Preschool Education - Reading

Teaching Preschoolers To Read

Teaching a child to read is not one of the easiest things to do. Yet we all know that once they learn to read many doors open for them that were previously closed.  Not only do they gain knowledge, but they also have a friend for life.  Teaching children to read can be fun and with a little patience it can also be extremely rewarding. 

The best way to teach a preschooler to read is by reading to them.  Start with very easy books that contain a lot of pictures and little wording.  Be sure to associate the words with pictures.  This will help children to understand and be able to visualize what you are reading to them.  Repetition is a great for children to learn to read.  Reading the same story over and over will instill the story in the child’s mind thus making it easier for them to remember and understand.

Once you have found a book that all the children enjoy and have read it to them a few times start to teach them the words you are reading.  This will help them to not only learn the word but also how it is spelt.  Take a large piece of poster board and write the word on the board in large letters.  Place dashes between each letter to help them learn the sound of each letter.  An example would be the word cat.  Write it on the poster board like this c-a-t.  Then teach the children each letter, the sound for that letter and how it all comes together to spell cat. 

Teaching children phonics is a must when it comes to reading.  Teaching phonics can be difficult sometimes when you have small children.  An easy way to teach phonics is by playing a simple little game.  If you are trying to teach the letter B and the sounds it can make place a B on the poster board.  Come up with words that start with the letter B and then show the children the different items in the classroom.  After doing this a couple of times let them find the objects in the room.  Before you know it they will be able to say the words, pick out the objects but also be able to tell you if it’s a long or short sound and how it makes the word work with the object.

Letting children read to you can help also.  Start out with picture books that they can relate too.  The pictures will help them if they start to stumble on different words.  Make the words easy and remember repetition.  If you have read this book over and over they will be able to remember these words and be able to read them back to you easily. 

Teaching children to read can be very gratifying.  When reading to a child remember to emphasize words, change voices and use exclamations.  Giving them the insight to how a book can be read and what the words mean will give them a lifetime of reading enjoyment and a friend forever.