Teaching Your Preschooler to Read
Ways to Give Them a Head Start in School
Teaching a preschooler to read is rewarding. Give your preschooler a head start for school by using some of these ideas.
Preschoolers can learn fast and seem to remember everything. They are excited about learning something and enjoy simple rewards such as praise or a hug to acknowledge that you are proud of them and you know what they did. Because they are so quick to learn, you will want to take this opportunity to teach your preschooler to read. It's easy to do and they can absorb everything that you teach them. If parents spend one hour a day teaching their little preschoolers they can often get several activities into that hour. Preschoolers will not sit down to learn long, in fact you may cause them to lose their interest in everything if you force them to sit and learn. There is a secret in how to get your preschooler reading.
Keep Learning Fun
The first important thing to remember is that in order to make learning a success you need to make learning fun. Preschoolers learn better when you make it fun. There will be times that you think they are not paying you any attention but they are learning. Any lesson can be learned by turning it into a song, drawing, arts and crafts and more. For example, draw the storybook characters that you are reading about and have your child point to a character any time you mention that character during the story.
Start your reading session by dressing up as one of the characters in the book and offering a costume for your child to wear as well. It may just be a hat, a mask or a jacket but try to fit the part. You will grab your preschooler’s attention and she will enjoy reading with you. Because it is fun to learn for the children, your teaching and reading time will consist of smiling, laughing, running and playing.
Repetition is Key
Reading combines several different activities together; listening, memory, imagination, creativity and more. When you read to your child and point to the words as you read them, your child starts to get an understanding of word recognition. Repeating the words sometimes is also a good idea to ensure that your child learned to recognize the word.
Don't Force Reading
If your preschooler does not show interest in reading yet, you may want to read more about how to get your preschooler reading so that they can be ready when its time to attend school. Remember that they will learn at their own pace and time you need to make the resources available for them when they do become interested.
