It is your responsibility to create a love for reading long before your child enters a formal school environment.
Simple ways to teach your child how to read:
- Your child should see you read
- You must read to your child
- Surround your child with books
If you make time for bedtime stories your child will associate reading as something special and intimate.
This will also add to their imagination, creativity and build a rich vocabulary.
Television or any other device should never take up the place of a story.
What else can you do:
- Draw your child’s attention to the words/signs that surround him/her. They will be able to recognise signs and the shape of letters i.e. McDonald’s sign before they actually start reading. This, however, will lead to an awareness of the shapes of a letter and later a word.
- Find rhymes and songs, learn and sing/ say them together.
- Play games i.e. how many words can we make that start with the letter….
- Let’s find a word that rhymes with….
- Sequencing games: say three words in order to let him/her repeat.
- Learn your telephone number.
- Talk about pictures/books or events. Encourage your child to use descriptive words and full sentences.
- Make up stories.
- Memory games: pack out three coloured blocks, give your child 3 seconds to look at the blocks, cover and ask your child to repeat the colours.
- Also: cover the blocks, take one away and then ask your child which one is missing
- You can increase the number of blocks as your child progresses
- Talk to your child!!! Ask him/her for her/his opinion on things. Ask him/her to express what they like/didn’t like.
More Reading Tips:
- Don’t let any of these activities be anything but a game.
- Don’t let reading become a bore.
- Don’t give up, keep encouraging your child.
- Remember you are not looking at a successful outcome each time, the process is more important.
- Smile.
- Show pleasure.
- Offer praise.
- Don’t fuss over errors.
At Shelanti Private Remedial School we put your child’s needs above all else. Our teachers are skilled and our classrooms are small so that we are able to give each child the individual attention they need to succeed.