How to Get Your Child to Love Reading and Master Phonics

You’ve probably heard about phonics as one of the essential literacy skills that young children need as they learn how to read. But what does phonics practice look like, and how can you nurture your child’s phonics understanding? Operator Full Name of the City Huntington Learning Center says that effective phonics instruction helps students greatly improve their word recognition and spelling, and later, their reading comprehension and reading fluency.

The phonics method teaches children about letter-sound correspondences. Early elementary school children must understand the sounds that letters and groups of letters make when spoken to be able to move on to things like decoding and spelling.

The science of how children learn to read is quite complex, but phonics understanding is a key component. For some students, the building-block skills come easily. For others, phonics and other foundational skills are harder to grasp.

Read aloud every day. The base of literary understanding that children have going into kindergarten can greatly determine how successful they are with reading. So, read simple picture books to your child regularly, pointing to words as you say them aloud. The more familiar your child becomes with letters, words and how they sound, the more equipped they will be to start reading independently during the first couple of years of school.

Have your child perfect letter recognition. Children who struggle with phonics often mix up letters that look similar, like b, d and p, or u and n. If you spot trouble with this, create flashcards with visual cues to help your child commit all letters to memory. Keep working on it, and eventually replace the flashcards with new ones that have letters alone. If your child continues to struggle with letter recognition, it could be a sign of a learning issue like dyslexia. They may need additional support and individualized instruction to learn to read.

Review the sounds of the alphabet. Once your child has mastered the 26 letters of the alphabet, you can support the work of their teachers by helping them practice the 44 sounds of speech in the English language. These units of speech are called phonemes, but your child simply needs to understand that spoken words are made up of different sounds represented by individual letters and letter combinations. A few examples of phonemes:

• The sound in ear, steer and pier represented by ea, ee and ie

• The sound in how, pout and bough represented by ow, ou and ough

• The sound in send, head, friend, said and leapt represented by e, ea, ie, ai and ea

• The sound in jump, gel, ledge and exaggerate represented by j, g, dg and gg

Practice. Mastery of phonics and phonemes only comes with practice, which you can incorporate into your everyday routines. Point to objects around a room and have your child tell you what letter they start with and what sound that letter makes. Challenge them further by pointing to two items around the room and having your child combine the starting letters and sound it out (e.g., c for the clock on the wall + h for the hat on your head = ch). Test their phonemic awareness by having your child tell you the sounds of different words (e.g., the sounds in feather) and comparing the sounds that letters make in various uses (e.g., th sounds differently in feather than in thing, because these are two different phonemes).

The best way for them to support their young readers at home is to make reading fun. If your child is struggling with some of the basic foundational skills, they might see your attempts to practice them at home as a chore. As your child is developing their reading ability, try to treat reading and story time as special bonding activities, and not simply as homework. Try to get your child hooked on learning. Phonics instruction has a tremendous impact on helping your child develop their spelling skills, reading fluency and reading comprehension, but be gentle with your approach.

If reading is a source of difficulty for your child and your efforts at home are only causing more frustration and anxiety, Huntington can help. Call us today at 1-800 CAN LEARN to hear more about our individualized reading tutoring programs that will not only build your child’s reading skills, but also boost their motivation, confidence and overall school success.

About Huntington

Huntington Learning Center is the nation’s leading tutoring and test prep provider. We offer customized programs in person, online, and hybrid options. Our certified teachers provide individualized instruction in phonics, reading, writing, study skills, elementary and middle school math, Algebra through Calculus, Chemistry, and other sciences. It preps for the SAT and ACT, as well as state and standardized exams. Huntington’s programs develop the skills, confidence, and motivation to help students succeed and meet the needs of Common Core State Standards. Huntington is accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Founded in 1977, Huntington’s mission is to give every student the best education possible. Learn how Huntington can help at www.HuntingtonHelps.com and for franchising opportunities, visit www.HuntingtonFranchise.com.