Reading Readiness

I have been an educator for 12 years now.  I started out teaching full time in an elementary school, and then seven years ago I switched to tutoring for a well known tutoring agency.  (No need to give them free advertising :)  I love teaching, especially helping kids learn to read.  Of course, being a teacher, my son gets taught at home whether he wants to be or not!  Thankfully, he's three and wants to learn about everything.  He began to show an interest in learning to read when he was two.  He picked up the alphabet thanks to Dr. Seuss's ABC and began asking what letter words start with.  That was a huge sign to me that he was ready to learn phonics.  Now he is starting to sound out some words on his own and it's so much fun to watch it happen! I wanted to share with my fellow moms what I've learned so far. 


It's really not hard to teach a child to read.  When they are young, interested, love repetition, have no concept of things being "too hard", and motivated to achieve new things...that's the perfect time to introduce phonics.  As long as it's fun, and there's no pressure, I believe in giving them the opportunity to learn how to read.  I don't believe that there is specific age that constitutes ready to learn.  I think it's more according to their interest.  If you are sharing the joy of reading with them on a daily basis, they will most likely want to learn to read.  

Some suggestions for teaching your child to read:

1. Start by reading to him or her every day. We read before nap and bedtime, as well as random times throughout the day.  We visit the library often.

2. Include in your reading some books that teach the alphabet. (There were over 6000 suggestions when I searched on Amazon!) Here are a few I like:

· Dr. Suess’s ABC (My son learned his alphabet from this book!)

· Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

· A to Z by Sandra Boynton

· Richard Scarry’s Cars & Trucks from A to Z

· Curious George's ABCs

3. Sing the ABCs during the day: diaper changing, brushing teeth, in the car… I like to chose a singing style: opera, country, jazz, whatever.  It’s fun for everybody!

4. There is a multitude of toys that incorporate the alphabet to heighten awareness. Some that we own are: wooden ABC puzzles, an alphabet placemat, stacking blocks with letters, and magnetic letters with a wipe-off/ chalkboard. We’ve also created letters with play dough, so you can use what you have to make letters too. My son even started making letters on his own with string or a strip of paper, and sometimes his food!

5. Purchase some magnetic letters for the fridge and make easy words together like "cat" or "dog", and spell out names of people in your family. That way your child sees that letters work together to make words. Plus they're learning that we read from left to right.

6. Flashcards are a great way to quiz your child and see which letters they know. Make sure to get (or make) cards that include lower case letters separately. You can play a matching game to find the capital and the lower case letters that go together.

7. Your child will probably be pointing out letters everywhere you go by now. Have fun with it and start talking about beginning letters of words, like: “Costco starts with C!” We have an on-going game to see how many words we can think of that start with a particular letter. Names of people are favorites with my son.

8.  Read text to your kids wherever it pops up, like brand names on their clothes.  They will begin to recognize the font or logo and feel proud that they can "read" the words.  (Like: Gymboree or OshKosh)

There are lots of other possible ways to introduce and teach the alphabet, so please share in the comments other ideas and suggestions.  As a teacher, I'm always looking for new and fun methods to use with my students.   In a future post, to follow soon, I'll share how we taught phonics to K and the simple steps to take from there so your child can begin to sound out easy words.