Could you give me some activities to do with my 4-year-old to help her learn to read before she starts kindergarten next year? I don't want her to fall behind. - Want to be Prepared
Answer: It's puzzling why you want to teach your child to read now. She's definitely not going to be behind when she enters kindergarten because she isn't reading. Only a very few children are actually reading on their very first day of school. Your daughter's kindergarten teacher will certainly not expect your child to be reading.
Some children are ready to read long before their peers. This could be the case with your daughter, but pushing her to learn to read will definitely not be productive in the long run, unless she is ready. Remember, each child has his or her own rate of development, genetic makeup and level of interest, and all play important roles in determining when he or she is ready to learn to read. Here are some pre-reading activities that are appropriate to use with your daughter.
Both reading teachers and speech language pathologists are now telling us about the important role nursery rhymes play in helping young children learn to read and speak. Be sure your child has the opportunity to hear and say them often. Beyond this, you can prepare your child to read by reading to her frequently. Read some predictable pattern books that repeat the same line time and time again so your child can read along with you. Also, you can stop at certain points in a story to ask your child what she thinks will happen next.
It is also a good idea to have your daughter retell some of the stories that you read to her and to have her tell you a story about what is happening in a wordless book. In addition, be sure to read alphabet books with her to help her learn to identify the letters of the alphabet. Plus, when you read a story, pick out a word that will appear on every page, and have your daughter read the word every time it appears. Becoming a skilled reader is a journey of many steps; enjoy each one your child takes.