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5 Tips To Make Learning To Read Easier

Just learning to read is not enough if your child is going to compete in the modern information society. Becoming a good or excellent reader is the key to your child's future.

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 Read Books

I know that most children learn to read with books, but most also never become good readers, let alone excellent readers. Almost any child can become a good reader and there are simple reasons why they don't.

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.

This leads down a blind alley of despair, as your child gets more and more confused. And you will see a strong resistance to reading practice appear.

TIP 2 - "Dimensionalise" the Phonemes

Phonemes are the little sounds that make up words. And there are 43 of them in English. You can find them at the beginning of your dictionary. We need to make sure your child is familiar with them.

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.

Our memories work mainly with visual images.

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.

Selec-A-Word. This is a simple reading exercise. Write three similar words on a piece of paper, like ten, pen, pin. Then read one of them out and ask your child to select it.

Nonsense Words. Using your plastic letters again, write a nonsense word, like leb, kib, teg, vod. Ask your child to try 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 10-15 minutes of reading practice in one go. That is the most your child can do without losing concentration. Struggling on is counter-productive.

TIP 5 - Try Easyread TrainerText

TrainerText is how we let a child read unaided, while learning. The visual image for each phoneme in a word is floating above the text, so that the child can check if a word is unfamiliar. You can do the same with the images you have created in tip 2.

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.

Using these techniques you will see a new confidence developing over just a few days. The children using Easyread are more enthusiastic from day 1 and have jumped forward in their reading within 3 weeks.