Omaha Nesties
smiles4ya
member
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Teaching a child to read
Moms: Any tips on getting a child to start reading?
She knows numbers and alphabet. We are still learning lowercase letter identification.
I've been getting the level 1 books at the library and working with her.
Do I just read a lot of books to her?
My dad bought me this real expensive Your Baby Can Read DVD set (infomercial I believe) and she really isn't into the videos or the cards. Books go better for her.
Re: Teaching a child to read
I went to a presentation at school about teaching young kids to read. One thing that the guy discussed that was a real 'duh' moment for me was that you need to teach the kids the sounds of letters, the names of letters don't really mean anything. So, a kid could technically not be able to identify letters, but if they know the sounds, they could read.
The other thing that he stressed as the first step was getting kids to identify the first sound of a word. Once they realize that the sounds are really separate sounds put together, then they can get the concept of reading. He said that when they are about 3, to start separating the first sound out in words in every day conversation. You sound like you are stuttering, but it is effective. "Pass the b-b-ball." "The s-s-sky is blue." We do this with E all the time and she is getting the concept of the different sounds.
Once they understand the beginning sounds, then you can start breaking down 3 letter words into each sound and then putting them together.
Start labeling things.
On pictures- Mom Dad etc. Lots of post its 
A
The best thing that you can do is read read read read!
All of the above, and once he was getting close we got some Bob books (this is the brand, not Bob the Builder)
They are simple little "books" (really several pages stapled together) with only 2-3 letter words. The sounds progress so the first few books only use just a few different consonant sounds & add on from there. He seemed to really enjoy these, I think in part b/c he could read a whole book by himself. I believe there are 10 books in a box; we got the first 2 boxes & after that he could read well enough to read his other books.
Now at 5 1/2 he is reading like a mad bastard. He read his brother 2 stories for bedtime tonight - there is nothing that warms my heart like listening to them do that.
I love this!
The city library has leveled readers. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by level 1 books. Some of those leveled books like at Barnes and Noble a level 1 = 1st grade -ish. The leveled readers that Owen dominates are just a bit larger than a 3x5 card and are on the spinning racks in the middle. They're DRA levels, which most schools use for their guided reading. Start with sounds and keep it simple with the vowels.
a like in apple
e like elephant
i like iggy iguana, igloo
o like octopus
u like umbrella
If you find a word where it makes another sound just say "oh this is a silly word. It says /ay/ here," or whatever.
I think the biggest thing is to follow the kid and answer questions as they come up. It's a lot like potty training. There's a lot you can do, but in the end it all comes down to the kid. This is what I do all day, every day, so if you have specific questions I'd be happy to help you.
You could also google Fountas and Pinnell (they're the ones who do the levels for books). You might be able to get some info from that. If you google anything I'd google Jan Richardson. She has some fabulous pre-emergent activities that very closely align with the reading recovery style that works wonders. I started the Jan Richardson way last year and it went well, but it's going crazy good this year. Let me know if I can help you in any way. I love this stuff.
Of course I thought of something else:
Point to the words as you read. You could also say, "your name starts with K. What does k say? Now let's find all of the words with a letter k on this page." I have some of those post it note arrows that kids use and they LOVE it. Even now that they all know their letters they still like to use those things.
And yes. Just read, read, read, read with her and let her see you having fun.
We went to Gere on Saturday... there was a sign by the books that said something like first readers and then had numbers on the books. (1-3?)
I grabbed the 1's which have maybe 4 words on a page.
You guys are smart... keep it coming because I only took 1 class in child development and was 19 at the time.
That sounds right. They are predictable such as...
I go to school in a car.
I go to school on a bus.
I go to school on a bike.
etc.
Rigby might be the "brand." Good stuff.
That predictable text helps them gain some serious confidence. They "know" the majority of the words but to read the last word they have to look at the picture and use the clues. That's such a great start because they believe they can read and are more and more willing to take a risk and try.
I always tell my kiddos to "LOOK at the letters (pointing to my eyes), LISTEN to the sounds (point to ears). Do those match the picture?"
That makes perfect sense.... with the thing my dad got she wasn't feeling confident and if it is wrong she will give up fast.
I looked at the Bob stuff and I think I saw something like this come home from daycare the other day.
I'll look at all of your suggestions.
I'm trying to get her excited about the library too.
We're hit and miss on the library around here. Some days he just finds oodles and oodles of books. Other days he's excited to go, we get there and all he wants is a DVD and then we're done. (lame) I always pick out a few things though. I think one of the best things to do is to never read because you think you HAVE to. Only do it because it's fun. I've even told parents to only read at home for fun. If the kid is at all reluctant just let home reading be fun. I'll be the big meanie that forces them to learn to read. Just keeping reading fun somewhere is so important.
Does she play any starfall.com? Owen has learned a ridiculous amount of his reading skillz from pbskids and starfall. Kind of embarrassing given my job, but those are really fabulous ways to make reading fun. They don't even realize they're learning. They think they're just playing the computer. I've been very happy with both of those sites.
YES!!