If you have or spend time with a child age 3-6, or maybe older, but who is not
quite reading yet, there are many simple things you can do to improve their
reading skills (yes, even with a 3 year-old). The suggestions given are
activities that don’t require you to purchase special learning books or
equipment, but only make use of things you probably have around your house right
now!
1. Talk
The first thing that a child must be able to do before they can
read is to hear the sounds that make up different words. It makes sense that
children who have a lot of experience with the spoken language will do better
with the written one. Have conversations with the little one in your life.
Describe things around the house. Ask him or her to tell you about their
favorite toy or cartoon. Make sure you speak clearly and annunciate (but
remember that children may not be able to produce all the same sounds). Don’t be
afraid to use big words, if you have to explain them, it just means more
spoken-language experience! Besides, a big vocabulary will also help with
reading. I put this strategy first for a reason: The importance of oral language
in literacy has been ignored far too long. You might think that your child hears
spoken words all the time, and I love television as much as the next American,
but it is not a substitute for back-and-forth discussion when it comes to
language development. And language development is essential to learning to read.
2. Read Environmental Print
If you start paying attention, you’ll be
surprised how many words a 3-5 year old can already read. Next time you are in
the car with your child, point out signs, and I guarantee you will hear some
early reading. All kinds of signs are recognizable to the average American
child, from fast food restaurants to large discount department store chains (I
know you have at least one in your area) to billboards. If your child doesn’t
recognize city street signs already, take the time to talk about those, too.
They will be reading them in no time. Environmental print is all around your
house as well. Cereal boxes among other food products, the covers of favorite
movies, the brand names on appliances if that interests your kid, the list could
go on and on. Encourage your child to read this print, and you will give them
the foundation upon which to build up their knowledge of the written word.
Let me give you an example. Your five year old starts kindergarten and walks
into the room where he or she sees the teacher’s name on the board. They already
know the sound that the “M” in Ms. makes…it sounds like their favorite place to
eat a hamburger. You can help your child make these connections by combining
strategy 1 and 2. Mom also starts with the same sound as that fast food chain,
so make sure you have a discussion about it.
3. Read Names
Your child’s name is a tremendous source of reading power.
As a Kindergarten teacher I can speak from experience, early readers believe
they own the letter their name starts with. They will see it everywhere if they
know what it looks like. Michelle will look at that fast food sign and say,
“That’s my M!” And her caregiver should be proud she’s made the connection!
Encourage ownership of the letters in your child’s name. Make sure they can
recognize it, and name at least the first letter. (Actually, not being able to
name the letter will not keep them from seeing it everywhere, but why not teach
letter names where ever you can?) Once they know their own name, expose them to
family members’ names. Photographs are great for this: put pictures of family
members at eye level to your child, and write their names underneath. Your
children will add even more sounds and letters to their repertoire if they see
Aunt Lucy and her name every day. “That cereal [with the leprechaun and magic
charms] starts like Lucy!”
4. Read Books!
Everybody knows you should read to your child, but I
don’t think people understand why. There are more benefits than I could possibly
come up with in one subsection of an article, but the reason that escapes most
people is this: mechanics. This is how your child will learn that we read words
from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom. This is how they
learn how to hold a book, how to turn the pages, and where the beginning and end
are. Once they have that down, then they can learn the difference between words
and pictures. And when they know what words are, they can recognize the elements
they know, such as Michelle’s M and c like corn flakes. With lots of exposure to
print (books), Michelle will get more sophisticated and start to recognize her
Ls and words like “stop” that she’s seen on signs.
5. Make Reading Fun and Rewarding
There are lots of reading systems on
the market that offer literacy games and activities, which are wonderful if you
can afford them. To save some money or supplement your purchased literacy games,
try making books with your child. The sense of ownership of a homemade book
really can compete with the bells and whistles of an electronic system. One of
my favorites is the cereal box book. If you cut the front off of your cereal
boxes you can create a book that your early reader can actually read from cover
to cover because they know the brands. Once you’ve collected four or five box
fronts, have your child help you put them in thin a 3-ring binder (nice because
you can keep adding to it) and make sure you really get excited that he or she
just made a book. You two might even design a cover with his or her name
featured. After you’ve read it a few dozen times together, put the book
somewhere they can pick it up and read it to Aunt Lucy, their friends, or the
dog whenever they get the inclination. Other book making projects include books
of family members, friends, favorite foods, colors, animals, a family vacation,
and so on. You can bind these with yarn or ribbon, make covers with old wall
paper or contact paper and card board, go as crafty or simple as you like.
Again, the fact that your child made the book is what will give it its value.
My final advice is that you refer to your child as a reader whenever
possible. When he or she reads the name of your discount shopping chain, point
out that they have just “read”. Building their confidence in their reading
ability early on will be important later on when and if reading becomes more
challenging. It will hopefully prevent you from ever hearing the words “I can’t
read.”