Lap read with children.
Early reading skills are essential for developing good readers. They introduce children to books and help to instill a desire to read. According to the U. S. Department of Education, activities such as reading aloud to children from the time they are born will instill an understanding of print and a love of reading by the time children are ready to enter school. They also promote literacy, including phonics and reading comprehension skills.
Instructions
From Birth
1. Read to children frequently from birth. When reading to children, position them so that they can see the book. According to the U.S. Department of Education, lap reading time is an important factor in later reading ability.
2. Keep a variety of short and easy books within reach of young children. This helps to encourage their interest in books, according to Reading Rockets.
3. Discuss the story as you read it. For infants, this could mean just pointing to pictures. For toddlers, talk about what is happening in the pictures.
4. Reread favorite books with young children. Let your child help decide how often books are read and which ones they want to reread.
Toddlers and Kindergarteners
5. Continue reading aloud to children. Let them choose the age-appropriate books to read. Reading Rockets recommends that parents try to read daily to young children.
6. Read easy books with a lot of repetition. Let your child pick one or two words that are repeated often and let them read those words. That will help develop word recognition and vocabulary.
7. Use a fun voice and make reading interactive for young children. Reading Rockets suggests these strategies for engaging young children in books and encouraging a love of reading.
Kindergarten to Second Grade
8. Provide explicit instruction in phonemic awareness. Work towards mastery of phonemic awareness by the end of the second grade in order to set student sup to be good readers, according to Great Schools. Phonemic awareness skills include being able to blend and segment words.
9. Encourage children to reread books to you. They should read easy books back to you, if they are already very familiar with them.
10. Correct young readers very gently. However, be careful not to overcorrect. Reading should remain a very positive experience for them.
