How do I teach my kid to read?

[bluespark]

My Mom did that too. Some of my fondest memories as a kid.

Same here.

[stalefish3169]

Great job with the suggestions, everyone. Think Root Jr. will avoid ending up like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzXp...ature=youtu.be

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[DJSapp]

From what's left of the kindergarten library: narwhal and jelly (Ben clanton), Bob books, the Pigeon series and Elephant and Piggy (Mo willims). Dr Seuss, dog man, captain underpants for sure. And comics, weather it's Mickey mouse, Superman or whatever.

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[Flyoverland Captive]

Might not help if libraries are closed, but my family went to the library once a week when we were kids. We were expected to check out two books a week. If we didn’t finish them, no problem; we could check them out again later. This kept us churning through books; eventually we’d find some genre we liked, and get hooked.

[hutash]

My wife went to the library with her three siblings once a week. Back then you could check out seven books each. They all went home and read thier seven books, and then the seven books of each sibling, and then went back to the library next week and repeated.

While I love to read, I can not hold a candle to my wife or daughters.

[Sirshredalot]

I'm a teacher-turned-literacy-researcher. I spend most of my time with middle and high school students, but I can probably help a bit.

Kids don't all learn to read the same way. Some need lots of explicit phonics instruction. Some don't. Vowels are slower/harder than consonants. There are no real rules for vowels in English, only trends. It makes kids feels better when they hear this.

All the same, it can help to have your kid practice reading word lists that helps him recognize patterns: "mat cat fat sat bat" and then "rate mate fate gate late" and so on. My mother (a kindergarten teacher who became a principal) used to say, "The "e" at the end makes the "a" sound like its name." You can just write out the lists by hand. Then you add words like: chat that crate grate. Then move on to "e" words. He can read the same few lists over and over until he gets it mostly right. Then make new ones. Revisit the old ones every so often. You might make reading practice a requirement before any screen time. It goes quickly. If he needs help, makes a mistake, or forgets it still "counts."

Sight words are tricker. Some kids don't mind drills (like flash cards). Others will tolerate iPad games that teach basic sight words. I prefer team reading, where you read books that he is already familiar with together. It can be good to repeat a handful of books over and over. I like Mo Willems's Piggy and Elephant books for this. You can start with him "reading" the parts he has memorized. Next time you read the book ask him to do more, practicing what he has learned from the word lists. When you get to common sight words (anything that doesn't follow the "rules") choose a couple to point it out. Tell him everybody starts out not knowing how to say these words, but everyone memorizes them eventually. It just kind of happens.

So when does it happen? Usually when kids get obsessed with some books they can almost read (has he read Dog Man comics? Those are big with the 5 year old crowd). It's all about exposure and interest. And patience for him and you. If you read a book together, and then he spends some more time "reading" it it to himself, you know good things are happening.

It also helps if he does some writing too. Right now would be a good time to write letters to family and friends. If he wants you to help him spell everything thats ok. If he wants to "sound things out" and create his own spelling that's good too. All these activities reinforce each other.

If you want to dig a little deeper, this is a very good book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03...t_bibl_vppi_i0

I'm married to a teacher and we taught our 5 year old the basics of how to read using phonics-based instruction the summer after she turned 4. She can still read now (she could sound out your beer label) but the skills may have backslid somewhat this spring and it was a lot of work last year. I can tell that the mental energy she spends sounding out unfamiliar words is exhausting. I don't think this spring's sudden hiatus from school helped, but she still likes books and we still read to her all the time.

We used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons as our text last summer, and I'd recommend it if you want to go that route.

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[byates1]

Boom.

wow. pure awesome.

[Timberridge]

Have you tried reading SFB posts to him?

Since nobody else has mentioned it, perhaps he's dyslexic? Kids grow out of things quickly on their own as well. My kid had a stutter when he was first learning to speak, then two years later never heard it again.

[detrusor]

We did the I read a page you read a page then I read a chapter you read a chapter. Keep reading to and with them and it will come.


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[mcsquared]

Honestly, don't worry about it. I have a 9 and a 7 year old. Neither could really "read" in Kindergarten. And I was concerned too. But in 1st grade they just took off. 9 year old has blown through all the Harry Potter books since the pandemic started and the 7 year old is reading a couple chapter books (3rd/4th grade level) a week. Keep doing what you are doing. Read to them. Let them see you reading. Discuss the stories to see if they understand what it is happening in them (This is big as mine tend to just blow through the book and can't give me any details). You are doing fine. It is just going to click one day like riding a bike and you will wonder how there was ever a time when they couldn't do it.

[Danno]

TGR never disappoints with the knowledge and expertise.

I have been told, and seen for myself, that this stuff happens at different speeds for different kids, for a whole host of reasons. Pegleg's kiddo was burying herself in books years before my kid was interested in reading (6mo age difference), and even now my 9yo kid doesn't love reading "books". But give her a graphic novel and she will bury her face in it until it's done. And she has tested very highly in reading.

So don't sweat it at mini-Root's age, just keep reading to her and enjoying that time. As others have mentioned, you can read some cool books to her. Once they become voracious readers, it's harder to read books to them, it used to be my favorite time and it all ended suddenly, she was just no longer interested in us reading to her. So cherish that. Start reading chapter books to miniRoot, very simple ones. It's a wonderful thing to have the kid transition to a book that doesn't get finished in one sitting.

A few of the favorite chapter books we read to her that we never would have found otherwise (ie, not adult books but not basic ones either): Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (plus 2 more books), When Mischief Came to Town by Katrina Nannestad, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews.

Basically, just keep reading to miniRoot, it will all work.

[teledad]

My oldest just finished kindergarten and can't really read. He is damn good at math, so I don't think he has any major learning disabilities, but losing 3.5 months at school was a huge downer for the reading ability.

Agree with others regarding different kids naturally learning to read at different paces and keeping him engaged with books (reading to him, audiobooks) in the meantime. But as the parent of a dyslexic kid I want to note that "he's good at math so doesn't have a learning disability" is a fallacy - reading involves a separate set of visual processing skills that are independent of basic intelligence and ability in math and other subjects. My girl had no problems with math but was still struggling with reading in 3rd grade. We got her help and she's now an avid reader and just got an A+ in her high school English class. If your kid is still having issues in 2nd grade you should consider having him tested for dyslexia and getting him extra help (either through the school or separately) if appropriate.

[Dantheman]

On the book suggestion theme: Where the Sidewalk Ends

[98brg2d]

Aside from the numerous reading activities my kids did in day care and kindergarten, they both did lots of Jolly Phonics and Bob Books, for their own practice and then age appropriate books for being read to. If they are too advanced, kids lose focus and stop paying attention.

Scholastic publishes great books with age ranges under the “Branches” publishing name. These are often series that help with memory as the characters and “quests” continue over many books.

Talking about what you have read and answering study questions is often helpful as it helps them understand matching up words in questions to words in the text (simple word searching, even if they can’t read the word).

[DJSapp]

On the book suggestion theme: Where the Sidewalk Ends

You could just do almost anything by Shel Silverstein or Rohold Dahl. Charlie and the Chocolate factory is great for teaching that your imagination is different than a movie, because nobody expects Gene Wilder.

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[Dantheman]

The great thing about Silverstein's books is that many of the poems are only a few lines long and accessible to kids who are still learning to read, while others are pages long and good ones for the parents to read. Plus, reading Silverstein's work is especially fun as an adult if you know how crazy his personal life was.

[riser4]

You could just do almost anything by Shel Silverstein or Rohold Dahl. Charlie and the Chocolate factory is great for teaching that your imagination is different than a movie, because nobody expects Gene Wilder.

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Danny, the Champion of the World

[Danno]

Danny, the Champion of the World

great book, my favorite as a kid (for fairly obvious reasons).

[yeahman]

It's true even older kids like to be read to, as somebody mentioned. When I was a high school English teacher I had some real sweat hogs in my classes (being a noob they gave me the classes of kids who had failed the district writing assessment). These kids were a real handful when it came to behavior problems, but when I cracked a novel and started reading to them, it was amazing how catatonic it was. Even the bruisers who had zero interest in school or good grades would shut up and get lost in the story. And if I ever tried to catch them spacing out with a question about the plot, I was consistently amazed to find that they were actually paying attention. They even liked it when I read Shakespeare to them, and were able to decipher the language and plot seemingly much better than if they were reading it themselves. It was interesting to observe.

[TBS]

On the book suggestion theme: Where the Sidewalk Ends

Agreed.
And in that same vein, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Also for preschool kids, Roy Girard’s books are fun, with great illustrations and fun rhyming. A favorite was Rosie and The Rustlers “Where the mountains meet the prairie, where the men are wild and hairy, is a little ranch where Rosie Jones is boss...”

[riser4]

Agreed.
And in that same vein, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Also for preschool kids, Roy Girard’s books are fun, with great illustrations and fun rhyming. A favorite was Rosie and The Rustlers “Where the mountains meet the prairie, where the men are wild and hairy, is a little ranch where Rosie Jones is boss...”

Phantom Tollbooth rocks. One of my teachers read that to us.

[MarcusBrody]

Reading didn't click for me until the beginning of 2nd grade. Then I couldn't stop reading and was consitently years above grade level. My parents I think were a little uptight about it, but then they backed off over the summer and it all worked out. The kept reading to me and that was the best. Kids love to be read to. At least I did and my kids did. My daughter was 16 when I stopped reading to her.

This was pretty much my story. I had an elementary school teacher for a mother who read to me all the time, but I couldn't read in kindergarten and didn't excel at it in first grade, being moved to a lower reading group. My second grade teacher was supposedly terrible, but the anarchism of he classroom worked for me and soon I was devouring books. Sometimes it just takes a while to click, so be patient and just keep books being fun.

[Timberridge]

Find a subject they're interested in. Like dinosaurs, birds or fish (or in Danno's case, white guilt) and buy books with pictures and words, heavy on the pictures. Eventually they'll start reading the stuff around the pictures. I found the nonsense books like Dr Seuss etc. were fine for reading with us/parents before bed, but very rarely would my kid pick those up and just start reading them. The dinosaur book was constantly being picked up and read even if he didn't know all the words.

[Cruiser]

Has no one suggest beating the shit out of her until she does a better job? Just tell her, if you continue to fuck this simple stuff up then the beatings are going to get worse. She'll be dazzling the company with Shakespeare in no time! Spare the rod, spoil the child...

[Timberridge]

Has no one suggest beating the shit out of her until she does a better job? Just tell her, if you continue to fuck this simple stuff up then the beatings are going to get worse. She'll be dazzling the company with Shakespeare in no time! Spare the rod, spoil the child...

On Little House on the Prairie, Mary was having trouble reading in school and it turned out she was going blind. I always thought that little bitch Nellie Olsen put some shit in her food that attacked Mary's optic nerve.