The National Center for Learning Disabilities has provided a list of recommended books and reading guide for kindergartners. Still, parents and guardians send their kids to school before they have checked off most of the necessary skills. One of the skills the body deems necessary for children is the ability to construct complete sentences, discuss stories they have read, open and close a book, follow directions correctly, and recognize some or all letters.
Parents who are not trained educationalists might find it difficult to introduce their kids to reading, and some even say that the skills listed by the National center are unnecessary in the child’s development.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress says that in America, just 35% of children in the fourth grade are reading for their actual level. This means that a majority of students stand the chance of being unable to read the materials recommended for their grade.
If you don’t begin training your child early enough and ensure they have the proper reading skills at grade level, they may develop problems later on in life.
Make your child enjoy books and reading
Cultivating the habit of reading in your child at an early age will help them develop a strong love of reading that will stay with them for the rest of their life. A professor in psychology at the University of California, Dominic Massaro, in a recent study concluded that when adults read books aloud to kids at an early age is very effective in expanding their vocabulary. Your child will have an advantage going into kindergarten with a larger vocabulary, and ability to understand sentences.
Find opportunities to play with language
Babies learn to communicate naturally, which is why they seem to cry every second; crying is their only means of communicating their needs.
Since letters and printed words are more modern additions to our communication process, your children will need to have repeated experiences with hearing and pronouncing sounds before they can properly read. Your child will find reading and writing easier if they have a good foundation of the sounds with preschool reading worksheets .
Show your kids that print has meaning
As your children grow, they learn to attach symbols, pictures and letters to words. Parents can help their kids understand that the prints in books translate into words, by reading books with them.
Start with books which contain a lot of repeated words; such as Eric Carle’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
