Advice for Teaching Reading to Children – Part I

Today I was talking with an employee at ClickN Kids, the makers of ClickN READ Phonics and ClickN SPELL educational software, and she gave me some interesting information about teaching children to read. I was also given permission to share this information with our readers and I plan to post much of it in several articles over the next few weeks. This post is the first in the series. (In case you didn’t know, ClickN Kids is listed in our shopping directory and produces phonics reading and spelling software and educational materials for children.)

Many parents wonder when it is time to teach their children to read. They ask how will I know if my child is ready to start reading? According to the reading experts at ClickN READ Phonics, “all children are alike in that they all want to become readers, eager to open that important door to independent learning.” However, just because all children may want to read doesn’t mean they all experience that desire at the same stage or in the same manner. “Children are different when it comes to the when, why, how, and what works best” in reading. It is by understanding and knowing how to work with these differences that parents can better prepare their children for reading.

Is It Time to Teach Your Child Reading?

Here are some additional thoughts from the ClickN READ Phonics experts:

Your six month-old baby didn’t show any signs of possessing the preliminary skills necessary to put on their shoes, so you didn’t waste time and energy trying to teach them how. Instead, you patiently helped them gain the coordination and waited until they had a good chance to succeed before showing them how to do this themselves, right?

Well, the same principle applies when determining if your child is ready to start learning to read. The age at which a child is ready to read can vary dramatically. Children can start from the age of three years old on up to eleven years old and beyond, but generally reading occurs between the age of four and ten years old.

According to the reading experts at ClickN READ Phonics, the “age of readiness or desire to read can be easily determined by paying attention to the clues that children freely provide.” Here are some signs of reading readiness that children demonstrate:

1. Your child pretends to read

2. Your child maintains phonemic awareness or knows the sounds that letters make.

3. You notice your child takes interest in the environments written words on street signs, cereal boxes, TV, magazines, fliers, books, etc.

4. Your child looks at pictures and tells a story or repeats a known story in her own words

5. If your child can add the missing word to an incomplete sentence presented orally

6. If they can define or give the meaning of simple words

7. If they use left to-right progression

8. If they can pronounce their own first and last names

9. If they can print their name

In the next article I will address why would a child want to read and how you can help them read. Again, this material was made available to me from ClickN READ Phonics. Please note that their team also provided us with an exclusive ClickN READ Phonics & ClickN KIDS coupon code for 5% off their advanced reading and spelling software and phonics products.