All children develop at varying rates. Usually, during their first year of primary school, they will start to learn basic numeracy and literacy skills. When I say basic. I mean they will learn how letters sound when you say them. This is when they will start to notice that these letters are all around them and they may even point them out to you.
As they start to gather their knowledge of letters, such as what they sound and look like. They will then begin to sound out words to find out what words contain which letters. Whilst they are doing this with the school, it would be very good to reinforce it at home or when you’re out and about.
How to teach your child to read?
You could help them by sounding out simple words to show them what letters are inside. This is when they are around four years old, and you should know that it may take until they are around one year older until they will be able to read basic books. The school does usually takes care of their reading abilities and the curriculum will start them off on low-level books and will increase the difficulty slowly throughout the school years.
If your child seemed to struggle when reading and you have concerns about their development. You should speak to the teacher and they will let you know what they think. Your child may have a form of dyslexia. This condition can make your child feel frustrated, and lost when trying to read or write.
In adulthood, some words are very difficult to read due to their complexity. Even as a writer there are some words that I struggle to spell, read or understand. But reading for your child is a great skill and with this ability, they will be able to gain a lot of knowledge from books. If you need some inspiration check out our book recommendations!
Reading for children is extremely important and reading has many benefits to your child. It has been proven to be good for the brain, improve concentration, vocabulary, language skills, imagination and many more.
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