There are many activities that can help boost a child’s early reading skills. Here are three of the most favorites: Reading together as a family. This is a great way to involve everyone in your child’s reading development and build his confidence. Playing rhyming games. This is a fun way to help your child learn about words and their sounds. Making homemade books. This is a great way to get your child interested in reading and help him create his own stories.
Create Picture-Text Flashcards Together
It’s important to reinforce your child’s early reading skills. One way to do this is to help him understand the connection between words and pictures. You can do this by creating picture and text flashcards together with your child.
A great way to get started is to collect some old magazines. Help your child go through them and identify pictures he likes. Clip these out and glue them to 3×5 index cards. As you glue the pictures down, have your child name each one and show him how to print the name of the object on the back of the card.
Playing the game is simple. First, have your child name the object shown on the front of each card. Next, help him sound out the word on the back of the card. As your child becomes more confident, he’ll start to identify words on the backs of cards more easily. Eventually, show him the words on the backs of cards first to see how many he can identify and sound out without seeing the pictures.
Writing Letters Together
One way to help your child become more confident is to sit down and write letters to family members together. Your child can dictate the letter to you, and then you can help him trace out the letters for each word.
As your child starts to understand that the words he is saying are actually the letters he is writing, they will start to build in his mind. After a while, you will find that he will actually begin to attempt to write certain words on his own.
Alphabet Memory and Matching
An alphabet memory and matching game is a great way to help your child improve his early reading skills and to bolster his self-confidence in those skills. You can create two sets of index cards together, with the letters of the alphabet printed on the back of each one in bright colors. As you form each letter, have your child name it.
Once you have both sets of cards completed, lay one set letter side down on a table in front of your child. The other set should have the letter side up. As your child turns over a single card from the upside down pile, he should attempt to match it with its mate on the other side. If he gets stuck, you can help by placing both sets of cards face down on the table and having him attempt to find pairs one set at a time.
It is important to be generous with praise when your child does well in early reading activities. By praising your child each time he correctly identifies a word, you are helping him learn the word. The more praise he receives, the more he will try to learn the words and letters.
