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*Fun Fact for Your Child: The first toothpaste invented was wine and ground up rock.*
Very few intelligent 4 year olds learn to read. The normal age range for learning to read is between 4 years and 7 years of age. Before they can even begin to start sounding out words and pronouncing them, they need to learn how to recognize letters and understand you read from left to right. it sounds pretty easy and that’s because those are the building blocks to the reading pathway. There are a few things you can do to help your child prepare for reading and encourage them to read. You should start at age 4 and keep working with them for as long as it takes. Usually with persistence and encouragement you won’t find many complaints from your eager preschooler.
Read Regularly to Your Child. The more you read books to them, the easier it is for them to learn HOW they should be reading and how to pronounce and sound out words. Engage in Conversation DAILY with Your Child. This acquaints them to vocabulary and verbal language. It also gives them some pre-practice with reading. Point to Words When Reading. Not only does this show your child the direction in which they should read, but it also shows them which word you are saying, how you are saying it, and how to pronounce it. Your child will see that words are composed of letters and it starts building those pre-reading building blocks. Read the Book’s Title & Author/Illustrator. If you just jump straight into the book every time you read, it’s like the story never ended and every storytime is the same book endlessly continuing. When you begin storytime, read the title, then the author and illustrator. Throughout the story, make it a point to ask your child about the pictures. Let them ask you questions. And then at the end of the story, read the title, author and illustrator again. This signals beginning and end to our child. Play Matching Games. Go-Fish is the most popular and well-liked matching game among children. You can match letters, numbers, colors, shapes, animals, etc. Reading does have a matching building block made up inside and that’s why this is a good pre-reading practice skill. Rhyme, Rhyme, Rhyme! Before reading there is a need to know about letters and the sounds that they make individually and the sounds that words make when you put a bunch of letters together. Your child HAS TO make a connection between letters and sounds and the matching of which letter makes which sound and which sound matches which letter. Right now, it’s not necessary to bash it into their brains that this letter makes this sound. Makeup rhymes with your child and teach them to manipulate sounds.
Aside from reading, this is also the time to start think about preschool or a structured class of some sort. You might think Kindergarten is still a ways away, but if you haven’t exposed your child to daycare of preschool, then they need some of that structure and learning before being thrown into Kindergarten. It’s not just about learning, they need to know how to be away from mom and dad for a little while, how to behave, and that you are dropping them off, but you will be coming back to get them. They also need to learn to listen and mind other authority figures and to interact and socialize with other children.
