How I Taught My Kids to Love and Read Books

It will be difficult for a child to grasp reading if they weren't read to in their early years. “Teaching them” to become independent readers is something that should occur around 3 to 4. 

So, in my opinion, the first and most important step in cultivating a positive relationship and foundation with books and reading is simply a child being read to. As early as possible, you have to show them that books are special. When you read to them, they are listening, gaining early exposure to new words, and learning early fluency through you, the guardian or parent.

For my kids I didn't initially begin with decoding, digraphs or blends. I did teach individual letter sounds but I immediately followed the beginning letter sounds with a 3 to 4 letter word. “B is for bat, b b bat. B is for ball, b b ball.,etc.” I taught entire words and then said these new words in a sentence. “The girl has a yellow ball.” 

Why delay the connection between sounds, words and sentences? That is a light bulb moment for kids when they understand that letters make words and words make sentences and sentences make up all those fun stories they enjoy listening to. 

I also taught my kids basic high frequency words/sight words quickly that way. Notice the sentence “The girl has a yellow ball.” Every word in that sentence except for ball is a sight word. Easy peasy.

Both of my little ones were ahead of the curve in reading - 2-3 grade levels above their peers. I believe it's because of how they were introduced to reading. Not as a challenge or chore, but as a bonding experience.

Parents and guardians can take 5-10 minutes to read to the little ones even after they've learned some basic reading. Our youngest one still requests books before bed even though she is more than capable of reading them to us.

*Be animated. 

*Stop and ask questions. 

*Talk about the pictures and the text. 

*Make silly voices when dialogue is introduced. 

*Play ad free music to add to the experience.

Reading should never be introduced as another assignment or chore. I'm no expert, I'm just a parent whose children love to read for entertainment and easily adjusted to the concept of “reading to learn.” Unfortunately, for test taking in the school system, they did have to pass decoding, blends, and digraphs (oh my) assessments even as high level readers.  

Booooo!!!!

I'm sure not one millennial learned how to read by decoding each individual letter of each word to read and comprehend text.

That decoding stuff may be necessary for some kids but in my opinion it has the potential to turn kids off from reading as decoding every letter at the start of the reading journey could seem like a chore. Decoding should maybe be emphasized later to avoid the issue mentioned in this video. 

Start with the entire word first and then break down the individual sounds. “This word is cat. Say, ‘cat.’ C ăăă t. Cat. I see a cat.” 

BOOM!

You have just introduced your tiny reader-in-the-making to the following in less than a minute: 

1. The word cat as a whole

2. The three individual sounds that make up cat: c, a, and t

3. Three new high frequency words/sight words: a, I, and see

4. How to read “cat” in a complete sentence 

By the way, the sight word “a" is pronounced “uh.” “I see a (uh) cat.”

Think about it. When you introduce yourself you say your name in its entirety, too. You would simply say, “My name is Lidia.” You would definitely not introduce yourself by saying, “My name is Li di uh.” Right? 

So, we shouldn't introduce new words to kids that way either. 

In my opinion.