You are your child’s first teacher, so you play a key role in laying the foundation for helping them learn to read. 90% of your child’s brain development will occur before their fifth birthday, so what they are exposed to in those few short years has lifelong effects. Reading is one of the key skills your child will need to be successful in school and throughout their life. 

Teaching a child to read does not require a degree. Anyone can teach their child to read. Unlike classroom reading instruction which has to fit the diverse needs of a large number of children, teaching one child is so much faster and easier because the learning can be designed just for them. 

Why Parent Support is so Important in Learning to Read

Reading actually begins before birth when an unborn baby is surrounded by the sounds of language. Soon after a baby is born, they respond to sounds around them and then begin to imitate the sounds of language. 

Speaking to your baby in what is referred to as parentese invites your baby to engage in a back and forth style of conversation called serve and return. Think of serve and return like a tennis game, where the adult speaks (serves) and waits for the infant to respond (return) with body language and coos or babbles. Then, the conversation continues back and forth. 

Parentese is not baby talk. It is a type of conversation designed to capture a baby's attention, and is commonly used in most world languages. Speaking parentese happens quite naturally. It uses simple words and phrases, exaggerated sounds, a slower pace with elongated vowels, and a higher pitched voice. Research shows that speaking parentese helps children develop stronger language skills in the first 2 years of life.

When our daughter was a baby, her uncle came to visit. He sat down with her in the rocking chair and talked to her in a higher than usual, happy voice while she cooed in response. Later her older sister asked me why Uncle was using his “woman’s voice” to talk to her sister. LOL. At a young age, she had tuned into her uncle’s natural response to use parentese to talk to her baby sister. 

-Maxine

A young baby has the ability to make the sounds for all the languages in the world, but over time, their repertoire of sounds becomes focused on the languages they hear every day. Through back and forth conversations with parents, babies soon learn how to put the sounds together into words. That’s why it’s so important to talk to a baby and encourage them to respond with body language and baby sounds. Learning to talk happens naturally when babies are immersed in language.

How to Build Foundational Skills Needed for Learning to Read

Reading does not happen naturally, because it is based on an invented code that connects the sounds of language to alphabet letters. You can help your child make these connections early on through activities and games that develop phonemic awareness. Once your child is aware that the fast flowing stream of speech they hear can be broken into individual sounds, they will begin connecting those sounds to letter shapes. 

To become a strong, confident reader, your child needs three key foundational skills. They need to know how to connect letter sounds to letter shapes, how to blend the letter sounds together to say words, and how to break words apart into individual sounds. 

Of course, there’s lots more involved in reading, such as vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency, but those skills will not fall into place unless your child is able to use the alphabetic code to read words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and stories.

You can help your child learn the letter-sound (grapheme-phoneme) connections they need for learning to read with our Alphabites Game Pack. It has 26 playful games, over 400 child friendly words for practicing phonics skills, and 32 hilarious tongue twisters. There is also a QR code link to our Quick Start guide, so you can easily help your child learn the alphabetic code. 

Young toddlers are capable of making these connections. Since it takes a lot of practice to become a proficient reader, it’s helpful to start early. We encourage you to use bite sized learning by taking 5 minutes a day to play one of the games to teach 3 of the letter sounds. As a sound is learned, your child should continue to practice it, while learning new sounds. It’s surprising how quickly kids catch on and begin to read simple CVC words and then decodable books.

You know your child best, so you can help your child develop a strong foundation for reading that fits their interests and goes at just the right pace to keep them motivated to learn.   

Reading With Your Child Helps Your Child Learn to Read

Research shows that reading out loud is one of the most important activities you can do to help your child become a strong, confident reader. You can begin reading to your child even before they are born. 

Reading with your child should be a part of everyday life. If you read just one book a day to your child, you will have read almost 2000 books by the time they are five. By reading for 15 minutes a day, it’s easy to triple that number or more. 

When you read books with your child, they hear words and sentence structures that are not used in everyday conversation. Research shows that children who are read to once a day will hear over 290,000 more words than a child who is not read to.

Make reading together a daily habit. Remove all distractions, find a cozy place to snuggle, and enjoy sharing books. Choose books with beautiful illustrations, rich vocabulary, and themes that help your child expand their background knowledge. 

Show your child how books work. We read from front to back, top to bottom of the page, and turn the pages one at a time. The squiggles on the page are actually symbols that tell us what words to say. Point to words as you read them. Talk about individual letters and search for letters that are in their name.

Use funny character voices and silly sound effects. Act out stories you have read and tell stories about your own life that relate to stories you are reading together.

Ask questions and talk about the characters and themes. Draw attention to the pictures and look for details in the illustrations. Talk about what would happen if you changed an event in the story. 

Read fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, magazines, game directions, packaging, signs, and anything else with print on it. Encourage your child to read parts of the book, they are familiar with, finish sentences, repeat patterned language, and fill in rhyming words.

Learning to read is a journey. Be patient and use lots of praise and positive feedback. Beginning readers often misread tricky letters and letter combinations that don’t follow common spelling patterns, so use a sense of humor to encourage them to try again. Talk about how complex the English language is and that just like learning to skate, ride a bicycle, or snowboard, learning to read takes practice. They will master it if they just keep trying.  

The cost of books can add up, but don’t let that hold you back. Your local library is a treasure trove of wonderful books to read together. If you live in an area with neighborhood “little free libraries”, check them regularly for books. It’s fun to borrow and return, or leave books your child has outgrown, so others can enjoy them. Check online marketplaces and discount stores, and share books with friends and neighbors.  

When a child becomes a strong, confident reader, the knowledge of the world, both past and present, is available to them. Experts agree that reading is a strong predictor of success in school, careers, and life. Finding just 15 minutes a day to learn the alphabetic code and how to use it to read and write will have a long lasting impact on their lives.

Summary

Since 90% of your child’s brain will develop by age 5, it’s important to provide a rich, home environment and experiences outside the home that help them learn about the world. Reading is one of the most important skills your child will need to have to be successful in school and in life. Three ways you can help your child learn to read are:

1. Read together for 15 minutes every day
2. Stretch out words into individual sounds so your child can hear the sounds of language
3. Use the playful games in the Alphabites game pack to teach your child letter shapes and sounds

You know your child best, so you can design the learning to suit their interests and abilities. Patience, praise, and a positive “let’s have fun learning together” mindset will create a joyful space for learning to read.  

Sources

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