Teaching Your Preschooler to Read

When a young child learns to read, doors to the world are opened up. Helping your preschooler make that first step into reading can seem daunting at first, but if your child is ready learning to read can be fun and simple. When your preschooler is showing signs that he is ready to learn to read here are four simple steps that you can take to help.

1. Read often. Children who are read to often transition easily into reading for themselves. Spend time every day reading to your preschooler to help him become comfortable with words, letters, and sounds. Do not stop at just children's stories. Read signs, packages, and even adult reading material such as the newspaper or a magazine article to your preschooler. The words you can surround your preschoolers with the easier learning to read will be.

2. Start with small, simple books. There are many books available that are geared just for early readers. Find books with simplesentences made of small, easy to sound out words. As your preschooler learns to read these simple books she will become more excited to about reading. Take your time through the books, work at your child's pace so that she does not become too frustrated. You may need to review a book several times before your preschooler understands the connection between the letters and the sounds they make.

3. Explore rhyming words. Rhyming words are not only fun and silly, they are a great way for your preschooler to learn to read word fragments. The more practise your child has with rhyming words the more your preschooler will begin to grasp the sounds that small word fragments at the end of words make. Stick with small, simple words and simple two letter word fragments at first. Words such as "fin, win, pin, bin" are great starting places for preschoolers. Play rhyming games, search for rhyming words around your house, and create your own silly rhymes to get your preschooler interested in these words.

4. Create word lists for your preschooler to review. A preschooler's memory is not very long, a word that they know today may seem brand new to them tomorrow. As your preschooler learns to read create lists of the words he knows. Keep these lists of words somewhere where your preschooler can reach them whenever he wants, such as hanging on a wall or placed in a binder on a low shelf. Often preschoolers will enjoy looking through words that they have learned. This will help your preschooler remember words they have learned to read and give him extra practise reading these simple words.

Teaching a preschooler how to read can be rewarding and exciting for parents. When your child begins to show signs of reading readiness using these four simple steps will help your preschooler explode into reading.