No one knows how children learn to read and write. No matter what the educational professionals say, no one knows! However, what we do know, is that there are lots of things that parents can do to help their children learn. The most important one is exposure.

From when the baby is 16 weeks in the womb, he or she can hear. Reading aloud to your child in utero enables you to spend time focused on them, and them to hear the sound of your voice in a gentle calm situation. Whilst they won't understand what they are hearing, they will hear the rise and fall of your voice, and the tone, and that will help them in later years when they are having to read aloud, to speak and to be listened to.

When the child arrives, read to them. Even little ones can hear voices, see colours, and the bedtime story is an essential part of a bedtime routine. It is good quality time spent together, and again, the exposure to the written word enables the child to start realising that words have meaning, that the wriggly black marks on the page have a purpose. This is the very beginning of learning to read.

As the child grows, then there are many ways to enhance their reading exposure. One way is to give them a small part of the shopping list to do when you go to the supermarket. Initially you will need to draw pictures of what you want next to the words, but children start to learn quickly what the first sounds are, and will cheerfully guess the rest of the word if it is something that they are used to getting.

The logical progression from this is to help them to write their own list. This moves them on from words having meaning, to them being able to make the meaning, giving them ownership and power over the wriggly black marks. The boost to their self-esteem provides the confidence that they need to progress to the next stage.

The most essential parts to learning to read and write are practice and fun. There is no reason why one should eliminate the other. Children will make their marks on anything, and tell you what it says. You can read anything to them whilst you are out, proving to them that there is knowledge to be unlocked in the world, and that the wriggly black marks have the key.

Above all, be confident in their abilities. After all, once upon a time, you couldn't read either!

Learn more about this author, Sarah Cook.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about How to teach preschoolers to read and write?
We want to hear your view. Write now!