Tips to Help Young Readers

Tips for Teaching Early Reading at Home

​Looking for easy ways to boost your child’s reading skills at home? Here are a few simple strategies:

• Story Time Discussions: After reading, ask your child, “What do you think will happen next?” This encourages comprehension and critical thinking.

• Rhyming Games: Play rhyming games with everyday words (e.g., “cat, hat, bat”). This builds phonemic awareness, a critical skill for decoding words.

• Label Your Home: Label common items around the house (e.g., door, chair, table). Seeing these words regularly helps reinforce word recognition.

Why It Matters: These activities help young learners connect spoken language with written words, building foundational skills that will support their future reading success!

Phonics Fun: Creative Ways to Teach Letter Sounds

Phonics doesn’t have to be boring! Try these fun, hands-on phonics activities:

• Alphabet Scavenger Hunt: Hide letters around your home. Ask your child to find the letters and make the corresponding sound (e.g., “Find the letter B and say /b/”).

• Sound Sorting: Use pictures of objects (like a cat, bat, sun) and have your child sort them by beginning sounds.

Why It Matters: These activities make phonics practice active and engaging, helping your child develop strong letter-sound associations, which are key to reading success.

Helping Struggling Readers: What to Do When Reading Doesn’t Click

Is your child finding reading tough? Here are a few strategies to support struggling readers:

• Use Tactile Learning: Have your child trace letters in sand or shaving cream while saying the sound aloud. This multi-sensory approach helps reinforce letter recognition and sounds.

• Integrate writing with sound practice. Using writing dictation with immediate feedback helps your learner to retain the sounds. 

• Echo Reading: Read a sentence aloud, and have your child repeat it. This helps build fluency without the stress of reading alone.

Why It Matters: Decodable books reinforce phonics skills, while picture books expand vocabulary and comprehension—two key pillars in early reading development!

Balance Screen Time With Traditional Reading

In the age of technology, how do we balance screen time with traditional reading? Here’s a practical approach:

• Reading Apps: Use educational apps that focus on phonics or reading fluency for short sessions (e.g., 10-15 minutes).

• Hands-on Reading: Follow up with physical books. Encourage your child to hold the book and turn the pages, building both fine motor skills and a love for traditional reading.

 Why It Matters: Balancing screen time with traditional books ensures that children engage with reading in multiple ways, enhancing comprehension and skill development.