Pay attention to every book, toy, or flashcard that is used to teach children how to read. What you’ll notice is that the focus is usually on the first letter of the word right next to the image that represents that word. For instance, the letter “A” next to an Apple or an Alligator. On occasion, they’d include the full word, but in such a small font, that it becomes easily dismissible by the child. The child is very likely focusing solely on the drawing/image, instead of the word. Even though, the word is supposed to be the very thing we are hoping they learn to read.
If you want your child to learn to read, you need to focus their attention on the actual words and give them meaning without having their focus drift away to the pretty pictures. You want your child to look at a word and immediately derive meaning from it, almost as if the word was speaking to them.
What do I mean by speaking words?
Look at the image below. Notice that the word “lift” is the focal point of this picture. Not just the first letter or the little guy doing the lifting, and there isn’t a drawing of a strong person lifting weights on a gym. The little guy (I call these guys “foofballs”) is acting as the supporting character, as opposed to being the main character. He adds meaning to the word, without taking the attention away from the word.
Here is another example. This little foofball is there to help the child deduce the meaning of the word. But the word is still the main focus:
You can get these adorable FREE printable action verbs from my SHOP. There are 2 sets, each set containing 30 words (SET 1, SET 2). You can also get a set of printable emotion words here.
TIP: You can print and laminate them and either hang them on a wall as a decoration or put them in a binder for your little ones to flip through. Be sure to read the words aloud to your child every time you look at them. After all, words don’t read themselves!
You could also try asking your child to guess the meaning of the word before you read it to them. But don’t force it out of them, just make it a game, a fun game!
NEW! Check out our new YouTube channel, where you can watch these words come to life!