How to help your child learn to read and love reading

When children become good readers in the early grades, they are more likely to become better learners throughout their school years and beyond.

Reading with your child is vital. Research shows that it's the single most important thing you can do to help your child's education. It's best to read little and often, so try to put aside some time for it every day.

Think of ways to make reading fun - you want your child to learn how pleasurable books can be. If you're both enjoying talking about the content of a particular page, linger over it for as long as you like.

Here are a few tips on helping your child:

1) Look for books on topics that you know your child is interested in - maybe dragons, insects, cookery or a certain sport.

2) Make sure that children’s books are easily accessible in different rooms around your house.

3) Help your child start a home library; paperback books are fine. Encourage your child to swap books with friends. Give books as gifts.

4) Want your children to be good readers? Let them see you read.

5) Try holding D-E-A-R times at your house. "DEAR" stands for "Drop Everything and Read." During DEAR time, everyone in the family sits down for some uninterrupted reading time.

6) With young children, try reading to them during bath time.

7) Use the "Rule of Thumb" to see if a book is on your children's reading level: Have them read a page of the book aloud. Have them hold up one finger for each word they don't know. If they hold up four fingers and a thumb before the end of the page, the book is probably too hard for them to read alone. But it might be a great book to read aloud.

8) When teaching letters and letter sounds, incorporate as many senses as possible.

If Your Child Is Just Beginning to Learn to Read

• Practice the sounds of language: Read books with rhymes. Teach your child rhymes, short poems and songs. 
• Play simple word games: How many words can you make up that sound like the word “bat”?
• Help your child take spoken words apart and put them together: Help your child separate the sounds in words, listen for beginning and ending sounds and put separate sounds together.
• Practice the alphabet: By pointing out letters wherever you see them and by reading alphabet books.