Getting children excited about reading gives them a good start in their education. Opportunities to get them excited often present themselves in everyday play activities. Also, positive reinforcement from parents and other adults helps children want to continue to develop their new skills. Many educational products are available to help children pursue their reading goals.
Rhyming Words
Playing rhyming games with a young child can help her begin to think about words with the same sounds. One way to start is to say a simple word such as "day" and asking her what word or words she knows that rhyme with it. One can also choose an object in a room such as a chair and ask the child what word rhymes with it.
Letter Sounds
Parents can place letters that have magnets on the back of them on the refrigerator and then have their child tell them each letter's sound. The child may also have fun spelling out his name with the letters and then saying each sound. Teaching children what sound each letter of the alphabet makes can help them sound out words and eventually read entire sentences.
Definition of Things
By asking the child to verbally define a known object, parents can assist their child to organize his thoughts and words. For example, the parent points to an object such as a magazine or table and asks the child to give the definition of the object. Then the child can ask the parent about objects he doesn't know. The parent, in turn, tells the child what the object is and furthers the child's knowledge and strengthens his vocabulary.
Printing Letters
Making a fun project out of writing the alphabet is a way to get children to practice their letters. One idea is to encourage the child to write the letters on a sheet of construction paper. After this, she can cut out a picture from a magazine that corresponds to the letters. For instance, for the letter "a" the child might find an apricot.
Child Authors
Encouraging a child to make up her own story is a fun way to get her to use her imagination. The parent can write down the story as told to him by the child. To further use the child's imagination, the parent can also ask about various details, such as the colors or amounts of things.
Street Signs
Traveling in the car may be a perfect opportunity to ask a child if he can read or sound out various street signs. Some children may already be familiar with the color or shape of more common signs such as "stop," "exit" and "no parking."
Names
Most children like to see their own name written down on paper. This is beneficial to them in two ways: They can learn spell their name and learn the sounds in their name. This exercise can be continued with the mother's name, father's name and other relatives' names.
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