Phonics tips

Phonics tips can helpful in completing phonics instruction of a child so that he or she becomes a strong lifelong reader. Tips include:

• have the child read nearly every day (or 6 days a week), even if it is only for short periods and sometimes duplicative material.
• establishing incentives and rewards for reading, such as games, trips, or food treats, can help achieve the goals.
• reading to the child is worthless, and can even be counterproductive as it fosters dependency rather than independence.
• set a daily word-count goal, such as an average of 600 words per day (later increase to 1000), and measure the progress throughout the day.
• posting daily totals on an often-viewed place like the front of the refrigerator can help immensely.
• other skills such as math can be learned from reading exercises, such as estimating how many words were read each day.
• set goals, such as reading the entire Gospel of Mark by age 6; without clear goals less is achieved.
• drills with multi-syllable words are essential to becoming a very good reader.
• poems that have rhyming words are very helpful to teaching phonics.
• for kids who play a lot video games such as Minecraft, interrupt the game occasionally for some reading even for merely a brief time.
• the goal should be to begin teaching the child how to read (with big print - Century Schoolbook font 28 is recommended) by age 5, such that he can fully read by age 6. Starting reaching instruction earlier is fine unless it is too difficult for the child.
• use real reading passages that interest the child
• if the child likes numbers, then incorporate into the lessons concepts like the number of syllables in a phonetic word
• earlier in the day for instruction could be better than later in the day, when the child is tired
• set a goal such as the child reading Mark Chapter 1 by the age of 6, and begin reading instruction by age 5 to reach that goal
• encourage the child to read faster by using a stopwatch to see how quickly he can read a page, and encourage him to break his own records.