Reading is not generally taught in school until children are 5-6 years old, but many children are able to and even beg to be taught at a younger age then this. Here are a list of resources we found most helpful in helping my son when he began reading at 3.
1. Repetitious Books.
Reading books that contain repeating phrases or words is one of the best ways to teach reading. When you read these catchy stories, make sure to run your finger beneath the words as you read, and watch your child begin to pick up the patterns.
2. A moveable alphabet.
Wooden, plastic, sandpaper, even the pieces to a puzzle make great manipulatives for teaching letter sounds and reading. I've used magnet letters, scrabble tiles, or boggle dice to spell out new words. The act of putting the moveable letters into place is excellent for developing fine motor skills, and children who are not yet ready for writing can still form new words.
3. Leap Frog videos.
Letter Factory teaches the letter sounds, Word Factory teaches how to put those sounds together into words, as well as some blends and vowel teams. Storybook Factory focuses on chunking, the ability to reach sentences and understand punctuation. Phonics Farm is another great one for learning letter sounds.
4. Classical Phonics.
This little book from Memoria Press was my go-to guide for teaching phonics rules in an order that made sense. The book starts with letter sounds, then teaches phonics rules one at a time, and includes word lists to practice the new rule. They also have workbooks available, but we used the book with a small whiteboard and did everything orally.
5. Preschool Prep Company Videos.
There are two resources from this company that I found particularly helpful when teaching my young son to read. The first were the Meet the Phonics series videos Meet the Blends and Meet the Digraphs. These two dvds teach blends and digraphs by pronouncing them over cute animated shorts featuring the letters. When I first put them on I never thought my son would be so enthralled by them, but he was and asked for them often. The second resource I found helpful were the Meet the Sight Words dvds. These movies teach 45 words that are very common or can't be sounded out with phonics rules. There is some debate over when and whether teaching sight words is appropriate for young learners. Most people agree that to read fluently children need both an understanding of phonics and some memorization of words. I used sight word memorization and phonics instruction together with no problem. I would probably suggest focusing on phonics first, but for a child who is very eager to read, even these 45 words will allow many more opportunities to do so.
Remember, let your child be your guide. If she asks for a reading lesson, be ready to oblige, but don't push her to finish or get frustrated if she doesn't get something right away. If your child is having trouble putting the letter sounds together into words, take a break and try again in a few weeks. This skill is often something that just "clicks" for kids.
A note about screens: I'm sure someone will have a problem with two of these resources being videos. My family chose to not have tv when my son was a baby, so these educational videos were a very special treat for him. If you're not comfortable with any screen time for young children, then by all means do what you think is best. This is just what worked for our family :)
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