Page 12 - teachYourChildToRead

12 Teach your child to read

the sounds. Children particularly enjoy sounds that are associated with
an action. For example if it is an animal book and there is a picture of a
tiger, say the sound “raaaa” while moving your hand in a clawing action.
If your child repeatedly hears the sound together with the action they
will begin to repeat the sound and imitate the action. This is their first
attempt to imitate reading.

Promoting physical skills

Bare feet

One to two year old children are still learning how to manipulate their
body in space. It is important to provide opportunities for young children
to move in their environment with bare feet. Children’s feet are different
to adults; they have a layer of padding on the bottom making the foot
flatter, they also have less nerve endings making it less likely that they
feel the cold.

Walking with bare feet allows children to develop stronger and more co-
ordinated foot muscles promoting skeletal alignment and joint mobility.
Some podiatrists go as far to say that shoes are not necessary for healthy
feet.

TIP: Allow time every day for your child to move through their
environment with bare feet, it not only allows them to build
stronger muscles in the feet, it further enhances balance.

Co-ordinated movement
Physical co-ordinated movement of the hands and feet builds brain
development necessary for later reading skills. There are many simple
activities to promote physical co-ordination and balance in one to two
year old children. These include kicking a ball along the ground as they
are walking, pushing and pulling large objects such as boxes around the
floor and learning to walk up and down small steps.