Tips On Teaching Reading Skills Systematically

I am going to assume that your learner is starting from the beginning. Don't forget that children learn well with routine and feel successful when they know what is coming next. So the framework of your lesson should have the same components each day, but vary the methods within the components to keep boredom from setting in.

Reading readiness begins with letter recognition. Start with a chant. Not just the alphabet song, but one that says the sounds of the letters as well. You can look on Teacher tube and get some great ideas.

I like to use a pointer on the letters as we go through the chant. I have different pointers to vary it. Let the child who is leading the chant choose the pointer. My scepter seems to be a favorite. Don't forget the goal is for the child to be the pointer. You will need to model what it should look like for a while. So you could do it first, then the child does it. Or you could use two pointers, with you doing it with the child.

Matching games with beginning sounds is a good activity to follow the chant. You can play matching games several ways as well. Matching is a good strategy for beginners because it doesn't ask them to pull informant they are not sure of. It gives them a bank of information to work from. Start small, with three cards and make the sound of 'b'. Not 'be’, but 'b '.If the child chooses the correct card give treat, gummy bear or something. If the child gets it wrong, take the incorrect card and make the sound again. If child is incorrect, repeat this step. So now you are down to one card. Make the sound again. The child only has one choice. He chooses the correct card, you praise him and give him the treat. Now mix up same three cards and repeat process until child is successful consistently. Another matching game is with letter cards or tiles and the child matches to a picture. You start with beginning sounds, then ending sounds then middle sounds. Don't forget the break up the activities or the child will become tired of it.
Sight words can be introduced at this point as well. There are many ways to teach sight words, but consistency is key. Sight words at this point are important for several reasons. With the beginning sight words you are starting with a, I, and two letter words. Words labeling things in your house is also effective. So now you have a new game to play and the child can be successful. Each time the child is successful this builds confidence in his ability to learn and be responsible for his learning. There are many beginner sight word books for your child to read that can be found online. Dr. Seuss books are great beginner books because of the repetition and nonsense words. So when you start this process, you read the book to the child. You both need to have you fingers touching each word. Then read the book again. This time you read a sentence, then the child reads the sentence. As the child improves you will read larger chunks of the page. Reading familiar books helps the child be successful quickly and not become frustrated. These are components I would build into my daily lesson. Don't forget to change up activities within these components. There are many good software programs that you can use to vary components of the lesson as well.

The main thing is for you and the child not to become frustrated so you have positive foundations to build on. Don't dwell on mistakes. Skip over them and find away for the child to be successful and dwell on that. The rest of it just takes time. If overtime your child is not responding to the phonics part of your curriculum, and you have tried different approaches, have someone from a learning center work with him to rule out any learning disabilities. They will be able to give you some tips as well.