Does your 3-year old say STOP when she see’s a red traffic light? Does she “read” symbols that she see everyday? Well, your preschooler is on the right track! She’s a pre-reader.
A Pre-reader is usually a preschooler or a kinder. They began to recognize letters as symbols and thus “read” them. This is the perfect time to teach her the proper way of reading which is recognizing the sounds of each letters. Never mind that she can’t correctly identify all the alphabet, remember that you’re teaching her sounds and not letters. Rhyming words will be very helpful and effective at this stage.
What I do with Peaches to enhance her being a pre-reader are very simple “reading” exercises such as:
1. asking her what does the traffic light means
2. looking for the letters of her name on the street
3. asking her what the signs mean (even if it was her first time to see it- perfect time to teach her what it is!)
4. rhyme words that she use like ham to sam or cat to pat.
5. read her favorite stories and then ask her to read it back to me. On our story time, I test her by asking random questions about the story. It can also help her build words and reason.
Experts say that reading pattern story books is best at this age. I have yet to buy Peaches one but I will surely do. Reading an hour a day until they turn 6 will help encourage our kids’ love for reading.
