Most of us know the importance of reading. It is one of the best things you can do as a parent. Reading aloud and reading together helps develop:
- Speaking skills
- Decoding skills
- Logic and reasoning
- Language awareness
Additionally, when it comes to learning how to read, reading aloud helps build phonemic awareness, word recognition and fluency. But, if you want to know exactly how to read a book to your children, you’re not alone. For a fun and effective reading experience, follow these tips the next time you read with your children.
Set a Time and Place to Read Regularly
We recommend setting a regular time and place to read with your child. This might be at bedtime, after washing up, in the corner beanbag of the den. Or it might be after dinner on the sofa next to the fireplace. By creating an environment for reading, it becomes a special experience that children anticipate.
Mood and ambiance play important roles when reading to kids. To ensure that children build a positive relationship with reading and learning, each encounter should be exciting and playful. If they have toys or stuffed animals that make them feel more comfortable, allow them to bring their friends.
Also be sure that:
- You are both seated comfortably
- There is ample lighting
- The space is quiet
In the early stages of learning to read, have your child pick the books they want to read most. In these early years, what they read is not as important as much as the time they have around sounds. Later, when they enter preschool and kindergarten, content becomes more important, because they will be reading sentences on their own.
Teach Children How To Read A Book By Engaging the Senses
When children enjoy their time reading, they are eager for more. For children who have never experienced books, learning how to read a book can be both strange and exciting. As a result, let them build their own relationship with books.
- Teach How To Read a Book Through Touch
Let your child be the one to hold the book. In fact, let them touch the book and flip through before reading together. Give them time to feel the glossy cover and the following pages. Let them fan the book open and closed. Allowing them time to physically experience the book is a great way to start. Typically, children have lots of questions and curiosities, so this time alone with the book will sort those curiosities right away.
When you do read together, encourage them to follow each word with their finger alongside yours. Show them how to read a book, from left to right. Explain how to turn the pages.
- Teach How To Read a Book Through Sight
Allow your children to visually experience the book. Books for early readers are filled with lovely illustrations that provide lots of context clues regarding the content of the story. So, to help them better understand the story and follow along, move slowly and allow your child to absorb all the visual clues. This not only applies to illustrations, but words as well.
Right now, they don’t know how to read a book for themselves. However, the more time they spend around text and hear your voice, the more they develop phonemic awareness.
- Teach How To Read a Book Through Sound
Most importantly, our job is to read aloud for our children to hear. As we point to each word we speak, be sure that your kids can follow along. This is the time when we start to close the gap between sounds in speech to the words on the page.
Our children will not know it yet, but slowly, they are developing the skills necessary to become readers and writers. Over time, they will recognize repeating letters and sounds, how these sounds connect to letters and their different combinations.
Know When To Stop
Reading together should never be work for your child. It’s meant to be an enjoyable experience that helps them see reading and stories as positive activities. This way, they are motivated to learn more about how to read on their own and explore more challenging books.
If your child is tired, disinterested or frustrated, take a step back. Forcing reading time is a surefire way to spoil the fun and it may discourage your kids from learning to read altogether.
Likewise, know when it’s time to graduate to a new book. Rereading the same book is great practice – in fact, rereading the same book boosts confidence, reinforces language skills and more. However, if your child reads through memorization and can recite the entire story by heart, perhaps it is time to move onto a new book. This way, reading is a fresh experience and children continue to learn and grow their awareness of the sound to letter connection.
Professor Pup Teaches Children How To Read A Book
When we read with our children, we are teaching them how to read a book. And, when reading is a positive experience, they are eager to read more and learn more. This is essential. Without proper reading skills, our children will struggle in school. In order to avoid that, take the steps necessary to ensure their success.
On top of reading together at home, use a phonics app that teaches reading skills. At Professor Pup’s Academy, our programs are designed just for kids. They join Professor Pup and his friends and complete exciting activities and games. Additionally, using our programs requires no additional training on your part. Our lessons are designed to tackle every aspect of learning reading. Over the course of our programs, children learn how to read, write, and spell. Eventually, our kids know how to read a book on their own!
To learn more about our programs, please visit our page for parents. You can also download our app in the Google Play Store or the App Store. We offer the first five lessons for free, so you know exactly what we do to teach children how to read a book themselves.