Just learning to read is not enough if your child is going to compete in the modern information society. Becoming a good or excellent reader is the key to your child's future. A child that enjoys reading will consume 2-3 books a week. That can be 10-20 times more than an average reader and so the gap opens steadily between the two. So here are 5 things that will make a huge difference to your child's reading development. We employ all of them in our Easyread System: TIP 1 - Don't Read Books This may seem a bit crazy, but teaching a child to read with a book is a mistake. It's like teaching a child to catch a ball by playing basketball. A bright child will look at the text and use the easiest approach, which is to memorise some words and guess the others. That seems to work OK at first, but leads to more and more guessing as the books get more complicated. In due course, you will see an implosion of confidence and a total reluctance to do any more reading at all. TIP 2 - "Dimensionalise" the Phonemes Your child needs to be familiar with the 43 phonemes we use. They are the little sounds that make up each word. You can find a list of them in any dictionary. Because they are just sounds, the phonemes are hard for a child to remember. So we create a visual image for each one. That gives them physical dimensions and makes them much easier to remember. For instance, for the letter E we use the eggs with little legs, the eagle looking regal and the earth full of mirth. Do you see how easily those get locked into your memory? Our memories work mainly with visual images. TIP 3 - Play These Games You don't want to start with a book. So where do you start? We find games like these work well: Build-A-Word. Get hold of some plastic letters and select 4 consonants and 2 vowels. Go over the sound of each one. Then say a simple and regular 3 letter word for your child to build with them (like mat, ten, fin or hit). Select-A-Word. Write three very similar words, like hat, mat and map. Say one of them and ask your child to select which one it is. Nonsense Words. This time, use your plastic letters to write a simple nonsense word like gab, hin, mub or wid. Ask your child to read it. Easyread-I-Spy. Play the classic "I spy with my little eye..." game. But instead of using the first letter of the name of the object, use the first sound instead. TIP 4 - Less is More Never do more than 15 minutes of reading practise at a go. Any more and your child's concentration level will begin to dip. TIP 5 - Try Easyread TrainerText TrainerText is a system we use to make ongoing reading practise much easier for the child. We float the visual images that we have created for each phoneme above the text, so that there is a clue to the sounds in each word. You can use the images you have created for Tip 2 to do the same. The great thing with TrainerText is that your child can work through the text without getting stuck and needing help. That is marvellous for developing confidence and self-esteem. Using this sort of approach, we see a new engagement with reading immediately and then a surge of confidence over the first 21 days. If you use these tips I am sure you will see the same thing.
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Just learning to read is not enough if your child is going to compete in the modern information society. Becoming a good or excellent reader is the key to your child's future.
To find more guidance on Ways to Help Your Kids Crack Literacy visit our website www.EasyreadSystem.com Click here to get your own unique version of this article.
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