Steps for teaching a 3-8 year old to read

1. Develop basic reading skills, such as letter and sound recognition. 
2. Teach common words. 
3. Teach basic rules of grammar and syntax. 
4. Read stories aloud with the child and discuss the content. 
5. Encourage the practice of independent reading, by providing books adapted to their level. 
6. Foster reading comprehension by asking questions about stories and discussing characters, plot, etc. 
7. Provide rewards and encouragement for reading progress. 
8. Continue to develop reading skills by providing new books and encouraging practice. 

Phonological awareness, what is it? 

Phonological awareness plays a major role in learning to read and write. It is the awareness that words are composed of phonemes or sounds. In French, there are about 36 phonemes that can be arranged to form any word in the language.  The syllable: A syllable is the fusion of phonemes that naturally divide a word when it is pronounced. Ex: gazon = ga and zon  The rhyme: consists of the vowel and the phonemes that follow.  The phoneme: A phoneme is the smallest sound unit of spoken language. If we look at the letter, a phoneme corresponds to its sound. Ex: poule = the letter p corresponds to the 3 phonemes p-ou-l

At the start of kindergarten, the basics of phonemes in learning to read are compulsory in Quebec. They include: 

• Know the simple sounds of the letters of the alphabet (fundamental phonemes). 
• Understand how letters combine to form words (phoneme combinatorics). 
• Learn to decode words using the skills acquired in phoneme combinatorics. 
• Develop phonological awareness, i.e. the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of language. 
• Practice the recognition and production of sounds through fun games and exercises. 
• Understand the correspondence between letters and sounds (alphabetical correspondence). 
• Use the knowledge acquired in phonemes to understand words in their context. 

Conclusion

Learning phonemes is a key step in learning to read because it helps children understand how words are formed and decode them effectively. 

Fun facts about kids reading

Kids that read 20 minutes every day or more can learn upward of two million words annually	When children have a home library, as few as 20 books of their own at home, they achieve three more years of schooling than children who don’t have any books at home.	Reading for 6 minutes a day reduces stress by 68 %.

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