Page 26 - teachYourChildToRead

26 Teach your child to read

Offering shorter, two to three minute guided learning activities each
day is also better than trying to get your child to concentrate for longer
sessions. Play matching for only a short period of time, be guided by your
child as their concentration span will vary on a day to day basis.

While playing simple games may appear to be an indirect approach to
teaching reading, it is the best way to begin and also to ensure children
enjoy the experience and want to participate.

Expand on the matching game

Matching more pictures
When children can reliably place the two identical pictures together, we
increase the number of pictures. Introduce two more pictures and play
with four pictures using the same strategy, placing the same pictures
together.

Photographs of family members or friends are great pictures to match.
Children really get pleasure from matching pictures of themselves and
people they know well. They will also enjoy helping you take the photos,
printing and constructing the matching cards.

Remember to encourage your child by positively labelling their
behaviour, for example “you are doing really well today, you’re matching
all the pictures very quickly”.

Activity - Posting boxes
Use a shoe box (or something similar); cut a slit in the lid big
enough to place the pictures through. Have two sets of each
picture, one for yourself and one for your child. Show them
one of your pictures and ask them to find and post the same
picture. Children seem to really enjoy the process of putting
the card into the box.

When your child can reliably match four pictures, move onto eight
smaller pictures and then to sixteen. Ensure that the pictures look
quite different from each other and regularly reinforce the learning by
commenting on successes.