Before you begin to teach reading you should upgrade your teaching reading skills

Your teaching reading skills should include phonics as phonics are a great help to students who are struggling with reading. A number of educators will swear that phonics are the way to go when teaching reading. And

there are also the educators who swear the whole language method is the best.

I have found that children who have problems reading usually always respond to phonics.

With phonics the students have a map to follow as they learn to decode the words. Then they have to learn what the words mean. So it is a two step process. You will actually see students who can read very well, but you soon realize that they do not understand what they are saying.

That is another teaching reading skill that you have to be aware of.

I also read aloud as often as possible as that is very helpful. When reading aloud always follow the words with your finger or a pencil so your child knows which sound goes with what word. Now back to phonics. I like the Montessori method of teaching reading as she uses sandpaper letters and these help plant the words in the child’s mind. Also she is a great believer in phonics.

Phonics are not a problem to learn as we use them everyday when we speak. They are just the visual representation of the sounds we make when we speak. So once your child knows the code to the sounds it is only a short hop to reading fluency.

When you are upgrading your teaching reading skills make sure you add phonics to your arsenal of teaching skills as they do make a difference.

For more information about phonics courses I recommend including a Montessori course see our Teach Reading page.