So what can a dad do who wants to help his kids learn to read and to keep reading all their lives. What I have discovered through my own experience and in researching this issue is that there are as many creative ideas as there are fathers.
Pre-School Stage
When you have a preschooler at home, you have an opportunity unique in that child’s life to help them learn to read with the right attitude. The foundation you set at this stage of life will determine in large measure their attitudes toward reading and learning.
Read With Them. One of the most important things you can do is to sit down and read with your preschooler. Your example as a reader means a lot to your children. When they see you read, and when they can sit in your lap and listen as you read something at their level of understanding, they will learn that it is cool to read. And it is great snuggling and bonding time too.
Move it Along. Your finger, I mean. Early childhood development experts suggest that as you read with the kids, especially once they are three or four, you should slide your index finger under the words as you read. Your children will start to see patterns as you read putting some focus for them on the written words.
A New Alphabet Song. One of things that worked well in our house was recrafting the “Alphabet Song.” You know: ABCDEFG--HIJKLMNOP. Saying the names of the letters in a song is good, but using the phonetic sounds really helped our children learn to “sound out” words. So our song goes “Ah, Buh, Cuh, Duh, Ehh, Fuh, Guh…” And it made it kind of fun when the kids did go to school and had a different way of singing the song in Kindergarten.
Go to the Library. One of the great legacies of American culture is the public library. Take a field trip to the library with your kids occasionally. Many public libraries often “story time” where you can sit with your kids and listen to a story. Let them pick out some books from the juvenile library shelves to take home and read together. Don’t neglect this important resource for your preschooler.
