8 Tips For Helping Your Toddler Learn to Read

It’s never too early to begin teaching your child how to read. You can begin reading to your child even before they are born! Reading to your child can be a wonderful bonding experience and has many benefits to developing early reading skills.

Guiding your little one through the process of learning how to read should not be an uphill task. There are so many ways you could implement reading time into your day to day activities to help your baby learn how to read. If you are ready to get started, here are 8 tips to helping your toddler learn how to read.

1. Read to your Toddler Daily

Reading books to your child on a daily basis gives your child a higher probability of developing basic literary skills. Understanding the alphabet, writing their name, learning to count and of course early reading skills can all be accelerated when you set time aside to reading with your child.

You can start by reading one short story daily, and eventually increase the number of books to encourage your child to read. Most parents choose to read their children books right before bedtime which can be a relaxing activity that will also help your little one unwind.

While reading to your little one consider doing these easy exercises:

•         Point to the words as you read out loud

•         Have your child point to the word and follow along

•         Ask your child to repeat some of the words back to you

•         Allow your child to try to read while you listen

2. Encourage Storytelling

Toddlers can have wild imaginations. One way to help foster creativity and learning is to help your child develop storytelling skills. Have your toddler tell you a story. It could be from a past experience or a made-up story.

As they tell you the story, write it down and when they are done, read it out loud for him or her as you point at the words. Over time your toddler will begin to recognize words and their pronunciations.

3. Have a Fun Q&A Session

This is a fun game you can play throughout the day. Consider asking your little one questions related to a letter, sounds or number identification. This is a great way to encourage literary skills without actually reading a book to your child.

Try asking your toddler these simple questions:

•      Mention the word “Cat” (or any other simple word) and ask your toddler, “What letter does the word “Cat” start with?

•      Ask what sound does the letter “C” make? (or any other letter in the alphabet)

•      Ask what words begin with letter “C”?

•      Ask your toddler how many fingers you are holding up to help with learning numbers

During this question and answer sessions, encourage your little one to ask questions as well to promote an environment where your child can be curious about reading.

4. Talk to your Toddler (A Lot)

Although your little one may hardly understand what you are saying, talk and sing to your child as often as possible. You could talk to your toddler about their nose, tiny legs, eyes, or even about how they yawned, slept, ate or burped.

This is because just like talking, reading involves language and learning. It requires one to hear it and sooner or later read it or speak it. You may feel silly talking to your toddler about random things but introducing a variety of words and sounds will greatly impact their literacy skills.

5. Read a Book with a Film Adaptation

Some of the children’s books you find, can also have movie adaptations. Consider reading some of these books then afterwards watch the movie together with your little one. If your toddler is a reluctant reader, they may be motivated by reading a book knowing afterwards they get to watch a movie version of it.

6. Be Part of a Toddler Book Club

All you need to find is two people reading a similar book to their children and you can join or even start your own Toddler Book Club. Try reaching out to your friends or other family members who have children the same age and start reading together.

Pick a book, a place (virtual or real) to meet up, and bring questions that you could discuss about the book. For example, the most interesting parts, favorite characters, and maybe an alternative ending.

A book club will not only develop your toddler’s ability to read but also their social skills as they interact with family members or friends.

7. Teach Words that Rhyme

Teaching your little one about rhyming words allow them to develop phonemic understanding. Phonemic awareness allows your toddler to identify oral rhymes and syllables. Seeing a pattern of words as they read will also help them sound out words on their own.

As your child develops the ability to focus on spelling and rhymes, try clapping out words. This will help lay the foundation for spelling and word recognition.

8. Be a good example

Even if your toddler loves reading, this may change if they do not see a reading culture encouraged at home. For this reason, consciously make an effort to allow your little one to see you read even if it is just for a couple of minutes daily. You could read a magazine, novel, newspaper or even a cookbook, but be sure to show your little one that reading is important.