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Tips for Teaching Your Children to Read
By Mia Cronan
http://MainStreetMom.com

Those of us who are avid readers know how it feels to finish a book, put it down, and search feverishly for the next gripping story that will take us away from reality, even if for just a short time before it becomes time to start dinner or get the laundry out of the dryer.  The love of reading can be fostered in our children very early on, even before the child is born.

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An infant in the womb gets to know the soft rhythm of his mother’s voice through her day to day speech, but being read to routinely enhances that familiarity.  Research has shown that a baby’s heart rate increases when he hears his mother’s voice in vitro and even prefers it after birth.  The gentle cadence of poetry or a loving story sets the pace for a child’s speech and a potential love of reading. 

There are mainly three types of methods used to teach children how to read, but it is actually a combination of the three which makes the greatest impact on the child’s success.  These methods are auditory, phonetic, and whole language.  Reading to a child as early as possible gives a wonderful auditory head-start on sentence cadence, vocabulary, and overall grammar and structure.  The phonetic approach introduces a series of rules; for example the use of the letter “e” at the end of some words changes the vowel from a short vowel to a long vowel.  The whole language method sets some of the phonetics aside and helps the child recognize whole words in a series of whole sentences.  Again, because of the obvious limitations in each of these methods, a combination of the three is ideal for a well-rounded learning experience. 

Whether your children are younger or older, it is never too late to guide them toward a good book.  But how does a parent do that without it seeming like “homework” or an obligation on the child’s part?  There are many wonderful ways to do just that. 

Lisa Baka, a reading teacher from northeast Ohio, has this to say about teaching a child to read:

“In the past, all students were taught to read in the same manner and by using the same book - a Basil Reader.  There was little compensation for reading levels and learning styles. We now realize that students experience far greater success by reading from leveled books.  Instruction has changed to include whole language as well as phonics and accommodates the various learning styles.  We are more focused on early reading intervention and strengthening fluency.”

Following are some tips to guide a parent in the quest for the best method:

1.  Reading is a learned skill, like riding a bike, and it does not come easy to all students.  Identifying the stumbling blocks as well of what type of learner the student is helps target instruction.  There is no “magic solution.”

2.  Language skills are developed in the similar portion of the brain where speech is developed.  Echoing baby sounds is productive but the single most beneficial thing you can do for your child is read to her.  Exposure to books and music at an early age make a huge difference once she reaches elementary school.  It becomes clear in the classroom as to which children had the advantage of having been exposed to a love of books.

3.  Helping them with their homework, and reading to them, goes such a long way to a child’s long-term success in school.  “It is disheartening to see a child with a lack of support from home,” says Mrs. Baka.

4.  Preschoolers love books that rhyme, and rhyming is a wonderful preliminary skill for reading.  Dr. Seuss is of course wonderful!  Many of the online bookstores offer helpful reviews.

One mother has found http://starfall.com to be helpful in guiding her five-year-old daughter through the alphabet and the formation of simple words.  Maendi says, “Although I've been working with her for years, I started officially homeschooling her in August of 2006.  I've been stunned by her reading progress.  The only other child in her AWANA class who can read anything at all is another homeschooled child.  I suspect that the parents of these particular children don't work with their kids, leaving it to the teachers, but I don't know for sure.  I think that is an old-fashioned way of doing it.  I believe today's children need as many advantages as possible and reading is at the top.” 

If you have ever finished a good novel and felt saddened that you are no longer able to spend a portion of your day with the people in the book, then you know the passion that reading can inspire.  Reading to your children, with your children, and eventually having them read to you is an enriching, cultural, and intellectually stimulating practice.   

For more resources on helping a child grow in his love of literature, visit the following sites: 

http://www.starfall.com

http://www.time4learning.com

http://teachers.santee.k12.ca.us/carl

http://www.hbschool.com