Once your child has a good grasp of letter sounds and the fact that they are the basis for written language, they are probably ready for a beginning introduction to reading. The next step is showing them how letters connect together to make words.
Decoding: Decoding is the ability to put sounds of letters or groups of letters together in order to "sound out" a word.
Memorization: Many very common words in the English language do not fit with the rules of phonics, so as readers, we just memorize them (write, have, does, etc.). Having a large bank of simple words that your child knows by sight is crucial for their success as readers. These words are often the building blocks for larger words as well, and will help with decoding. If your child can read at, it's easier to read cat. If your child can read am, it's easier to read lamb.
Teaching decoding:
Give your child lots of opportunities to put letters together. Magnet letters, bath tub letters, letter cards, etc.
Play with your child. Start by spelling their name (or Mom or Dad) and sounding it out. Put letters together and sound them out slowly. (Look! I made the word cat! /c/.../a/..../t/)
Give your child word cards, or just write favorite words that are easy to sound out on index cards. Have your child match letters to the cards.
While reading together, sound out common words your kiddo likes (cat, dog, etc.)
Don't attempt to sound out words that break any of the rules or use a letter's "other sound" unless your child asks you to. Keep it simple.
This is one of those "aha" skills. Your child will get it or they won't. It will probably take a lot of modeling and you sounding out words over and over before you hear your kiddo start to mimic you with real understanding. You'll know it when it clicks for them. It might be at three. It might not be until the reach kindergarten or first grade.
Teaching Memorization: Exposure, exposure, exposure.
I bought Maggie a set of sight word cards at Barnes and Noble for $3. To start, I pulled out the words she sees the most. Almost every night, we run through the cards. I started off with two, then added more as she memorized them.
These are the ones that we have started with so far:
I, he, she, the, up, is, on, no, to, yes, have
Point out the words when you see them in the world. Maggie and I will go on word hunts while driving down the road. We'll search billboards and store signs looking for our sight words.
I point out the words we've talked about in various books, so she gets used to seeing them in different fonts.
Maggie loves to build sentences with her word cards. She'll tell me "I need up!" or "I need elephant!" If the word didn't come with the set, I just write it for her on an index card.
Buy your child some books that are labeled pre-reader, or sometimes, level one. They will be filled with simple, predictable text, and pictures that give a lot of clues as to what the story is about. Start out reading the story to them. Read it again, having your child read the sight words she recognizes. As your child starts decoding, have them read more and more of the words themselves. As you see in the video, Maggie likes to match her word cards with the words in the book.
Most reading at the beginning with be memorization. This is great! Don't be discouraged. Being able to remember and recite a story back to you is a key skill for successful reading.
Make it fun, make it a game. Make it special. Don't let little brother or sister play with or read the "special" books. This will make them more intriguing and motivate your reader to spend time in them.
Have fun and go at your child's pace and at their interest level. Remember, as in everything, children develop differently depending on their interests, genetic code, and environment. Just try to meet your child where they are and encourage them to develop those skills. Have a good time and enjoy!
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