This podcast episode also has some great tips!
1. Read some books. If this is your first time teaching reading, I’d read some books about it. I read different books each time. I’d go to the library and 5 or so that you find appealing, and skim them. They all have good ideas, and it’s important to have a lot of different techniques as you embark on this journey, as each child is VERY different.
2. Gird up your loins. You know, like before soldiers would go to battle they’d prepare. Well, you need to prepare. There will be long stories wil repetative words that your child will wiggle and squirm with each one. Your mind may be screaming “JUST FINISH THE FREAKING BOOK FOR THE FIFTH TIME!!!” but your outside needs to be saying “sweetie, that was great sounding out, I am SO proud of you!”
3. Prepare for the long haul. I think if you were planning to teach a 5 or older child to read, they might “get” it faster, but since I have started at about age 2 with all of mine, it has been a VERY slow process. BUT, as a parent of a teenager, I am able to look at where they started and realize how far they have come. Much of parenting is a slow process. It has to be a daily process. Welcome to the slow boat. Do you think I’ll ever have enough patience?
4. Get some books. Your child will need some VERY early readers to call their own. Don’t just buy them online. Go to a bookstore and look at them. You’ll want a few levels so you can advance them when they’re ready without having to make a trip to the store. I got some at a teacher’s store that were fairly cheap and pretty great. The Bob books are good, but I’d recommend looking for yourself.
5. Realize that this is one of the most important things you will do. Reading is a wonderful time to just spend TIME with your child. How lucky they are to have a loving parent who is willing to take the time to teach them such an important skill. How lucky YOU are to have a little one to impart this kind of knowledge to. Reading will stay with them forever. It will form their little minds into who they become. It all starts with reading.
My last plea is that reading is something that parents must take into their own hands. Teachers simply can’t teach reading by themselves to 30 little minds. It takes one on one learning that you have every skill to be able to do. I just takes time and patience.
YOU can DO IT!!!!
Check out my other reading steps:
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