If there was one piece of advice I would give on teaching kids to read, it would be to give them as many good memories relateing to books and reading as you can.
I now have 2 wonderful readers, and am teaching my youngest to read, along with her kindergarten teacher.
Recently, I’ve also started watching my niece. When I had to drop off some of the kids’ books today, we came to play. As we sat in the play room, my wheels started turning about the different stages of learning to read and how they fit together.
Right now, my kindergarten is in that stage of frustration. She can identify letters, but she still gets them confused from time to time.
She is also learning all the sounds associated with the different letters. It’s a lot, and it’s confusing. I’ve had to reassure her a lot, that it will all come together, she will get it, and she will be reading books by herself, soon enough.
This experience has made me think about how important the set-up is in creating good readers. Really, all they need is a basic love of books and reading activities to sustain them through the process of learning all the skills that reading entails.
Early school will teach a parent a lot of the teaching skills needed to teach their kids to read, but doesn’t instill the love for books that is likely to keep their drive afloat in the face of a seemingly insurmountable task.
I have loved the library for helping my children associate books with fun times. I have always tried to come to the library, at least once a month, as often as possible. I wouldn’t say it’s always been easy to fit in, but the trip is always well worth it.
Since we can use our library card on the Libby app, I also download stories for easy nap transitions and bedtime. There are so many ways to instill a love of books to kids.
I know that reading to your kids at bedtime every night is one of the most highly recommended tips. I have failed at adding this to our routine with every single kid.
Even with the best of intentions, we have failed to make that happen. My kids are not the best listeners in the evening, and I am certainly not at my best either.
Rather than hate on myself for that failure, I have instead added something else to our routine that has a similar result.
I implore you to teach your kids to love books and stories in any way that you can, that will suit your lifestyle. You will still have to patiently help your kid sound out their sight words, but your battle to get them to try will be a little easier.
Good luck parents, and God speed!
Pro Tip: I told all my kids that if they learned to read, video games would be easier because they wouldn’t need someone to read them the instructions.
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