it’s important to remember that each learns at a different pace.  If you don’t have a clue how to get started with teaching your child, here are a few steps to follow:

Choose a quiet place to read together and an appropriate book

Read each line out loud, pointing to each word as you read.

Make sure your child is watching the words as you read.

Repeat page by page.

 When a child hears a word pronounced correctly and sees it on the page at the same time, he will build an automatic association between hearing and seeing the word. It may take many repetitions, but she will eventually be able to read the words.

Of course, don’t make the reading experieince boring for the child!  Make sure that you are reading with inflection and animation- the more you get into the story, the more likely that the child will want to experience that too and will want to read with your more often.  Ultimately, the more they see words on a page, the better since that helps build that word association between what they are seeing on the page and what they are hearing.

In addition, if the child seems to be developing a knack for reading the words, point to a word on a page after reading the page and see if she knows the word. You might also do this if she is just listening and not watching the words.

teaching your child to read should be a fun and rewarding experience for both of you.  Just remember that it takes patience.  Don’t get frustrated if your child doesn’t graps the concept of reading right away.  Each child is different and will catch on in their own time.

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