Preschool \u00a0education is a crucial piece of our children\u2019s foundation of learning. \u00a0With our fast paced lives, children are expected to understand and know things much earlier in life than we once did. \u00a0We have learned how valuable reading to our children is from birth, and that instilling a desire for learning is even more important.<\/p>\n
At a year old, most children have developed to a point where they will recognize and can point out pictures associated with the words we speak. \u00a0If we say \u201cbird\u201d they can typically find a feathered friend in a brightly colored picture book page.<\/p>\n
By two years of age, they\u2019re still working on motor functions, but we give them crayons to express their creativity and to practice drawing what they visualize. \u00a0 At this age they may start to sing along with you as you chant the alphabet song, or spout out numbers with you as you count to twenty.<\/p>\n
The first step in teaching a child to read is learning the sounds of the alphabet and how to associate those sounds with specific letters. \u00a0 An easy word to start with is your child\u2019s name as they know what it is associated with and it\u2019s very easy for them to quickly recognize.<\/p>\n
Once children hit four years old, many of them are ready to learn some of the more simple words, commonly called \u201csight words\u201d. \u00a0These are the common words children will see in the text of books, magazines, and even on television, that are not as easily sounded out. \u00a0Instead, we use memorization to learn and recognize these words.<\/p>\n
An easy technique for starting this project is to build a \u201cword wall\u201d for your child. \u00a0Using large, clear print, write up to five new sight words per week on separate pieces of paper and put them on a wall in your child\u2019s bedroom or toy room.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve chosen your words for the week, spend time helping your child say and recognize these words. You can take turns saying sentences using the words, helping your child spell them out loud, or just saying them over and over again.<\/p>\n
As you add new words to your wall each week, it\u2019s important to continue using the words from previous weeks, so your child maintains them in his or her vocabulary database.<\/p>\n
As with any other activity, children quickly bore of working on their alphabet and words if it isn\u2019t very fun. \u00a0Use fun activities to help keep your child\u2019s focus and set appropriate timeframes each day for working on them. \u00a0No four year old is going to be able to focus on learning words for several hours, but half an hour a day might be a great starting point.<\/p>\n
Use games to help encourage the desire and drive to learn:<\/em><\/p>\n