Tools For Teaching Beginner Readers

Learning to read is an important skill to develop. Through reading we gain the ability to gather knowledge, follow instructions, play games and explore imagination. Before teaching little ones to read, they must know what each letter sounds like. If your child doesn’t know letter sounds yet, head over to Tools For Teaching The Alphabet to get started! Teaching littles to read can be challenging. Let’s look at a few thoughts and ideas for teaching children to read.

Start Early?

In my opinion, a huge misconception about reading is that children must learn to read early or they will have a harder time learning. The American school system has so many of us ingrained in this belief. The trouble with a child in the public school system not reading early is not that they won’t learn, it’s that the curriculum is written so you must learn to read early in order to succeed. This mixed with a high student to teacher ratio makes reading a forced skill early on in public schools.

A homeschooling family has a much more flexible timetable and can tailor their curriculum to the needs of the child. While some children show interest in reading at an early age, many children aren’t ready to read until they are older. My daughter didn’t show interest in reading until 5 and didn’t start reading fluently until 8. She now loves to find a quiet corner to read in. My son is 5 and is just starting to show interest in reading. He has only been practicing for 3 weeks and is already reading sentences. Before this, trying to get him to read was intensely frustrating for myself and for him. He couldn’t concentrate and didn’t comprehend what I had just explained. He simply wasn’t ready.

If reading is causing fighting and stress, try to take it back to a less forceful atmosphere and find fun ways to introduce it. Your child may not be ready AND THAT IS OK! You will find a sense of peace when you take away the standards of the public school system and do what works for you and your children. There is no such thing as your child being “behind”.

That said, if your child is not ready to take out a book and start reading, there are many ways to build a foundation for reading like playing games which we’ll get into in this post.

How To Get Your Child Interested In Reading

Start with their interests – Maybe they want to learn more about machines, animals or faeries. If your child has been practicing flying a kite, read a book about tips on flying kites! If they are learning to ride a bike, read a book about a child learning to ride a bike!
Get comfortable – Let them pick where they want to cuddle up for story time.
Remind them what being able to read means for them – For my family, that means being able to play cool board games or card games together. This really motivates my children to want to read.
Don’t make it a punishment – Making reading a punishment will be a negative experience. Instead, make it something they can enjoy during free time or while you are busy.
Enjoy a book yourself – Children look up to you as a parent. If they see you like something, they usually want to try it too!
Go Slow – Don’t rush your child as they attempt to sound out words. Pressure quickly becomes frustration which leads to quitting.
Start easy – Don’t pick a book that is above your child’s reading level.
Have someone else read to them – My kids love curling up with their Great Grandma and reading a book. It has become a routine when she comes over. Having others explain their love for reading is a great way to get them interested! Plus, it may feel less forced if the idea of reading isn’t coming from Mom or Dad.

Books For Teaching Beginner Readers

We have tried a few different books and series for learning to read. Here are my favorites.

Learn To Read With EP – If you could only pick one book, pick this one! After learning letter sounds, my daughter TAUGHT HERSELF TO READ with this book! It was amazing to watch. My son is currently using this book to learn to read too. For each lesson, the book has a page of words to learn before jumping into reading the sentences. For example: A, Cat, Rat, And. The next page will have a few sentences like “A cat and a rat”. The lessons are short which keeps my son engaged. He feels very accomplished after each one. Click here to see my full review of Learn To Read With EP.

Bob Books – This series is wonderful. It’s a huge series of silly books that have simple pictures and short words for an easy introduction to reading. These books are a staple in our homeschooling. We have almost every set. They are very easy to follow. My kids love reading and laughing along. One thing to note about Bob Books is that each set can be purchased separately so there is no large payment upfront. Click here to see my full review of Bob Books.

All About Reading – The founder of this series has a severely dyslexic son. She created it with him in mind. I have not personally used All About Reading but many homeschoolers enjoy using this program. This program not only has books but other hands on activities as well. It’s really more of a reading curriculum. The books are beautiful hardcovers.

You can buy the program bundles on their website here
or individual books on amazon here

*Tip* Generally, the books with famous characters are not the books to start with. While your child may think they are exciting, these books are not well thought out for beginner readers. They will be much too difficult and not have a great flow for learning. Flow is everything!

Games For Teaching Children To Read

We are a gaming family! Card games, board games, video games, you name it. We love enjoying games together and there are so many games to help children learn! It’s why I created The Game Room which focuses on Gameschooling. Here’s a few awesome games to help children learn to read.

Alphabet Go-Fish – We use this game to learn our letter sounds but it is also good for beginner readers because each letter has a word. When the player gets a match, have them sound out the letters, say the word and spell it out. Click here to see a gameschooling review on Alphabet Go-Fish.

Scrabble Junior – What game is better than Scrabble for learning spelling and practicing reading? The whole point of the game is to spell out words on the board to win! Scrabble junior brings an exciting way to work on language skills, cognitive skills and so much more! Click here to see a gameschooling review on Scrabble Junior.

Zingo – Like bingo but more fun! Slide the zinger to reveal pieces for the bingo board. Race to say the name of the piece you need and fill your board. We like to add that when you say the name of the piece, you have to say the letter and sound it starts with. Zingo Sight Words is an even better option for learning to read! Click here to see a gameschooling review on Zingo.

Boggle Junior – we have the wooden montessori version of Boggle Junior and my kids love it. You stick the card in the slot to hide how it’s spelled. Then sound out the word and place the letter dice in the correct order. Reveal the card to see if you spelled it right. This is a great game to start joining letter sounds together to make a word. You can also use this for learning letter sounds by keeping the word revealed and sounding out each letter as you place it. Click here to see a gameschooling review on Boggle Junior.

Alphabet Go-Fish – We use this game to learn our letter sounds but it is also good for beginner readers because each letter has a word. When the player gets a match, have them sound out the letters, say the word and spell it out. Click here to see a gameschooling review on Alphabet Go-Fish.

Word On The Street Junior – Spell out words in this letter tug of war game. You can also play with teams to practice discussion and problem solving. Find Word On The Street Junior on Amazon.

Flash Cards

Honestly, we don’t really use flash cards. I know they can be super helpful but we just never got into them. The only thing we use flash cards for is practicing spelling and writing sight words. These Trend Sight Word Packs are amazing for just that!

Learn more about how we use these flash cards for spelling, reading, writing and vocabulary practice AND download the sheets by clicking here or on the picture below!