Hello Moms. I am looking for a book that would guide me in teaching my daughter how to begin reading. She just turned 5 years old and is getting interested in reading. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.
Much thanks Moms. I was given some great suggestions on helping my little one get started reading. I appreciate you all taking the time to share with me.
I suggest the Hooked on Phonics program. My daughter started at 4 and was reading in a few months. I have the complete set w/ parent instructions -- only problem is it is on cassette tapes. You don't really need those much after they know the sounds of the letters, then it is reading rhyming words from a workbook, followed by short books on a specific sound and finally small chapter books. e-mail if you want details.
The BOB book series is great. Take a trip to Lakeshore Learning if you have one close by...its where teachers shop for their teaching tools.
The "BOB" books series (available at Borders or any book store) are wonderful! I used them with all three of my kids and have passed them on to friends who also found them to be awesome! Good Luck!
I'm a teacher, and the best thing I think parents can do to help their children read is to read to them as often as possible. Read the same books over and over - esp. "pattern" books (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, etc.), rhyming books, and books w/text that matches the pictures. Encourage your child to "read" with you - they'll have many of their favorites memorized. Point to the word as you read. Wordless picture books are great, too - your child can tell you the story. Write it on post-it notes and put them on the appropriate pages. Then read (and re-read) the story your child wrote.
Also, put post-it notes with the name of the object on things around your house. "clock" "chair" "table" etc.
Phonics-based books (like the BOB books) are ok at some point, but they're not very interesting or motivating.
I feel that the most important thing to do at this age is to foster a love for reading! Good luck!
My mother was a master first grade teacher who taught many children to read successfully, and who guided me with my own children. I would suggest a lot of word games and pointing out words and letters in signs and anything else == like food containers. Rhyming words are great for phonics. I can remember my mother saying Mother Goose rhymes to us from an early age, and also doing tongue twisters like Peter Piper. All of this feeds into reading, and makes it seem natural.
Of course you read aloud and she can follow along in the book. You can point out words that start with the same letter or sound, and even have her pick out words with the same letter at the beginning or words that rhyme.
When you think she is ready, you can start with something on the pre-primer level, such as Cat in the Hat. I remember that after I read my first pre-primer, with all the preparation my mother had given me, without actually teaching me formally to read, I just knew how to read. From then on, I went to the library every week and picked out books and read them. There are a lot of simple picture books with repetitive themes. My favorite was "Millions of Cats," I remember.
Just beware of trying to get a child to sound words out letter by letter. That leads to slow, stumbling reading, which can actually ruin comprehension. You want her to recognize clusters of letters that create sounds and parts of words. That's why rhymes are so important. Play games in the car and while doing the dishes, like "I'm thinking of a word that rhymes with cat. It starts with "r." Or, "how many words can you say that rhyme with "cat?"
S. Toji
My son is 4 and has just taken an interest as well. We have been buying the first reader books through scholastic and he seems to like them he is doing good. You might give them a try.
www.paltoys.com
www.brightandbeyond.com.
my child is a "self taught" reader. we used age-appropriated cards from the companies above
Good Luck
V.
I have a lot of friends who RAVE about "Teaching Reading in 100 Easy Lessons" (or something like that?) I found a book on e-bay called "Handbook for Reading" by Abeka curriculum that was a nice overview guideline for teaching phonetic sounds (ch, ing, all, ar, ed, sh, oy, etc) and rules to go with them.
Try this website resource:
http://www.schoolspecialtypublishing.com/
Its a great site for any subject for child and parent.
I have bought things from here, workbooks and such and even my daughter's Teacher likes this site as well.
And the prices are good.
Is your daughter in school? If so, ask the Teacher for hints on how to guide a child to spark reading ability.
All the best,
Susan
I second the bob books and starfall.com.
