An important part of pre-reading skills is learning the sounds letters, and then words make. There are many different ways to playfully prepare preschoolers for sounding out letters.

One important thing to keep in mind as you go through this process is the link between sounding out letters and speech. It is perfectly normal for a three-year-old to confuse the sounds of /r/, /l/ and /w/. You might hear him say something like, “I wewwy want it.” This is a common stage for children to go through as they are learning to talk. These letters require some rather sophisticated muscle development in the mouth and are usually the last letters your child will say correctly.

One way to help him is to repeat the word correctly as a question: “You really want it?” As time goes by, he will learn to correct himself and say the letters correctly. He might still confuse the sounds when he is tired, but learning anything is a process. If, however, your child is still unable to say /r/ or /l/ correctly by his fifth birthday, it is usually worthwhile to have a discussion about it with your pediatrician.

Three-Year-Old Children

This is a watershed year for your child’s ability to communicate. When she says “no!” she isn’t just trying to make your day more difficult. She is exercising her newfound understanding that words have power. You can help her add the importance of the written word with these activities.

Read Daily:

Set aside some time every day to read at a one book with your child when she is wide-awake. Bedtime stories are great, but if the only time he hears a book is when he is too tired to pay attention, it doesn’t teach him much. Place your finger under each word as you read it. As time goes on your child will learn that words are read from right to left, and from top to bottom.

Play with Letters:

Make sure that your child has different letter toys available. These might be letter blocks, letter magnets or foam letters in the bathtub. As you play with them, ask the child what the letter is called. Helping to identify the letters young is an important basis for reading skills. Then tell the child what sounds each letter makes. Don’t try to do the entire alphabet every day. Just work with a few letters at a time. Continue until your child loses interest. At three, it can be hard to focus on one thing for very long.

Four-Year-Old Children

At four, your child is adding to vocabulary and much more interested in how things fit together. She is starting to notice that marks on paper are important and may scribble on paper and ask you to read it. Try asking your child to “read” her letter to you so that she can explore the power of the written word.

Daily Reading:

As before, it is vital to read to your child daily. But as she is maturing, try asking her questions about the book as you read. For example, you might ask your child how she thinks a character feels on a particular page. You can also try to put your child in charge of turning the page for you, this teaches her that books are read from right to left. Point out common or repeated words such as “the,” or the name of the character.

Looking for Letters:

As you go about your day, encourage your child to find letters all around him. Look for common signs such as “Stop” or “Yield.” Since many companies incorporate the first letter of their business in their logo, this can be a great “teachable moment.” When your child sees those golden arches, ask him what sound the letter “m” makes. At this point, don’t worry about short and long vowels, just help your child learn to associate the letter sound with the letter shape.

Letter Games:

This is a great age to start introducing letter games into your child’s play. You can write letters on the sidewalk or driveway in chalk and then ask the child to run to a specific letter. When announcing the letter, say both the letter and the sound, for example you might say: “find the letter S,” and make its signature hissing sound. Start with a few letters at a time and add letters until you have the entire alphabet. Another game is to write letters on 3 x 5 cards. Make sure that you have two copies of each letter and then play memory with the cards. When your child makes a letter match, begin by telling your child what sound the letter makes. As she gets faster at making matches, ask her to tell you what sound each letter makes as she turns them over.

Five-Year-Old Children

By now your child is adept at making himself understood verbally, so it is time to help him see the importance of the written word. In addition to the earlier activities and games, he is ready to work on reading specific skills. For example, as you read to your child ask him to follow along with his finger, cementing the skill of reading left to right. This is also a good time to ask him to predict what might happen next in a new story.

Keys to Reading:

Cut small squares of cardstock and write both upper and lower case letters on them. Punch a hole through one corner of each card and thread them onto a hinged binder ring. Keep the ring with you so that you can hand it to your child when you are in an area that might seem boring to the child. Encourage her to say the letter sounds as she flips the letters along the ring. After she has mastered the letter sounds, remove the letters from the ring. Place two or three letters together to form simple words such as “cat,” “dog” or “it.” As your child makes the letter sound, help her to see that these sounds together make words. Encourage her to make more words. If she makes nonsense words, don’t worry about it, just ask her how she would say them.

Sounding Out:

As your child goes from one sound success to another, introduce short stories with simple sounds. Many libraries have simple books, or you can look for short stories online. Ask your child to sound out these simple, repetitive words to read you the story.

Don’t worry if your child struggles, especially at the beginning. A good rule of thumb is the “three second rule.” If your child stops trying for three seconds, go ahead and give him the correct word. If you have read the word earlier in the story, try pointing that out, reminding your child that he has read it successfully once.

Working with your child just a few minutes a day can give him a real advantage when he starts school. Make reading readiness a part of your child’s life and you will help him create a life-long love of reading.

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