When you are teaching your children to read you need to have fun with phonics

Teaching reading is not easy and it takes time and commitment so having some fun with phonics will help. There are many ways to have fun with phonics. Ranging from games on the computer to board games and

cards. My favorite is playing around with Montessori sandpaper letters as kids seem to love the feel of the sandpaper as they trace the words.

For free online games I go to starfall.com as they have a very good selection but you have to play around on the site to find the games your child will like. Another site that has a lot of free stuff is Genkienglish. This site is from a school in Japan and it’s in English. Some of the phonics games and songs are very simple but I think they are very effective.

Teaching your child to read with phonics will take time so the more fun you can have with your child will make it easier. With modern technology you can buy a phonics program and after you have shown your child how to use the program, you can let your child go it alone. For busy working parents this situation is ideal but if you homeschooling and want to spend time with your children you could try out the sandpaper letters.

The Montessori method has been teaching kids for a hundred years, it might be old fashioned but it’s effective. And you, the parent, have to get involved with teaching reading as you have to make up the words and phonic sounds with the sandpaper letters. Also when your children trace the letters you have to show them the correct way to write the letters.

For more information about a Montessori teaching reading course and other computer based phonics courses see our teach reading page.