Wondering How to Teach Your Child to Read with Phonics? 3 Things You Need to Know.

Are you wondering how to teach your child to read with phonics? Perhaps you've heard phonics is the best way to teach your child to read, but you're not quite sure how to do it. When you hear words like 'phonemic awareness,' 'diphthong,' and 'short/long vowel,' it can feel pretty overwhelming.

The good news is, you don't need to be an expert in phonics to actually teach it. In fact, if you are reading this paragraph, you are a phonetic reader, whether you learned to read with phonics or not. Teaching what you already know isn't too difficult, as long as you have an easy program to guide you through the process. But before you learn how to teach your child to read with phonics, take note of the following 3 things that are critical for your success.
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How to Teach Your Child to Read with Phonics: 3 Key Things to Know

1) Phonics takes a linear, systematic approach to teaching reading.
One reason phonics is so easy to teach is that it starts at the very beginning with the sounds of the letters and builds from there. Once you've taught your child the sounds, he or she will be able to combine those sounds to build words—pretty quickly. Phonics uses a systematic approach to teaching the code of the English language, and for most children, it doesn't take too long to decipher how the code works. Rather than having to intuitively figure out what to do next, you will find that teaching your child to read is an easy, step-by-step process if you use a phonics-based approach.

2) Correct pronunciation of the sounds is critical.
Most people don't know the individual sounds of the letters and blends—or how to pronounce them. This isn't unusual, since once you've learned to read, you don't need to know how to pronounce the sounds anymore. But correct pronunciation is key to the success of teaching your child to read with phonics, so if you don't feel confident you know how to pronounce the sounds, be sure to choose a program with an audio component.

3) Repetition is key.
Perhaps the biggest resistance to using a systematic, phonics-based approach is the fear that children may become bored. Truth be told, they might. Learning the code requires a lot of repetition, especially at the beginning. For this reason, it's critical to keep your lessons REALLY short. (In the beginning lessons in Teach Your Child to Read™ we keep the lessons to about two minutes per day—or less. And we never let a lesson go over 5 minutes.) By teaching your child to read in tiny micro-lessons, you can do your day's session on-the-go, at dinner, or while brushing hair. That way, your child won't resist your lessons, and you'll always be able to find a minute or two during the day to keep the learning going. 

Whatever method you choose, you are wise to use a phonics-based approach. Lessons will be simpler for you to follow, easier for your child to learn, and the process will go a lot faster. Give it a try!
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