At first I thought of titling this article "The Lazy Parent's Guide" but

then I realized that most parents aren't lazy, but they may have a

slightly different philosophy about children and learning. If you're a big reader yourself or if you're homeschooling, you're

probably concerned about how to teach your child to read. Reading

is one of the most important skills a person can learn, and a great joy in life. My laid-back methods of teaching a child to read:1) Be a reader yourselfChildren naturally want to copy adult behavior. If your kids see you often

with your nose in a book, they will probably begin to wonder what is so

interesting about this activity. 2) Read to your kidsThis is probably a huge no-brainer. Read to your kids early and often.

And don't read in order to "teach your child how to read". I believe that

the best way to teach your child to read is to NOT teach your child to read!Read to your child because you enjoy it and it's fun. Some forward-thinking

education experts believe that the teaching of reading is mostly what prevents

reading. After all, don't adults read as a means to an end? Because they want

to learn something or because they enjoy the act of reading?3) Don't worry so muchDon't worry about a right or wrong way of reading to your child. If your preschool-age child isn't interested in books yet, or won't sit

still for more than 30 seconds to finish a story, don't fret. If your 3 year old wants to point at pictures or turn to favorite pages

and ask a million questions, don't fuss. Children learn in different ways than adults do and I don't think anyone

knows enough about the human mind to figure it all out. Make reading together

pleasant, not stressful. And don't worry about how old your child is when they learn to read. If

they're reading at 3 or at 8, studies show that it makes little difference

in their intelligence or ability by the time they reach middle school. 4) Pick topics that interest your childMy oldest son's interest in reading really skyrocketed when we started the

Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket. We would sit for hours

and read aloud together when he was only 5 or 6. Visit Lemony Snicket's Series

of Unfortunate Events for more information about these books. These books were technically above his age level, but I advise you to forget all that. John Holt, the legendary educator and author, has been quoted as saying:"It? nice to have children? books, but far too many of them have too much

in the way of pictures. When children see books, as they do in the family

where the adults read, with pages and pages and pages of print, it becomes

pretty clear that if you?e going to find out what? in those books, you?e

going to have to read from that print. I don? think there? any way to make

reading interesting to children in a family in which it isn? interesting to adults. "So let your child pick books from the library or bookstore and don't concern

yourself about whether the titles are "age appropriate". Above all, have fun snuggling up with your child and enjoy reading together!Carrie Lauth publishes an informative newsletter for Moms doing things the natural

way. Get your subscriber goodies at http://www. natural-moms. com

Author:
Carrie Lauth