Reading Skills

If you’ve found your way to this article (welcome, by the way!), you’re no doubt interested in teaching your young child how to read – or at least begin the learning process. While there is some debate as to whether it is possible to teach children under the age of two to read, there is no doubt that an early introduction to words, languages, letters, and books will have a positive effect on their development. The question is, “What is the best way to introduce reading to a child between the ages of 0 and two?”. Well, in today’s piece, … Read more

While there are a multitude of learning milestones throughout a kindergartener’s early development, there are none so crucial as learning to read. Getting this element of early learning right is vital to ensuring a child becomes well versed in this key skill from an early age. However, like with most learning-related tasks, this is often easier said than done. The critical question, therefore, remains: What strategies should be employed to facilitate the most effective and rewarding process for kindergarteners learning to read?  In today’s article, we will answer this question and examine a plethora of strategies, methods, and techniques that … Read more

In today’s piece, we’re going to delve deeply into the world of teaching toddlers to read. We’re going to answer by far and away the most commonly asked question in relation to teaching toddlers to read, examine at the complex processes involved in learning to read, discuss how toddlers develop (and how you can use this to your advantage when teaching them to read), and furnish you with our top tips and activities for facilitating early reading skills in pre-school children. So, if you’re a parent who’s keen to promote learning from a young age, this is just the article … Read more

When I was a kid, I loved to read. Books, comics, magazines, pamphlets, leaflets, restaurant menus, posters, telephone directories…you name it, I wanted to read it. Any spare moment I had was spent with my head in a book. I found reading, learning new words, and losing myself in stories by far and away the most enjoyable and exciting thing I could do! In short, reading was brilliant. However, the same couldn’t be said for my younger brother. We were like chalk and cheese where reading was concerned. He’d actively do anything to avoid reading at school or at home, … Read more

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to teach your baby to ‘read’. The question is, how can you teach an infant who can’t speak and doesn’t know the alphabet to read? On the face of it, it may appear to be an impossible task; however, in reality, it isn’t. There are millions of parents the world over who have successfully taught their baby to read – but how did they do it? While there are a myriad of ways to teach a child (or adult) to read, teaching babies to read requires something a little different given that they … Read more

I’m sure, like me, when you first became aware of the notion that parents are teaching their babies to read, you raised an eyebrow and thought something along the lines of ‘Babies reading? Is that actually possible?!’. Like most people out there, your initial reaction to such a novel proposition was one of (completely understandable) scepticism; however, it’s not as outrageous as it appears.  Why? Because it is actually possible to teach your baby how to read; and not only that but it, believe it or not, is relatively simple and straightforward to do. Plus, your son or daughter will … Read more

If your child is struggling to read, it’s totally natural to worry about their learning progression – particularly if other children of the same age appear to have more advanced reading skills compared to your child.  As a parent, numerous thoughts will race through your mind: ‘Is my child not as clever as other children?’. ‘Will they catch up with their peers?’. ‘Will their teacher(s) do anything to help?’. ‘What can I do to help?’. ‘Should I be worried?’. …and so on, and so forth. Before we delve into – and answer – these questions, it is absolutely imperative to … Read more

There are no two ways about it; reading is an essential facet of your child’s intellectual and emotional development. Robust reading ability will not only help your child through the early stages of life but also contribute to potential success later on in life too; therefore, paying attention to this vital skills from a young age is undoubtedly worthwhile. Before we look at steps, you can implement to facilitate reading skills in your child, let’s take a brief look at how reading can benefit your child: – Reading will teach your child new words and enhance their grasp on language, … Read more

As one of the ‘Five Pillars’ of learning to read (you can learn more these in our article here), reading comprehension is one of the fundamental elements of reading instruction. In today’s post, we’re going to delve into the world of reading comprehension and examine a plethora of tips that you can use to boost your child’s ability where reading comprehension is concerned. Before we get stuck in, however, let’s take a look at what exactly reading comprehension is. In short, reading comprehension is related to a child’s ability to not only read but also their understanding of what they … Read more

As detailed in our article that details the ‘Five Pillars’ of learning to read (which you can read here), phonics are an essential facet of the process of learning to read, and are typically the first technique children learn in becoming fluent and confident readers.  Phonics instruction relates to the process of assigning children to learn and understand the relationship(s) between letters and the sounds they make. For example, children learn that the letter ‘d’ represents the sound /d/, and that it is the first letter in words such as dog, dad, dig, and did.  One of the most effective … Read more