How to Teach a Child to Read

Once a baby is born, the parents start thinking about the education of their child. They start dreaming about a successful career of their child. The first step towards success can be started by teaching the baby to read.

Earlier children were sent to school with a conception that reading and writing will be taught at school by the teachers. But today in this competitive world if we sit at home and think that our child will be taught to read & write in school then I must say that we are on the wrong track. Nowadays interviews are taken during admissions in nursery. It is expected by the teachers that a child has a basic knowledge like identifying alphabets, colors, animals, fruits etc.

And to make a child competent the first thing that needs to be taught is READING. A child can be taught to read as early as 10 months. I feel that we should not impose anything to the child or pressurize them. Reading should come to them as a normal daily activity just like eating & sleeping.

To raise a reader, we should not make specific routines for a child. They should not feel bound to read rather reading should be an enjoyment for them. They should look forward for this activity. Once the eagerness to read is grown in them, then your effort to make your child read will also reduce. He will start learning from his own.

As I said earlier, practicing reading habit can start from an age of 10 months. When you are reading, place your baby on your lap and read. This will help the baby to feel that reading is a daily activity. The baby first needs to know that Reading is a daily activity.

Buy bright colorful books with big pictures. Place your baby on your lap and go through the book together. The baby will get attracted the bright colors and the interest to read will slowly grow in him. Books with non-toxic plastic pages are available in the market. You can give these books to the child. Let the child hold the books and get a feeling of reading books.

Let the child see you read. Share information from the book you are reading to your child. Try to read aloud to make the child understand that you are reading.

Always make the child realize that the letters or the pictures he/she has seen in the books do exist in reality. Make him identify the objects in the books.

To teach a child read, it is not mandatory that you need books always. Try to buy his play items, dresses, tiffin boxes etc which has alphabets, numbers and pictures. Let reading be a enjoyable activity for him. Toys with alphabets, pictures, numbers are available in the market. These will also help a child to learn reading.

It’s preferable that the child sees every family member reading so that he can understand the importance of reading. If the entire family does not engage in reading, then try to read the news paper as a family. Encourage intergenerational reading – reading with grandparents, siblings, relatives.

Encourage the child to read to you. Sometimes pretend that you are not able to decipher letters or word from a book. The child will be more than happy to tell you the letter or word or picture. The feeling that he knows more than you will in crease his enthusiasm to read more.

While cooking make your child read out the recipes to you. Recipes generally have short lines and bulleted statements. This can be easily read and the child will feel proud at the thought of helping you in cooking. Make your child read the grocery list when you are doing a verification of the items you bought from the grocery. You can also ask you child to read the menu aloud in restaurants.

For small children buy books full of pictures and let your child tell the story from the pictures. This will enhance his vocabulary as well as imagination skill along with reading skill.

Every parent have their own way to teach their child to read. I have just penned down a few points which I feel are relevant while teaching a child to read. But in every case, my intention is that a child should learn to read on his own. He/she should not feel that it is being imposed in him/her. It should be his choice to take a book and start reading. We should not scold them or pressurize them at any point of them otherwise the result can be grossly skewed. Reading is an enjoyable activity. Lets enjoy it and make sure that our child too does the same.