Teaching Kids to Read K.I.S.S.

There are so many great websites/blogs/courses etc out there that have worksheets, weekly themes, colouring sheets and programs that will teach your child to read. I'm going to let you in on a secret. Teaching most children to read is easy. It doesn't require large amounts of time and money to buy programs or cute finger puppets or put together worksheets that are personalized with your child's picture or a set school time or place. Some of these things make me tired just looking at them. Since, I am currently teaching my 5th child to read, and each of my other 4 could read quite well before beginning Kindergarten (Prep), I feel I know some of what I say. I use lots of different ways to teach them. Here is what I do:

1. Make up a song or use the tune to a familiar song to teach them to spell their name. Sing it in the car or any other time you feel like. (I rarely have the radio on while my little kids are in the car.) I used B-I-N-G-O for Ethan and Ammon and made up my own song for Kyle, Aaron and Wyatt. Ashlee was to Twinkle, Twinkle. I start doing this when they are around 18 months.
2. Make a poster with all the letters of the alphabet. Make sure you write the letters like they teach them in your local school. Do upper and lower case and sing the alphabet often, pointing to the letters as you sing. Point their finger at the letters as you sing as well. You could also print out letter colouring pages as well and have them colour them. There are myriad of these online. Just look up alphabet coring pages online.
3. Sing the alphabet with the sounds of the letters. I have a tune I sing that just repeats itself A makes the sound of "A" (long a) or "a" (short a). B makes the sound "b-b-b". Continuing to the end of the alphabet. Sing this a lot.
4. You can also make up a song or a rhythm for individual letters. Continue saying/singing it over and over. (i.e. Double U, Double U, w-w-w or M-n-Ms are mmmmm)
5. Read books to them. As you read, have them find letters on the page. I always start with "O" because it's the easiest for them to recognize, because it's a circle.
6. As you read, choose a "magic" word or two that they can say every time you get to it in the book like "and" or "the" or any other word that is often repeated. As you read, point to each word as you say it and when you get to the magic word, have them say it.
7. Another good one for in the car is rhyming words or spelling simple words like, "Let's spell pot. What's the first sound? p-p-p", etc.
8. Pick a good beginner reader or series . We use BOB Books. Have them spell the words, then help them sound them out, asking, "What does a j say", etc. You'll probably have to give it to them several times, then help them put all the sounds together. Sometimes, you can only do one page at one sitting, but be consistent about it and they will get it.

Once they can read one book, they become motivated to read the next. It's magic to hear your child read for the first time. It's all about being consistent and using the time you do have together well. We're in the car a lot and that's when I work with them the most. Don't get discouraged. Children who are good readers are confident in other school work and in life. Once you can read, you can learn anything you want!