How to help your child learn to read at home

How can you help your child learn to read at home?
Here are some small additions that can have a BIG impact:

Honor books and reading in your house

Display picture books on windowsills or shelves, create small reading areas with a comfortable seat and reading lamp, take time as a family to sit and read- whether to yourselves or to each other. 

Protect your child’s concentration

If your child is focusing on something, recognize its importance and do what you can to not interrupt them. For example, your child is drawing a picture at the table and is engrossed in what they are doing. Instead of patting your child on the head and asking what they’re making, remain quiet and wait until your child stops to ask them about it. 

Play word or sound games

While riding in the car, making dinner, or going for walks, you can sing songs or play games. Songs with rhymes like down by the bay, or I Spy where you locate an object and offer the beginning sound as a clue - “I spy with my little eye, something that sounds like [l] (lamp).” If the child doesn’t know it, you can offer more and more of the word [l] [am] [p]. Playing with and marveling at words helps bring attention and importance to language for your child. 

Make reading to your child part of your daily routine

Reading to your child has a HUGE impact on your child’s ability to read, especially when it comes to word recognition and reading comprehension. Typically, someone who is considered a “genius” would know 20 unique or rare words per 1000 words. Children’s books typically have 31 unique or rare words per 1000. Just imagine the impact this could have on your child’s repertoire of words by reading to them at least once a day. 

Webster Library and Carrabassett Library have tons of children’s books to choose from and borrow for free, and here at MMCH we are always happy to share books from our personal library which is vast after so many donations through the years.