Reading Strategies for Preschoolers

Many parents want to have their child reading before they begin kindergarten. Truly, this is not ideal for anyone but the parent. It may be you have a child who is a "natural" reader, but most children do not even begin to read until the end of kindergarten.

There has been much debate over how early reading instruction should begin. The book Smart Moves details how brain development does not support teaching reading lessons before the age of seven. Some countries do not teach reading until then and have incredibly low numbers of illiteracy and reading disabilities.

There are some things preschoolers do that are developmental that are beginning ready skills. Preschoolers can begin to learn the letters in their names, some letters of the alphabet, how to recognize store names and brand names, but not "reading" words. As it gets closer to kindergarten, you can read with your child and teach them to read from left to right, find predictable patterns (repeating words) throughout a book (like "Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?") that can teach them the pattern of reading. But do not worry if they do not recognize words by themselves before kindergarten. Children can be great readers without reading at such an early age.

When your child is reading to read, go with it. One great way to start is with Bob Books. Right now, as of this posting, Mom Central is giving away free sets of Bob Books. Bob Books teach reading through phonics with basic sounds and pictures. You can go to their site and register to receive them. Get them now to save them for when they are ready.