One of the biggest emphasis in kindergarten these days is learning to read. When I went, we did not start that until first grade, but those days are long gone. The great news is that many children are ready to learn reading at this age, and that means they have great success with the fundamentals they need. However, some children, especially those that have just turned five when they start school, are going to have some problems keeping up. This means parents may have to help.
Learning to read is something that most children take great pride in, especially if their parents have read to them all of their lives. They want to do what mom and dad do, and that means they want to understand the words that have been read to them for so long. Learning to read is often just like anything else to a child. They see everyone else doing it, and they want to do it as well. Those with struggles are going to be upset that they can't seem to keep up, and they may become frustrated. Parents that feel they have no teaching skills can become frustrated as well.
There are some great programs that parents and schools alike can use to help with learning to read. One of the most popular and longest lasting is Hooked on Phonics. I remember using these in school when I was learning advanced words, and I ended up being a very good reader. I still read as much as I can to this day. This program is something that introduces sounds and sound combinations, and then the application of those things to words with a very good system. It works, and it works well.
Before children are learning to read, there are things parents can do to give them a head start. Most think of Dr. Seuss as a fun type of book to read, and they are certainly that. However, there is a method to the madness. The rhyming in those books lays the foundation for good reading and learning skills in the future. Because reading is based so much on sounds, these books are great. I can't really explain this, as I am not a teacher, but these are always recommended. This is also way may other children's books are set up in the same manner. It all helps to make learning to read much easier in the future.
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