First of all, I’d like to say that it is important to remember that every human being is different in his or her own way, and that there is no be-all end-all method for teaching every child out there how to read perfectly. You will need to customize your approach to the whole thing in order to really make it worthwhile.

Nevertheless, despite us all being different, we still tend to share certain similarities on the basis of being part of the same species, and there are certain facts that apply to virtually every child who is learning how to read, and knowing about them will help you make the most of your time and exercises. Without further ado, here is a look at four factors you should know about reading.

1. It is a Complex Process

Even though it doesn’t seem like much to you, it is important to understand that for a little child, learning how to read is an extremely complicated process that requires them to develop a large number of skills at the same time. As Marilyn Adams stated in 1990 (and I’m paraphrasing), the whole process of teaching how to read is comparable to the operation of a car.

To expand on that, your children will be learning how to build words and sentences (building the car), they will learn how to expand on their basic skills and fix their own mistakes on the way (maintaining the car), and finally, they will have to learn to use all of their skills in the real world (driving the car). You can’t expect your child to be making tremendous progress after a few hours, so take it slow if necessary and above all, be patient.

2. Take the Achievement Gap Into Account

Whether we like to believe it or not, there is an achievement gap in our schools, and as the reading materials become more complicated, that gap becomes more prominent. It was established that whether or not kids fall behind mainly rests on the type of education they have received at home from their parents. In other words, to motive yourself and your child, it is important to understand that not taking the time to really learn how to read will inevitably lead to real trouble in school, and consequently, later in life.

3. There Has to be an Intervention on Your Part

Studies have shown that most children whose parents do not help them to learn how to read after the first grade have a very tough time catching up with the program. It is estimated that around 75% of students who are poor readers at the third-grade level will end up so in high school as well. In other words, it is your job as a parent to work with your child and help them lay a strong foundation to help them stay afloat in the years to come.

4. Learning How to Read is Very Closely Related to Talking and Listening

Reading is only one-third of what I like to refer to as the linguistic package. The other two components are talking and listening, and as it happens, they are all interrelated, in the sense that developing one helps you develop the others. As such, it is important to remember to not only concentrate on reading, but also on verbal and listening exercises. While it may seem like you are doing this for the purpose of communication, down the line, improving all of your child’s linguistic skills will help them become a better reader in the future.
 
 
 

If you are reading this, then I’m going to assume that you have been taught how to read from a young age.

If you look back on the way you were taught, chances are that you’ll recall more lectures and boring exercises more than anything else. In the last few years though people have started to take a somewhat different approach to early education, preferring to use educational games rather than traditional exercises. This tendency isn’t without cause; many studies have demonstrated that humans, children especially, learn better through engaging activities, especially if they are presented in the form of a game.

While some games may focus more on the educational aspect of things, others prefer to concentrate more on the “fun” aspect; Zingo is a game that manages to walk the fine line between both, being equally engaging and educational for children.

How Zingo is Played

Before looking into the game itself, I would like to warn you that it does contain small parts which represent a choking hazard, meaning it shouldn’t be used by children of less than 3 years of age.

In any case, Zingo basically has 3 elements: boards, tiles and the zinger. Each player (the game can have up to 8 people playing) gets his or her own board consisting of 9 tiles. At every round, a player presses the zinger, a plastic box, which then spits out two “mystery” tiles.

The goal of the game is to match the mystery tiles to your board, and to claim a tile a player simply has to call it orally. The player who fills his or her board the fastest wins the game.There is a total of 72 different picture tiles and 8 boards.

The boards actually have two sides: yellow for children who don’t really know how to read yet, and the red side is for the older ones who have already developed some skills. Each tile has a duplicate, giving everyone two chances to get what they need. Needless to say, there are many possible board-and-tile combinations to go through, ensuring that every game stays fresh and new.

What’s So Great About Zingo

So what’s there to write home about here? Well, for starters Zingo is capable of keeping children distracted better than any television set… and I’m not joking.

Kids love to move fast, be loud and compete with each other, and that’s precisely what the game offers them; they are up against each other to see who can finish their board the fastest and they need to use their voice to claim the tiles.

In turn, this means that their brain is constantly at work, trying to match the mystery tiles to what they see on their boards… which actually brings us to the next point: how Zingo fares from an educational perspective.

What Zingo Teaches Children

So what does this game teach them exactly? Well, for starters it teaches them to matching as they need to find the tiles corresponding to the ones on the board. It teaches them words recognition as each tile is a labeled image of something simple. Seeing as how they need to remember what is located where on their boards, Zingo also helps children to improve their memory as well as their concentration.

Last, but definitely not least, Zingo is a social game which makes children interact with one another, teaching them the ropes of social interaction (such as patience, respect and sportsmanship), something they are definitely going to benefit from in the future.

As you can guess, this game wasn’t only designed for readers… as a matter of fact, it was designed as a tool parents could use to help their children start learning about reading. Mainly, it is going to help them learn how some basic words are spelt, and it will even improve their vocabulary repertoire.
 

What the People Have to Say About Zingo

So what do those who have tried Zingo have to say about it? Well, as is usual for me in these situations, I like to go on Amazon and see what the people who have reviewed the product have to say.

At the time this is being written, Zingo has received 290 reviews and garnered an average rating of 4.8 stars out of 5. Only 2 people have given it one star, with one of them complaining that the game isn’t really suitable for eight year-olds, but that’s Amazon’s fault seeing as how their description doesn’t exactly match the one on the box. Another person complained of receiving the game in Russian, which made it difficult to play… but that can be chalked up as a shipping error.

In other words, pretty much everyone is ecstatic with Zingo, having nothing bad to say about it.To purchase this game (or learn more about it), you can go to the one of the following links below.

About Teaching Early Reading

Many people believe that every child should learn how to read at a specific age, expecting him or her to have acquired certain skills during a certain amount of time. However, most of these parents do not take into account something; we are all unique, having a different method and pace when it comes to learning anything. While some kids may still be unable to read after the first grade, there are preschoolers who are ready to make the jump.

In any case, the point which I am getting at is that there is no specific demarcation as to when you should start teaching your child how to read; it is up to you to take the initiative and start the learning process.

Naturally, teaching your child to read may be a bit of an overwhelming task because after all, most of us aren’t fit to be teachers. Fortunately, there are numerous guides which have been written by renowned experts on the subject, and in my opinion one of the most impressive ones is titled Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and it was written by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox and Elaine Bruner; here is a look at what the book has to offer.

A General Overview of the Book

To start things off, let’s have a look at what the book has to say for itself, or its sales pitch if you will. Well, the book is basically a home version of the SRAs DISTAR® program, which is only the most successful beginning reading program used in countless schools across the entire country. This version of the book was made for parents who want to spend one-on-one time with their children, just teaching them how to read.

The book, as the title suggests, is divided into 100 different lessons, and you will only need to go through one lesson per day, each one lasting roughly around 20 to 30 minutes. If each lesson is completed successfully within the recommended time frame, by the end of the program your child will allegedly have the reading capabilities of a second-grader. The book itself is all you need; there are no flash cards or unnecessarily complex instructions… just your child, you, and the book.

Are These 100 Easy Lessons Actually Effective?

Well, the lessons have been arranged by difficulty and complexity, starting with extremely basic concepts such as sounding out letters and ending with relatively complex readings. Each lesson contains a concept which is to be applied through a few tasks.

This book was meant for kids who don’t know how to read yet, so if your child is already a capable reader he or she may not gain much from this. If however your child is just starting his or her journey into the fantastic world of reading, the lessons provided within will be extremely helpful in building a solid base of knowledge.

As for the book itself, you should keep in mind that it starts off kind of slowly and may seem a bit too easy and boring. However, I strongly recommend that you stick with the instructions; some tasks may seem to be pointless, such as sounding simple words out slowly, but in the end their purpose will become clear.

As a parent, you will also have access to scripts if you don’t exactly know how to go about teaching a certain subject. Also, instead of being presented separately the lessons actually connect with each other and sort of form a chain which holds from the first lesson to the last one. All in all, the approach to teaching is extremely balanced in this book and will help your child to build a very solid foundation for reading without boring or overworking them.

What the People Have to Say

Naturally, when looking at such products it is always important to know what those who have tried it have to say and if there are any outstanding complaints. Let’s have a look at the Amazon reviews: out of 750, 586 gave 5 stars, 81 gave 4 stars, 38 gave 3 stars, 24 gave 2 stars and 21 gave it 1 star. In other words, 89% of the people who reviewed the book gave it 4 or 5 stars, without any outstanding complaints.

Those who did complain about the book noted that the lessons aren’t advanced enough for their bright children(again, the book wasn’t intended for those who already know how to read), or that the teaching method in the book did not suit their child well. As I mentioned in the introduction, everyone requires a different approach to learning so the book is bound do displease some people, and in this case it is a tiny minority.

All in all, the book left most people satisfied, and if your child doesn’t know how to read yet and you would like to kick-start the process, then I recommend that you give this book a shot.

After looking around, I found that the best place to get the book would be from Amazon, where you can get it at a 43% discount for only $12.57.