We live in an information society and literacy is the key to success in it. Being a good or excellent reader will be a huge advantage for your child over the coming years. Kids who enjoy reading often read 2-3 books a week, the same as some children read in months. So the advantage they have is increasing all the time. So here are 5 things that will make a huge difference to your child's reading development. We employ all of them in our Easyread System: TIP 1 - Don't Use Books You probably think I'm nuts now! But we have seen so many children who have travelled down the wrong path, because of early reading books. It isn't the right way for a child to first start reading. A bright child will look at the text and use the easiest approach, which is to memorise some words and guess the others. That seems to work OK at first, but leads to more and more guessing as the books get more complicated. In due course, you will see an implosion of confidence and a total reluctance to do any more reading at all. TIP 2 - "Dimensionalise" the Phonemes Your child needs to be familiar with the 43 phonemes we use. They are the little sounds that make up each word. You can find a list of them in any dictionary. But they are tough to get a handle on. So the best thing is to create a visual image (with physical dimensions) for each one. That will make them much easier for your child to remember. For instance, we use the octopus that knocked a puss, the oak in a cloak, the owl with a scowl and the oon on the moon in Easyread for the sounds of the letter O. Those are much easier for your child to remember. The brain stores most memories in a visual form. TIP 3 - Play These Games You don't want to start with a book. So where do you start? We find games like these work well: Build-A-Word. Take 6 plastic letters including 2 vowels. Revise the main sound of each one. Then say a simple 3 letter word that your child can built with these letters, like bed, dog, fat or mop. Select-A-Word. On a piece of paper, write three similar words, like hot, hat, pat. Read one of them out loud and ask your child to select which word it is. Nonsense Words. This time, use your plastic letters to write a simple nonsense word like gab, hin, mub or wid. Ask your child to read it. Easyread-I-Spy. This is just like the classic "I spy with my little eye..." game, except that you use the first sound of the word rather than the first letter. TIP 4 - Less is More Never do more than 15 minutes of reading practise at a go. Any more and your child's concentration level will begin to dip. TIP 5 - Try Easyread TrainerText TrainerText is a unique system that we use to allow a child to read without needing help. Just write the text with the images for the phonemes that you have created in Tip 2 floating above each word. The great thing with TrainerText is that your child can work through the text without getting stuck and needing help. That is marvellous for developing confidence and self-esteem. We see a new level of enthusiasm from day 1 and a leap in confidence over the first 3 weeks using these techniques. If you employ them, I am sure you will quickly see the difference.
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