Literacy Begins at Home: Teach Them to Read is a helpful publication for parents with checklists of what parents can do with toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders.
I love the simple format of this booklet. It directs you to a specific age.
There are many programs available online to teach children to read. Many are computer programs with cartoon characters. I personally think these programs are a little confusing and not very effective. Some go through a specific set of skills whether a child needs them or not. Many are extremely expensive.
The most effective way for a child to learn to read is through experiences with a supportive adult who has a little information about teaching reading. That's why I write this blog.
Take a little time today to go through these checklists. If you would like help with any suggested activity or skill, let me know in a comment. I'll address it in an upcoming post.
Here's one item from each checklist
in Literacy Begins at Home , a free publication for parents from the National Institute for Literacy
Toddlers
__ I read with my child everyday, even if it's only for a few minutes.
Find books and advice about reading to children here.
Preschoolers
__ I let my child pretend read parts of the book when we read together.
Watch a video of my daughter share reading a book here.
Watch a video of my son pretend reading a whole book here.
Kindergarteners
__ My child knows that the order of letters in a written word stand for the order of sounds in a spoken word.
Here's one post I made showing sounding out words left to right.
First Graders
__ My child can sound out words he doesn't know, and recognize some irregularly spelled words, such as have, said, you, and are.
Here's a post that share ways to teach high frequency words.
Second Graders
__ My child pays attention to how words are spelled and correctly spells words he has studied.
Here's a post that shows a few ways to help a child with spelling.
Third Graders
__ My child uses what he knows of phonics and word parts (prefixes, roots, and suffixes) to sound out unfamiliar words.
Here's a post with resources to teach word parts.
I've written a
resource page with Squidoo covering some areas of teaching children to read. I've started a consulting, in home party, book loaning, and book leveling business called
Parent and Child Reading Assistance. I'm here to support you. I'd love to answer any questions you have about teaching a child to read. Ask a question in a comment or email me at parentandchildreading(at)gmail(dot)com to set up consulting.
I'm working on some parent resources and teaching videos. I'll let you know when I have something worth sharing. I juggle raising my kids, this blog, and my business. Sharing information with parents who are committed to helping their children read is more fun than work. Thanks for reading! If you are finding helpful information, be sure to sign up with Feedburner to get all new posts sent to your inbox. You'll find the sign up in my sidebar.
Use This Booklet with Checklists to Teach Your Child to Read at Home
may bother some parents since the main character is disrespectful to authority. Most of Robert Munsch's books are funny, but you never know what this author might come up with to get a laugh from children. He is a little unpredictable like a child. You will have to be the judge of what you'd like your children to hear. My children started repeating the disrespectful phrase from Up, Up, Down at the playground when they climbed to the top of something. I put a stop to that quickly, but not before a little embarrassment.
for a road trip from our local library. It kept my three children entertained! Robert Munsch tells thirteen stories with sound effects included. If you click on the Amazon link
