Teaching Reading And Writing The Developmental Approach

Teaching Reading to Preschoolers

Reading to preschoolers is one of the joys of parenting, isn't it? The great news is that it is also one of the best ways to prepare your PreK student for taking those first steps to reading for him or herself. The process of learning to read involves many steps, but sharing the love of books with your child is a great start.

According to the Reading Skills Pyramid, a visual depiction of the process children go through when learning to read, the first pre-reading stage involves understanding print concepts. That means that your preschooler needs to make the connection between letters and sounds and that those letters and sounds create meaning.

To help build print concepts with your preschooler, you can draw attention to letters and words, label objects around your house and in your preschooler's bedroom, bring home toys that focus on letter recognition, watch educational programs that focus on letter and number mastery (Sesame Street, for example), and help them practice tracing letters. Once your child has started to grow an awareness of print, the first step toward reading for preschool, he or she may be ready for more formal reading instruction.

A PreK Reading Curriculum for Home Use

When you need or want a formal reading curriculum, Time4Learning's online preschool program is an excellent option. It includes guided reading, reading worksheets, language arts games, and many other creative methods that make learning to read fun for your preschooler.

Within the curriculum will be opportunities for your early reader to:

create his or her own stories
practice spelling their name
play games that reinforce letter recognition
match rhyming words using visual and audio prompts
match syllables with beats
and so much more!

Your preschooler will be talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing — all five of the components of a strong preschool reading curriculum! If your child is able to use a computer mouse and follow simple directions such as "choose" and "match" then they are ready to build early literacy skills with Time4Learning!

View the full list of lesson plans for our homeschool preschool curriculum.

Additional Resources Related to Preschool Reading

If you're interested in the preschool reading program, you may also wish to explore these related topics:

Preschool Curriculum Overview
Preschool Lesson Plans
Phonemic Awareness – Pre-Reading Skills
Preschool Spelling Word Lists
The Reading Skills Pyramid
Our Lesson Planning Worksheets can help you estimate the number of lessons to have your child do each day

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