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How to Teach a Child to Read. Make the process of learning to read easy and fun for your
child -- and you! You will need Chattiness Children's books ABC lessons Word games Patience
Books with color photographs (optional) and alphabet magnets (optional). Step 1. From
the time your child is born, keep up a steady stream of chatter -- tell them what you're
doing, what they're doing, and what's going on around you both. Researchers have found
that toddlers who were spoken to a lot from infancy tested higher in language skills than
those whose parents were less talkative. Step 2. Begin reading aloud to your baby when they
are 6 months old. Education experts agree that reading to children is the single best
thing parents can do to pave the way for their child to learn to read. Step 3. When you read
to your child, show them the letters and words you're saying by using your finger as a pointer.
Get them to participate, too, by asking them to find pictures. Such interaction provides
them with the building blocks of reading. Step 4. Teach preschoolers their ABCs: print
the letters of their name, saying each one as you write it, and encourage them to do
the same; point out letters and words wherever you go; and ask your child to pick out letters
in publications. Put alphabet magnets on the fridge to help them spell different words
daily. Step 5. Use word games to foster their "phonemic awareness" -- the ability to hear
and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. Ask them to isolate the first or last
sound in a word; challenge them to recognize a word when one letter is added or taken away;
give them three letters and ask them to blend the separate sounds they make. Step 6. Be
realistic. Most children are not ready to learn to read until around age 5. And don't
be alarmed if your child seems slow: there is no connection between an early ability
to read and intelligence. The bottom line? Fostering a life-long love of reading is more
important than turning out an early bookworm. Did you know Books about friendships between
children of different races can help overcome prejudice, according to a study.