My daughter, Emily, is a month from starting Kindergarten. She is very bright, and loves for us to read to her. She has been to pre-school, and is very prepared for kindergarten. However, as I have several friends that are school teachers and their kids are already reading, I wanted to know what is the secret in giving them the edge.
Unanimously I have heard that I must own the BOB books. You can pick these up most anywhere. What are the BOB books? Well, they are a series of early reader books. They average about $15-$20 for a set. They are comparative to the Dick and Jane early readers. (You can click the link above to visit their site and learn more.)
The next thing I was told was that I needed to focus on the “sight words”. These are the words that cannot be sounded out or pronounced, such as the word “the”. It is a word that you must simply memorize by sight, thus the term “sight words”. There are 100 sight words that are primary to their early reading skills, and will be found in their early reading books. These words include, a, and, the, all, from, etc. Once they have mastered these, and can sound out short words, they can read sentences such as: “The fat cat sat on the mat”.
You can find the 100 sight words, and some helpful tips and games on how to teach them to your child by clicking here.
Helping to teach them to sound out the short words, such as “cat,” you can use the phonics break down. Have them pronounce the letter “a” and “t”, “at”. Now if we add the letter “c” in front, what sound will that make? C – at … Cat. What if we put a “B” in front B – at…Bat. (You get the idea)
(Click on the highlighted words for links to the needed sites.)
I used Bob Books to teach Zach to read. They were very useful. But I still say read, read, read to your child.
They will pick it up when they are ready. Also, choose things to read like A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh Classics and Charlotte’s Web even when they are 2,3 and 4 years. It enhances the vocabulary. Also purchase a good children’s dictionary with pictures and word definitions. If your child doesn’t know a word, look it up with them. This fosters a great habit even in upper elementary grades. My oldest, Zach, is not allowed to use a word unless he knows what it means.
A little side note, reading to your kids is great touch and snuggle time. And they are learning too. Zach’s favorite way to learn is listening to me read while he plays with legos in the floor or snuggled under a blanket on a cold day. When your kids are 9 and 10 years old you will be glad that they love to do this with you. They start showing their independence in a new way and this is something mine are still wanting to come back to do. PTL!
Thanks for sharing…especially the link to the sight words. I’m going to start them with my 4 year old!