teaching children to read

Research shows that for children to become enthusiastic, fluent readers, they need a firm grasp of phonics and the alphabetic code. That’s where phonological and phonemic awareness — the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds in words — come into play. Having said that, we understand that it can sometimes be hard to know…

Before your child can learn to read, he or she must first learn some basic letter names and letter sounds. For example, the letter “A” makes the /A/ (ah) sound. (slashes denote the sound of the letter). To be able to read, a child must be able to recognize the letters, know the sound of the letters, and be able to recognize the letters quickly and say the sound…

One of the best ways to help your child develop phonemic awareness is through practising “blending”. Being able to blend and segment words helps children to read and spell. According to the National Reading Panel, blending helps children develop reading skills where printed letters are turned into sounds which combine to form words. Start blending practice with some…