Is My Child
Ready To Read?

1. Make sure that getting your child to start reading is about him or her, not about you. I know my daughter is smart, and for some reason I though she had to be an early reader to prove it. (I don't know who I thought she was proving it to.) I pushed way too hard too soon until one day she told me that "I'm just not very smart Mom." That, of course, made me do a double-take and broke my heart. I dropped the entire subject for several months and worked on doing things with her that made her feel smart, important, and fed her self-esteem. Months later we went back to her letters and phonics and she was much more receptive. I never pushed her again, and before I knew it she was coming to me wanting to work on her reading.

2. Teaching a child to read is very much a process. You don't just teach them and then one day they pick up a book and read it to you. It starts out with little things like noticing the letters on a grocery store sign, moves up into remembering letter sounds and picking out words that start with those sounds, then figuring out that those sounds are in the middle of words too, etc. It doesn't happen overnight.

3. Every child learns differently. My oldest has to be led to where you want her to go, then left alone to think about it until she puts it together. She doesn't want you to know that she is working on things and she flat out refuses to do try at anything that isn't important to her. Then out of the blue she will surprise you with a breakthrough. I used to think she was just kind of lazy until I finally figured her out. She thinks constantly.

My point is that all children learn very differently and you have to take the time to figure out what will work best with your child.

4. Do everything you can to subtly encourage them to read. (I wrote another short article about it here.) They will probably let you know when they are ready to read if you know what to look for:

1. Print Awareness: They make the connection between written words and spoken language. They understand that all those letters in a book turn into words that can be read. They also understand the the basic way words are read: rightside up, left to right, etc.

2. Everyday Letter and Reading Awareness: They begin to recognize when you are reading something, notice letters on signs all around them, start to ask "what does that say" when they see something written.

3. Letter Sound Awareness and Association: They begin to put sounds together with letters at the beginning of words first, then begin to recognize them in the middle and end of words.

4. Writing Awareness: Some "experts" say that your child is ready to start reading when they can start writing letters. In my experience, this is not necessarily true. My oldest started reading long before she could actually write the letters consistantly and recognizably. She just didn't have the fine motor coordination, and she didn't want to practice.

5. Lastly, relax. When your child is ready to become an emergent reader, make it fun. Keep them challenged, but don't make it work for them... make it play. Younger children respond much better to play than they do to "work." If you're unsure of how to take the next step to teaching them to learn to read, then start some type of phonics or reading program with them. I've personally tried Hooked on Phonics and Frontline Phonics and would suggest you start with Frontline Phonics. I've written a review of them both, so you can click on the links below if you're interested.

I hope that sharing some of my personal experience with my own children has helped you with yours. We all want the best for our kids, so sometimes it helps to hear what other parents have experienced while you try to figure out what's best for your children.

When your child is ready to read - You've decided that they are ready, but you don't know how to teach them. You can trust this expert beginning reading program to get you on the right track.

Help Your Child Gain The Skills They Need - You can help your child get the skills they need to begin reading even if you don't always have the time to work with them. My children each have their own LeapPads and they play with them every single day. Younger children love the sounds and music, and older children use this as a tool to help them put letters, their sounds, and words together. These were one of the best "toy" purchases we ever made!

Ready to Read Assessment - This is an online assessment that you can do with your child to see if they are ready to read.

Hooked On Phonics Review - Read why I think this program is probably not right for your child if they are just beginning to put the whole reading thing together.