Teaching Reading Early

Many of the blogs and social networks that I read and/or participate in online center around Down syndrome or Autism due to my own interests. Whether children are typical or have differing abiliites, it is important to teach reading as early as possible.

Here are some important points to keep in mind with regards to teaching reading:

1. If a child can learn sign language, they are ready to read! A sign is simply a visual representation of a word - which is exactly what reading using the whole-word approach is.
2. Just because a child is not ready to speak does not mean they are not ready to read. Remember that input and output are two different processes!
3. Teaching reading early increases brainpower!
4. Teaching reading increases your child's ability to communicate.
5. Teaching reading can teach talking and/or improve speech and language development. (Speech Pathologists and Therapists tend to love eReadingPro!)
6. Teaching reading is an important intervention for helping children overcome learning difficulties.
7. You can easily begin teaching children to read at 2 years of age.

It is so important for parents to understand that teaching reading can be easier than they may otherwise think. My next blog will provide pointers on how to teach reading - for ALL ages!