Three Simple Ways to Enable a Young Reader

Dear Parents:  

You are your child's first teacher.  Here are three simple ways to enable your young reader.

1) Practice nursery rhymes. 

2) Teach letter sounds with lowercase letters. 

3) Read to your child.  

It is that simple.  

Remind yourself to keep it simple and you will relish the results.

1) Teach your child nursery rhymes.

Rhymes help establish phonological awareness, critical in literacy development.

Sing nursery rhymes face to face.  The child needs to hear your voice, see your lips and interpret your expression.  A television does not have the same impact on the young brain as you.   The brain is an active and natural pattern decoder. Nursery rhymes establish patterns of the English language in the child's mind.

2) Teach your child letter sounds with lowercase letters.

Letter sounds with lowercase letters establish the *alphabetic principle and deepen understanding of phonemic awareness.

"Phonemic awareness instruction is most effective

• when children are taught to manipulate phonemes by using the letters of the alphabet.
• when instruction focuses on only one or two rather than several types of phoneme manipulation."          Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read (Teacher’s Guide), Kindergarten through Grade 3

Begin with incremental steps starting with letter sounds and lowercase letters.  Start with one lowercase letter symbol and one sound, the hard consonant or the short vowel.  The Montessori method and Core Knowledge Curriculum both begin with this simple shift, teaching letter sounds first.

(I recommend the Souns program for establishing letter-sound knowledge because it brings the abstract symbol used in literacy to life through play for the young learner.  However, if your means do not allow the purchase of a set, you can also practice letter sounds using a stick and some mud.)    

3)  Read to your child, face to face.

Reading, speaking and interacting directly with your child increases the child's vocabulary and comprehension.

Read to your child and talk about the book.   A student needs a robust vocabulary for success in literacy.

All you need is a library card to get started.

Follow these three guidelines for teaching at home before your child enters school, and your child will be ready to read. (Disclaimer:  Your child will probably already be decoding since you honored his/her analytic skills.)

*The alphabetic principle is the foundation needed for success in reading.  Surprisingly, the alphabetic principle has nothing to do with a letter name. Sing the alphabet song for dictionary skills needed down the road in school, but do not associate the symbol with the letter name in the beginning.  Simply focus on the letter sounds.