7 Simple Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start on Reading

If you have a young child who is getting ready to learn to read, you may be wondering what you can actually do at home to help.

There is so much advice out there that it can be easy to feel like you need a curriculum, a stack of workbooks, and a carefully planned reading lesson every day. You really don't. Some of the most helpful things you can do are much simpler, and many of them can easily become part of your normal day.

The goal isn't to rush your child into reading before they're ready. It's to give them a strong foundation so that when they do begin putting sounds and words together, they have something to build on.

Here are seven things I would focus on.

1. Read aloud often

If I had to choose just one thing for parents to do, this would be it.

Read to your child often, even after they start learning to read independently. Picture books expose children to vocabulary, sentence structure, ideas and stories that are often far beyond what they can read on their own. They also help children develop background knowledge and become comfortable with books and language. 

And reading aloud doesn't have to mean sitting down for a formal story time every night. You can read a few pages while your child eats breakfast, listen to an audiobook in the car, or read the same favorite book for the hundredth time because your child loves it.

I think that last part is especially important. We want children to associate books with something enjoyable long before reading becomes something they are expected to do themselves.

2. Help your child learn letter sounds, not just letter names

Most children learn their ABCs pretty early, but knowing that a letter is called "M" is different from knowing that it represents the /m/ sound in a word like map.

Letter names are important, but eventually children need to understand the connection between the letters they see and the sounds they hear in words. That knowledge becomes the foundation for decoding.

You can practice this in very simple ways. Point out letters on signs, labels or books and ask your child what sound they make. You might say, "That's an M. M says /mmm/, like moon." There is no need to turn every encounter with a letter into a lesson. A little repetition throughout the day can be enough to reinforce what they are learning.

Explicit instruction in the relationships between letters and sounds is an important part of early phonics instruction. 

3. Play with the sounds in words

Before a child can read a word, they need to be able to hear what is happening inside that word.

You can help develop this skill without using worksheets or flashcards. Try asking whether two words start with the same sound, think of words that rhyme, or stretch out a word and see if your child can figure out what you are saying.

For example, you could say, "/mmm/ /aaaa/ /p/. What word did I just say?"

These kinds of activities help children pay attention to the individual sounds in spoken words. This is called phonemic awareness, and it is an important part of learning to read because children eventually need to connect those sounds to the letters they see on the page. 

The nice thing is that you can do this almost anywhere. A car ride, a walk around the neighborhood, or a few minutes while you're making dinner can turn into an opportunity to play with sounds.

4. Once your child knows some letter sounds, start putting them together

There is a point where children need to move from knowing individual sounds to actually using those sounds to read words.

If your child knows that m says /m/, a says /a/, and t says /t/, you can put them together and practice reading mat. From there, you might try other simple words such as sat, map, Sam, or tap.

This is an exciting stage because your child is beginning to realize that the sounds they have been practicing actually allow them to figure out words they haven't memorized.

That is the basic idea behind decoding. Rather than needing to already know a word, a child can use the letter-sound relationships they have learned to work it out. Phonics instruction gives children a systematic way to develop that skill. 

5. Give your child books that match what they know

This is one area where parents can make a big difference.

Once a child begins learning to sound out words, it helps to give them opportunities to actually practice those skills in books. But if the book contains lots of spelling patterns and words they haven't learned yet, independent reading can quickly become frustrating.

That's one reason decodable books can be useful for beginning readers. Decodable books are designed around particular phonics skills, so children can use the letter-sound knowledge they have already learned to read a large portion of the text. They provide practice with decoding in the context of an actual story rather than practicing words only in isolation. 

There is a big difference between handing a beginning reader a book they can barely get through and giving them one where they can successfully figure out most of the words. The second experience gives them a chance to practice without constantly needing an adult to supply the answer.

And when a child realizes they just read an entire little story on their own, that confidence is pretty special.

6. Don't feel like you have to turn everything into a reading lesson

It can be tempting, especially when you're excited about helping your child learn, to turn every interaction with a book or letter into an opportunity to teach something.

You don't have to.

Let your child look through books without quizzing them. Let them choose the bedtime story, even if you've read it so many times that you know every page by heart. Point out an interesting word when you happen to notice one. Write a grocery list together or let your child help you find a familiar word on a package.

These everyday experiences help children see reading and writing as normal parts of life rather than something that only happens during a lesson.

There is a place for direct reading instruction, particularly when children are learning phonics and decoding, but that doesn't mean childhood needs to feel like one long reading lesson. Reading aloud, talking together and giving children plenty

7. Keep reading practice short enough that you can do it consistently

One of the easiest ways to make reading practice feel overwhelming is to make it too ambitious.

If you have a young child, five or ten focused minutes may be plenty for a particular practice session. You might review a few letter sounds, have your child sound out a handful of words, and read a short decodable book together. Then you can move on with your day.

What matters is having lots of opportunities to practice over time.

Children don't all learn to read at exactly the same pace, and some skills take quite a bit of repetition before they become automatic. Keeping practice manageable makes it much easier to come back to it tomorrow, and the next day, without reading becoming a source of frustration for either of you.

So what does a good head start actually look like?

It probably looks different from child to child.

For one child, it might mean knowing most of the letter sounds before kindergarten. For another, it might mean being able to hear rhymes and beginning sounds or starting to blend a few simple words. Some children become interested in letters very early, while others take longer to show an interest.

I wouldn't worry too much about whether your child is "ahead" of other children. Instead, look at

whether they are gradually building the skills that will help them become successful readers.

Can they recognize some letters? Do they know the sounds those letters represent? Can they hear the individual sounds in simple words? Are they beginning to blend sounds together? Do they enjoy being read to and have positive experiences with books?

Those are all useful pieces of the foundation.

You don't have to do everything at once

If you're feeling unsure about where to start, I'd keep coming back to the same basic ideas: read aloud often, practice letter sounds, play with the sounds in words, and once your child is ready, give them opportunities to sound out real words.

Then give them books that match the skills they are learning so they can practice those skills successfully.

That doesn't require hours at the kitchen table. It can happen in small pieces throughout the day, and over time those small pieces can add up to a child who feels much more comfortable with books and words.

That's a big part of why I created Ram Has Jam Books. I wanted beginning readers to have simple stories they could actually work their way through, using the phonics skills they are learning instead of having to guess at words that are beyond their level.

Learning to read is a process, and there is no need to rush it. But giving children plenty of practice with the right skills, along with lots of encouragement and books they can successfully read, can give them a wonderful place to begin.