primary phonics

When you start to teach your child to read it is better if you start with a primary phonics set of books

With primary phonics when children start to look at words they don’t understand that words are the written way we speak. When it becomes clear to the child that the words are what we speak, that is usually when your child wants to start to

For your child to get to this crucial stage you have to read regularly to your child, like every night. 

Reading aloud to your child also increases vocabulary, and the number of words your child can speak also increases. And since reading is all about language development, the more words your child can speak, the more she can understand when you are reading. 

There is some debate over what is the best age to start reading. Since I use the Montessori method of teaching reading I follow her recommendation and that is too start when the child wants to start. In the Montessori classroom this is easy to do as the children are grouped somewhere between 3 to 6 years old. And the younger ones watch the older ones and when they see the older children reading they want to try. 

But at home with your child you have to decide and the best way is when your child starts to look at the books by himself. You will need primary phonics books and the books I like are the Scholastic Phonics Readers Sets 1 and 2.. They are very easy to read and they have good illustrations. Because they are easy to read, children love them and you will find that your child can read the whole book in a very short time.           

I use this course for teaching phonics, it uses the Maria Montessori method of teaching reading and writing, and I recommend it to anyone who is teaching reading. For other phonics products I recommend see our teach reading page.