How to teach reading

[allycat06]

Hi Artechim
before having DS I worked as a private tutor on the side whilst at uni, at one point specialising in pre school and young primary school children. It is perfectly fine to encourage them to read before starting school...a few of the pre schoolers I worked with were excellent readers. As long as they are willing and eager to learn (which it sounds like he his) it will be a fun experience for both of you

The first step is learning all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds which you have done, next start combining two letters in common sequences. Start for example with Ba, Ca, Da, Ea, Fa etc once he's mastered them move onto B and so on. With each combination use a word example lika Ba- ball, Ca- Cat so he can understand the context. Visual aids are always great, you could find some flashcards at and educational bookshop perhaps?

As well as reading to him lots, find a few really simple books and a get him to repeat after you, pointing to each word as you go. As for the pen...as JungleMum said, invest in a triangle pencil, they're great. Encourage him how to hold the pencil properley but at that age it isn't a big deal if he can't. Dot to dots and tracing lines are a great way to encourage dexterity and writing skills.

Hope that's helpful if you have anymore questions let me know. It is most definitely not just up to teachers to teach reading and writing. If you ask me it a first and foremost a parents job to encourage and nuture these skills. So good on you for taking an interest

ETA: saw that someone mentioned Cat in a Hat...Dr Suess books are a great learning tool as all the rhyming is a great way to teach phonetics.