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nkrisc • today at 12:43 AM • 1 reply • view on HN

One of the best ways to help children learn to read is to read to them, a lot.

That alone won’t teach them to read, but it will help them a lot as they work through learning.

My kids have been “learning” to read since they were born and my oldest started reading on his own at age 4-5. I didn’t push him to read at all, he surprised me when he started telling me what the signs along the road said.

My younger hasn’t taken to it quite as fast but he’s right where he should be for his age, but we read at least three books to him every day at bedtime. I still read to my older one every day (we’ve read LotR twice), even though he’s plenty capable on his own.


Replies

devilbunny • today at 2:51 AM

> That alone won’t teach them to read

Oh yes it can. It won’t teach phonics, which is a very valuable skill especially in English, but my biggest struggle with phonics was that I could already read the words they were trying to use to teach us how to sound things out. Kids vary but some will already be picking up written words by 2-3 and self-guided by 5-6. Reading the same book every night is tedious to parents but really lets the kids connect shapes on paper to language.