how do you teach someone to read?

Question

My 4 year-old knows all of his letter sounds (for example if I ask "what does cat start with?" He can say "cat, cah, cah, C, the letter 'C'.)

However if I say how do you spell cat? He can't tell me, only that it begins with C. If I then say "cat, cah-aaaaaaaaaah-tuh, what letter says ahhhh?" then he can tell me A. And if I say "cat, c-a-tuh" what letter is tuh? He can tell me T.

So... I've never taught anyone to read before, but how can I help him sound out words by himself?

I know he's still young, but he's known what every letter sound is since he was 3, so I've been waiting a long time.

He can sight read a lot of words. But I would love for him to sound out words too.

I read him a ton of books each day and point to the words I read.

But any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

Answer 1

One great pat to reading is phonological awareness, or knowing the sounds in words. It sounds as if you've done a lot of work with letter sounds. But there are other neat activities to try that will boost your son's awareness of sounds in words. Try these activities.

Segmenting: This can be fun. Start segmenting compound words. Can you say wallpaper without wall? Campground without ground? And on and on and on...slowly move up to syllables. Can you say playing without ing? Then, do it at the sound level. Can you say cat without /k/?

Blending: A puppet can help with this. Say a word in parts--/k/ /a/ /t/ and have your son put it together into a word.

Of course, after you work with the phonological awareness, then you have the matching of sound and symbol to deal with. A great deal of this is developmental. My son was about where yours is at 4, and then he didn't really take off with reading. He started to be resistant to my efforts with flashcards and sight words. I was saddened--I wanted him reading by kindergarten--but, as a teacher, I'd seen the hazards of too much parental pressure and I backed off. We went back into just enjoying books together. Somewhere in kindergarten, then, he just figured it all out and took off.

So--follow his interests, keep reading and talking, but watch his cues and don't feel bad about backing off on pressure.

Answer 2

You go girl. Teaching a young one is so fun. I made a matching game when my first was about that age. that helped him get the concepts. then he really blossomed.

He started reading simple books, we bought some cheap phonics ones that emphasis one letter or rhyming sound at a time. Then we took turns reading pages in bigger books. Then he took over.

Just print out a picture of the sun and the word sun, a pic of him and his name... cat, dog, ball, food, Play a matching game with him and he'll soon get the concept.

Sight words first then do rhyming word to get the sounding it out idea. Sun/run/Fun By then you wont need pictures you can list them and say now what if I do this and write a new one. Like a guessing game

Answer 3

well I would suggest printing off the dolch list of sight words, put them on cue cards and practice them everyday. After he starts getting familiar with those, you can buy sets of easy reader.. You know the books that have one to three words per page.. a lot of the words are the sight words... Definitly go from there! Good luck!


btw for the people who are saying, let him be a child... He is 4... My daughter is 4 and in senior Kindergarton.. This is the age where learning to read really starts.. She's not pushing him too far, why not allow him to excel?

Answer 4

He may not be ready yet. They do cover all this stuff in Kindergarten you know. I say wait. The cat in the Hat books are great for beginning readers.

Answer 5

Are you asking for help or telling us how to do it? He's 4 and knows all this! Give him lots of praise and quit acting like he doesn't know enough. Tell him I said he was amazing!

Answer 6

Let the child be a child, is it your desire or his/hers to be able to read at that age???? At 4 he/she is doing okay, don't force a child to learn, it may turn them off, just keep doing what you are doing, it will all come together when he/she is ready.

Answer 7

I would definitely suggest hooked on phonics and a belt. When I was younger my mom made me get hooked on hooked on phonics and anytime I would get something wrong she would hit me or spank me but it paid off ,I learned how to read fluently by the age of 3.