How to Teach My Child to Read

Discover Learning Strengths

The first step in teaching your child to read is discovering their learning style and ensuring that you and they understand their learning strengths. Children who have struggled with reading will need to regain belief in themselves and their abilities.

For learners with a strong left hemisphere profile, traditional teaching methods will likely lead to success. However, for learners with a right hemisphere profile, a multi-sensory teaching approach is proven to be the most effective.

They need to understand from the beginning that reading isn’t a mechanical processing of symbols, nor is it sounding out words. Reading is a process that makes for mental pictures as the story unfolds. Important elements of a multi-sensory approach:

Incorporate images, stories, auditory sensations, body movement, and hands-on activities.
Start with as few details as possible, allowing children to start reading after learning only a few sounds and sight words. This helps children understand “what” reading is, leading to motivation and engagement.
Teach from whole to part. Start with the big picture first so your child can understand the “why” and “how” of the individual parts.
Utilize pattern discovery for spelling and word structure rather than memorization of rules.
Include visualization techniques to foster reading comprehension.
Have your child read out loud, with or without an auditory amplification device, to access their auditory pathway.

Depending on your child’s learning style, some of these elements will be more beneficial than others; allow your child to lean into the ones that work for them.

Learn More

To learn more about the specifics involved in teaching a child to read, or if you're looking for resources and solutions, check out the resources below.