Most children are having difficulty learning to read. Reading is one of the four skills young children should learn even before they go to formal school. So, basically, reading can be taught by parents to make it as one good and interesting habit for preschool children. We know that the first teacher of the child comes from home and that is their parents especially the mother regardless of her vocation as a worker or as a plain housekeeper.
It is difficult to motivate children to read because their attention span is short.
They are more playful at one age, carefree, and want to enjoy multiple activities at home rather than spend their time more on reading. It is the parents that are most responsible for preparing their children for school to learn the four skills.
Reading is known as a receptive skill like listening. It means children respond to words or texts rather than producing them. For young children to learn reading, they must know about the language and start with the English alphabet. When the child has learned the alphabet letters, forming words could be the next thing that you can teach your child. You have to learn more about the character of your child, that is when he/she is ready to grasp and learn something about reading.
When I was teaching young foreign students, they were pre-elementary school students, they came to class with their food and toys to play with. So, we do not start with the lesson at once. I let them play first for a few minutes, then I called them to start the class with some toys also that I brought or what we call in teaching realia. Those are toys or things such as real fruit or food that are related to the lesson at hand.
The children gathered around and I let them see the objects that were related to the reading lesson. Because the children are motivated when they see toys or real food, I usually brought some to my class so that we can do our lesson in reading with students prepared and already motivated to read.
We usually have just one hour for the class from which I divide it for their snacks and playing or sleeping when students need to take a rest. Teaching them reading is fun but also difficult. There were many things to do and to consider when teaching children reading lessons.
At home, parents are the best teachers and I think as parents, you must find time for you to teach your children reading especially when they are preschoolers to prepare them for formal school.
Children are not born with the skill of reading; and this should motivate us parents to teach them.
When my daughter was in preschool, I found time to buy storybooks that were colorful, easy to read in plain language, and big letters. This helped me motivate her to read the storybook after we had taken our dinner. Sometimes I brought her to the bookstore and based on the pictures and graphics she saw on some of the books, she chose the ones she wanted to read.
Another motivation for children to read is to let them eat and play first before teaching them how to read. Writing letters was also helpful in making my daughter learn how to read because she could easily remember the letter she wrote individually and identified it in the story we were reading.
Phonics is essential in teaching children how to read and making sense out of the story or written words they are reading. “It also helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language. Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters.” ( https://www.google.com/search?).
For example, children are taught the sound and the letter it represents. /n/ is the sound that is n as a letter and that is the beginning of words such as nose, night, no. And other phonetic sounds that correspond to the alphabet letters, then having those sounds and letters correspond to words or texts in the reading material. It is really difficult to teach reading to children at first.
However, when parents cooperate with their children’s Reading teacher, it will make children learn reading easier in the shorter time possible. Patience is the key for children to learn reading as well as other skills like writing, listening, and speaking. Motivation also makes children learn how to read. When they are motivated and inspired, there will be no problem in learning to read stories and other reading materials.
Another essential thing to make children learn how to read is the time and setting. Time is important as children are more likely to play most of their time and sleep longer as they need complete rest even during the day. For regular class days, I usually taught my child after dinner, which was about 7 p.m. or earlier. We usually tackled her homework but the time was longer for reading.
The setting could be in her bedroom or in the living room where you have the study areas. It is also good if the study stable is brightly colored to attract the student. At Flexispot, there is an ideal study desk for children which I am sure you will appreciate and love.
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