How do I teach my four year old to read?

Question

is there like a homeschooling resource text or a program other than hooked on phonics i can use. I want to teach her before she starts kindergarten and i want to use a like board of education approved curriculum

Answer 1

This site is very good.  It has interactive books that can be read online: http://www.starfall.com/

It is certainly teacher-approved, if not board approved.

Does your child want to learn?  If you put too much pressure on her to learn before Kindergarten, she may

a) be put off reading and

b) get bored in Kindergarten.

That's just a caution.  There's nothing wrong with teaching her to read if she's ready (if she can do rhyming, and can divide words into sounds cat=c-a-t, and put them together d-o-g = dog; not in writing, but just by sound - it's called "phonemic awareness", and she will need that before she can successfully learn to read).

Answer 2

i think u can do the games which makes her learn and have fun in the same time ..make her know the sounds of the letters and even u can read a story in front of her but put ur finger on the words which u r saying it in front of her so she can realize the sound and the shape of the letter..i hope i was useful..

Answer 3

I have had great success with the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann.  This was suggested to me by a homeschooling parent...seems that there is quite few that use it.  The reviews are awesome on Amazon.com...so don't go just by what I have to say.  :-)

under $20 (remember that you can get free shipping withorders over $25 on Amazon.com).  It was in stock at our local Barnes and Noble store.  

It can seem a little dry...but I added some "extras" to it to make it interesting.  From a teacher's standpoint...it is a great resource for parents...it has most all components of learning to read right there at their fingertips...even gives them the words to use.  :-)  My son is 5 now.  He starts Kindergarten this fall.  He's reading at the end of a Kindergarten level-beginning first grade level and progressing rapidly.  I give this book/guideline the credit.

I suggest the We Both Read series books (shared reading) as a supplement.  I find that many children hesitate to learn to read because they are afraid we, as the adults, will stop reading to them.  These books are excellent.  Check your local library.  Amazon carries them for 3.99/book.  Special is buy 3 get 4.  They are SO GOOD that I'm purchasing the set.  They progress from K up.  

Good luck!

Answer 4

work on letter sounds and letters........don't push her too much or she will be bored in kindergarten possibly.........also she may not be ready for it......you just have to take it by ear because if she isn't ready then it could make her dislike it in the end......

Answer 5

i used the level 1 books to help my 4yo learn to read. i really loved this poster i got at a home school store that had all the basic sight words on it and we would read them together. i hang my poster in the dining room to let the kids look at the while eating... a child needs to want to read though..my older son didn't read till 5 cause he really didn't want to but since he was reading when my daughter was 4 she was very interested in catching up. BTW  i bought lots of books cheap on eBay vs store buying...

Answer 6

Don't push her too hard.  Once she begins school, she will never have as much freedom again.  That said, the best way to teach someone to read is to teach the sound of letters and letter recognition.  Teach the short vowels and letters that go with them: example teach a and b,c,h,r.  The child could then read bat,cat,hat, rat.  Continue with other vowels and letters.  This is hard for most 4 year olds as their brains are not always developed to do this.  Good luck.

Answer 7

Just keep on reading something to her and maybe she can like copy you , then she will eventually know wat your like ready and all that .

Answer 8

Another vote for Bob Books. They are fun and engaging and kids feel very proud to finish a whole book.

Sonlight Curriculum has a great preschool course that you might want to try too! Lots of great books to read together.

Best of Luck to You!

Jana

http://www.purehomeschooling.com

Answer 9

Bob Books Amazon.com