How To Teach A Child To Read - Children Learning Reading Part 4

PART 4
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Page 2

Contents
Developing Phonemic Awareness and Learning Reading ................................... 4
How to Teach Phonics and Reading ................................................................... 8
How to Teach Your Baby to Read ..................................................................... 11
How to Teach Phonemic Awareness While Reading Bedtime Stories .............. 15
What Is Phonemic Awareness .......................................................................... 18
Page 3

Developing Phonemic Awareness and Learning Reading

As more research brings to light the advantages of phonics and
phonemic awareness instructions have over whole language teaching
methods, more parents are becoming aware of teaching using
phonics and phonemic awareness skills. Many parents today are
concerned about the method that is being used to teach their
children how to read, and rightfully so. The whole language method
is more of a method of "word memorization", where the child is
taught to look at printed words as whole configurations, much like
looking at Chinese characters.
Teaching phonemic awareness skills involves the breakdown of
words into individual sounds (phonemes), and then joining the parts
to form, or sound out the words. By contrast, whole language
learning stresses the flow and meaning of the text, where "sounding
out" words is not used, the words are decoded through its larger
context, and word memorization plays a key role. What would you
rather do, memorize hundreds or even thousands of words based on
shapes, or learn a systematic way of reading?
English is not meant to be memorized as shapes and sight objects. It
becomes very difficult to learn to read by memorizing and
recognizing shapes. Phonics and teaching phonemic awareness skills
requires you to memorize the letters and the sounds they represent,
Page 4

and with this method,children as young as two years old can learn to
read successfully, and comprehend what they are reading. Try
teaching a young child with the whole language learning method, see
how successful he or she will be at memorizing shapes. Teaching by
using phonics will routinely produce successful readers.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that phonics is clearly a
superior method of teaching children how to read. In the USA, over
30 million adults (14%) are considered functionally illiterate, and are
unable to perform simple everyday literacy activities. [1] This
however, should not be surprising since over one third of all children
cannot even achieve basic reading competency by the time they are
in grade four. This is a finding from the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP). Are these children failing at literacy
because they are dumb? I I hardly think so, but perhaps it is a result
of the poor reading instructions they receive.
It has been proven time and again, that teaching phonemic
awareness skill produces superior reading and spelling abilities than
whole language teaching methods. Thousands of studies have
confirmed this, and the National Reading Panel has also made a clear
statement about this.
While most teachers will probably say that they teach using some
phonics, the truth is that many teachers are not knowledgeable in
Page 5

the basic concepts of the English language. No, I'm not making a
random statement. In a recent study, the researchers stated: "many
in-service teachers are not knowledgeable in the basic concepts of
the English language". Their study found that even though the
teachers may be well versed in children's literature, but they do not
know how to address the basic building blocks of language and
reading. In their survey of instructors conducted, the researchers
found that the teachers performed poorly on the concepts relating
to morphemes and phonemes. In another second study, over 80% of
the interviewed instructors agreed that phonics is a desirable
method to use for beginning reading instructions. [2]
Some argue that a child will acquire a knowledge of phonics on his or
her own after learning to read using whole language methods. While
this may be true for some children, it is hardly the case for the other
children with reading difficulties. When a child is taught to read using
a whole word approach, they develop a habit of looking at all the
words by their whole configurations, and this prevents the child from
seeing the phonetic structure of the words. Real readers who learned
to read by learning phonemic awareness skills do not need clues or
cues to help them recognize shapes - they develop an automatic
ability to decode the letters and words.
Page 6

Ultimately, it is up to the parents to decide the path for which to

teach their children to read. They can either simply leave it up to the
education system, and hope that their child does not end up being
one of the 38% grade four students which do not develop even basic
reading achievement, or they can take the initiative and make the
decision to help their children develop phonemic awareness skills
early on before even starting kindergarten. Research on phonemic
awareness has shown time after time that phonemic awareness skills
predicted reading and spelling success of children in school.
Don't leave your children's reading success up to chance.
Click here to learn about a simple, step-by-step teaching method that
will catapult your child's reading abilities - a learning process so
simple, that even two year olds can learn to read
Notes:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_illiteracy
2. J Learn Disabil. 2009 Sep-Oct;42(5):392-402. Epub 2009 Jun 19.
Why elementary teachers might be inadequately prepared to teach reading.
Joshi RM, Binks E, Hougen M, Dahlgren ME, Ocker-Dean E, Smith DL.
Texas A&M University, USA.
Page 7

How to Teach Phonics and Reading

Teaching children to read by teaching phonics activities is a lot like
doing math, where you have to know what the numbers are, how to
count, and you need to learn to add and subtract before learning to
multiply and divide. Teaching phonics to children is no different
where you follow a step by step approach by first teaching the child
the alphabet letters and phonics sounds, and then teaching them the
combination of different letters to create different words, and using
words to form sentences. It is a very logical and sequential buildup of
phonics knowledge and reading ability.
Before a child can learn to read, he or she must first learn the
alphabet letters, and know the sounds represented by the letters. It's
usually easier to teach some consonants and short vowels first
before moving on to more complicated things such as consonant
digraphs (2 consonants formed to produce one sound, such as "ch"
or "ph") and long vowels. As you can see, teaching children to read
by the phonics method helps them develop phonemic awareness,
and it is also a very logical and straight forward approach.
Start off by teaching your child the phonics sounds. You can choose
to teach your child in alphabetic order going from A to Z, or you can
teach several commonly used consonant sounds and vowels, and go
from there. For example, you may start teaching your child /a/, /c/,
Page 8

and /t/ (slashes denote sound of the letters). Once your child has
learn to quickly recognize these letters and properly sound out their
sounds, you can then teach them to blend /c/, /a/, /t/ to make the
words "cat", or "tac", or "at".
As you introduce more letters and phonics sounds in your lesson
plans, you can generate more words, and slowly introduce short,
simple sentences to your reading lessons. Depending on the age of
your child, I would suggest keeping the phonics lessons relatively
short - around 5 to 10 minutes. Sometimes, just 3 to 5 minutes for a
short lesson is plenty, and you can easily teach these short phonics
lessons 2 or 3 times each day for a total of 10 to 15 minutes. Young
children tend to be forgetful, so repetition is very important.
You don't want to make the lessons too long and boring, that the
child begins to feel like doing a "chore" when learning to read. So
keep it short, fun, and interesting. By keeping the phonics lessons
short, you also avoid overwhelming the child with too much
information, and always remember to make sure your child has
mastered one lesson before moving on to new material. Confusion
and uncertainty will only make their learning effort difficult and
frustrating - so review often, move on to new material only after
they've mastered the current lessons.
Page 9

So when can you start teaching phonics sounds and lessons to

children? Not everyone will agree with me on this, but I believe that
if your child can speak, then your child can learn to read. Of course,
every child is different and unique, and some children will be more
receptive to learning reading than others. One thing for certain, is
that the earlier a child learns to read, the better.
We have taught our 2 year old daughter to read through teaching
phonics sounds and lessons, and helping her develop phonemic
awareness. If you watched the video above, that is our daughter
reading randomly created sentences. We simply started teaching
phonics sounds to her by spending 5 to 10 minutes each day, spread
between 2 to 3 separate lessons, and slowly introduced new letters
and reading material.
If you would like to learn more about the simple, effective, step-bystep method of teaching phonics and phonemic awareness, please
click below.
>> Teach your child to read today using our step-by-step, proven
method for teaching young children to read
Page 10

How to Teach Your Baby to Read

Teaching your baby to read is becoming more and more high priority
for parents now as it becomes clear that learning to read at a young
age offers numerous advantages for the child once he or she begins
school. Studies have consistently found that teaching a baby to read
and helping children develop phonemic awareness well before
entering school can significantly improve their development in
reading and spelling. However, when it comes to teaching babies to
read, there are two main teaching methods.
These two main methods of teaching a baby or child to read are the
whole language method, and the phonics and phonemic awareness
method (the phonetic approach), which should be the preferred
teaching method in helping children learn to read. Some prefer the
whole language method, while others use the phonics approach, and
there are also educator that use a mix of different approaches. With
the Look-say approach of whole language learning, a child begins
with memorizing sight words, and then taught various strategies of
figuring out the text from various clues.
The whole language method produces inaccurate and poor readers
compared to students of the phonetic approach. Using the whole
word approach, English is being taught as an ideographic language
such as Chinese. One of the biggest arguments from whole-language
Page 11

advocates is that teaching a baby to read using phonics breaks up the

words into letters and syllables, which have no actual meaning, yet
they fail to acknowledge the fact that once the child is able to
decode the word, they are able to actually READ that entire word,
pronounce it, and understand its meaning. So in practicality, it's a
very weak argument. English is an alphabetic system, and unlike
Chinese, it is not an ideograph like Chinese characters, and should
not be taught using an ideographic approach.
I always say that if your baby can speak, then you can begin to teach
your baby to read. I won't mention any names here, but I think most
parents are probably aware of one very popular "reading" program,
which is a whole word approach. Using this method, your baby
simply learns to memorize the words without actually reading the
words. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that teaching your
baby to read using the whole word approach is an effective method.
In fact, there are large numbers of studies which have consistently
stated that teaching children to reading using phonemic awareness is
a highly effective method.
Teaching phonemic awareness to children significantly improves their
reading more than instruction that lacks any attention to phonemic
awareness. - statement made by the National Reading Panel [1]
Page 12

I do think that the debate on the effectiveness of teaching a baby to

read using either the whole language or phonics method is settled by
the statements made by the National Reading Panel. They reviewed
over 1,960 different studies to make their conclusions.
In fact, while my wife was pregnant with our first child, I began doing
extensive research on the subject on how to teach my baby to read after birth, of course. Like most parents I also came across the
popular whole word teaching approach being heavily marketed.
Seeing the infomercials got me quite excited actually, seeing the
babies on TV "reading". But after trying it out, it occurred to me that
the our baby wasn't actually "reading", but actually "memorizing",
and I thought to myself, how are my children supposed to read
newer, and more complicated words as they grow older without an
appropriate method of decoding those words? This is where my long
and extensive research into phonics and phonemic awareness began.
After many hours of research and learning as much as I could, I felt
comfortable enough with our simple phonemic awareness teaching
method, that my wife and I began giving brief 3 to 5 minute lessons
to our daughter, aged 2 years and 8 months. Within just a few short
weeks, her reading ability (and I mean actual reading ability, not
memorization) was astounding, even for me as the parent who gave
the reading instructions. Friends and family alike, were simply
Page 13

flabbergasted at what our daughter was capable of reading at just 2

years and 11 months. Please watch the video above, composed of
clips of her reading randomly created sentences for reading fun.
I simply can't imagine this kind of progress possible with the whole
word approach - just think of the tens and hundreds of words a
young child would have to memorize!
Our son is fast approaching the age where he will soon be able to
speak, and we will be using the same simple step-by-step method to
teach him to read. If you'd like to learn more about our simple,
effective, step-by-step program, please signup for our newsletter
below. We also send out new articles, updates, tips, and guides on
teaching a baby to read.
Click here to learn how to easily and quickly teach your

child to read.
Notes:
1. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National
Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific
research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 004769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Page 14

How to Teach Phonemic Awareness While Reading

Bedtime Stories
Helping young children develop phonemic awareness early on is one
of the keys for children to develop exceptional reading and writing
skills once they begin attending schools. Did you know that studies
have indicated that phonemic awareness is the single best predictor
of reading success for young children once they begin school? In fact,
studies have found that phonemic awareness is far better than IQ at
predicting the reading and spelling abilities of young children.
Most people know about phonics, and what it is; however, far fewer
people know what phonemic awareness is. In short, phonemic
awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and work with the
phonemes. For example, /d/, /o/, and /g/, are the individual sounds
of the word "dog". Please note, the letters enclosed in the slashes
denotes the sound of the letter, and not the name of the letter.
Phonemes are the smallest units of individual sounds that form a
word.
Phonemic awareness is not something you're born with, and it is an
ability that's gained through repeated exposure to listening,
speaking, and reading. As parents, there are many different
strategies you can use to help your children develop phonemic
Page 15

awareness such as playing simple word segmentation or oral

blending games.
Like most parents, we (my wife and I) read bedtime stories before
we put our children to sleep, and one of the best strategies that we
like to use to teach phonemic awareness to our children, is to mix in
word segmenting and oral blending when we read bedtime stories
for our kids. This is an exceptional method, because it doesn't take
any extra time or effort, since reading bedtime stories is something
you already do. So, here's how to go about it.
Let's say that you're reading a nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill":
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Instead of reading each word straight through the rhyme, you can
randomly mix in oral blending on various words in the rhyme. Please
note: instead of using slashes "/" to denote phonemes, we'll simply
use hyphens to make it easier to read. So, let's assume that your
child is very young, perhaps 2, 3, or 4 years old, and you want to start
helping them develop some phonemic awareness. You can read Jack
and Jill like so:
Page 16

J-ack and J-ill went up the h-ill

To fetch a p-ail of water.
J-ack fell down and broke his crown
And J-ill came tumbling after.
As you can see, when you read the rhyme, you simply make an effort
to separate several of the first letters sounds from the words, such as
/J/ from "ack", and /J/ from "ill". As your child begins to grasp the
concept of individual sounds making up words, you can slowly
increase the difficulty by breaking down each word further. For
example:
Jack
J-ack
J-a-ck
Repeated exposure of this type of word segmenting and oral
blending will slowly help your child develop a sense and an
understanding that each word is made up of individual sounds - in
other words, you are teaching phonemic awareness to your children
during bedtime stories without them even knowing that they are
being taught to!
>> Teach your child to read today using a step-by-step, proven
method for teaching young children to read
Page 17

Notes:
1. Cognition. 1991 Sep;40(3):219-49. The relationship of phonemic awareness to reading acquisition:
more consequence than precondition but still important. Wimmer H, Landerl K, Linortner R,
Hummer P. University of Salzburg, Austria.
What Is Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic Awareness is defined as the ability to identify, hear, and
work with the smallest units of sound known as phonemes. It is NOT
the same as phonological awareness, instead, it is a sub-category of
phonological awareness. For example, phonemic awareness is
narrow, and deals only with phonemes and manipulating the
individual sounds of words - such as /c/, /a/, and /t/ are the
individual sounds that make up to form the word "cat". Phonological
awareness on the other hand, includes the phonemic awareness
ability, and it also includes the ability to hear, identify, and
manipulate larger units of sound such as rimes and onsets.
Phonemic awareness can be taught very early on, and will play a
critical role in helping children learn to read and spell. While it's not
set in stone on when a child can learn to read, however, I do believe
that a child that can speak is a child that can learn to read. Children
Page 18

as young as two years old can learn to read by developing phonemic

awareness, and they can learn to read fluently. Please see a video of
a 2 year old (2yr11months) reading below.
Below are several of the most common phonemic awareness skills
that are often practiced with students and young children:
Phonemic identity - being able to recognize common sounds in

different words such as /p/ is the common sound for "pat", "pick",
and "play".
Phonemic isolation - being able to recognize the individual sounds of

words such as /c/ is the beginning sound of "cat" and /t/ is the
ending sound of "cat".
Phoneme substitution - being able to change one word to another by

substituting one phoneme. For example changing the /t/ in "cat" to
/p/ now makes "cap".
Word Segmenting - the parent says the word "lap", and the child says
the individual sounds: /l/, /a/, and /p/.
Oral blending - the parent says the individual sounds such as /r/, /e/,
and /d/, and the child forms the word from the sounds to say "red".
Studies have found that phonemic awareness is the best predictor of
reading success in young children. Research has also found that
children with a high level of phonemic awareness progress with high
reading and spelling achievements; however, some children with low
Page 19

phonemic awareness experience difficulties in learning to read and

spell. Therefore, it is important for parents to help their young
children develop good phonemic awareness. [1]
Being able to oral blend and segment words helps children to read
and spell. According to the National Reading Panel, oral blending
helps children develop reading skills where printed letters are turned
into sounds which combine to form words. Additionally, word
segmenting helps children breakdown words into their individual
sounds (phonemes), and helps children learn to spell unfamiliar
words.
As a young child begins to develop and master phonemic awareness
skills, they will discover an entirely new world in print and reading.
You will open up their world to a whole new dimension of fun and
silliness. They will be able to read books that they enjoy, develop a
better understanding of the world around them through printed
materials, and have a whole lot of fun by making up new nonsense
words through phonemic substitutions.
For example, we taught our daughter to read at a young age - when
she was a little over 2 and a half years old. Before she turned three,
she would run around the house saying all types of silly words using
phonemic substitution. One of her favorite was substituting the
letter sound /d/ in "daddy" with the letter sound /n/. So, she would
Page 20

run around me in circles and repeatedly say "nanny, nanny, come do

this" or "nanny, nanny, come play with me" etc... Of course, she only
did this when she wanted to be silly and to make me laugh, at other
times, she would of course properly refer to me as "daddy", and not
"nanny". She is well aware of the differences between these words
and is fully capable of using phonemic substitution to change any of
the letters in the words to make other words.
Click here to learn how to easily and quickly teach

your child to read.
Notes:
1. Cognition. 1991 Sep;40(3):219-49. The relationship of phonemic awareness to reading acquisition:
more consequence than precondition but still important. Wimmer H, Landerl K, Linortner R,
Hummer P. University of Salzburg, Austria.
Page 21

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Developing Phonemic Awareness and Learning Reading

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Ultimately, it is up to the parents to decide the path for which to

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How to Teach Phonics and Reading

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So when can you start teaching phonics sounds and lessons to

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Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

How to Teach Your Baby to Read

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advocates is that teaching a baby to read using phonics breaks up the

Visit http://www.howtoteachachildtoread.net/ for more tips!

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

I do think that the debate on the effectiveness of teaching a baby to

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

flabbergasted at what our daughter was capable of reading at just 2

Click here to learn how to easily and quickly teach your

Visit http://www.howtoteachachildtoread.net/ for more tips!

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

How to Teach Phonemic Awareness While Reading

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

awareness such as playing simple word segmentation or oral

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

J-ack and J-ill went up the h-ill

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

What Is Phonemic Awareness

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

as young as two years old can learn to read by developing phonemic

Phonemic identity - being able to recognize common sounds in

Phonemic isolation - being able to recognize the individual sounds of

Phoneme substitution - being able to change one word to another by

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

phonemic awareness experience difficulties in learning to read and

Discover the simple tricks to teach your child to read here:

run around me in circles and repeatedly say "nanny, nanny, come do

Click here to learn how to easily and quickly teach

Visit http://www.howtoteachachildtoread.net/ for more tips!

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