All For Childrengrowing a reader: a guide for parents

An independent parents' guide to children's reading. We are not a school or a kindergarten, we don't sell books or courses, and we don't diagnose; we have no connection with the former site on this domain.

Practice

Practice activities

Reading grows out of lots of little games that take just a few minutes and fit easily into an ordinary day: on the way to the store, over dinner, in the bath before bed. This section collects activities that need no workbooks or special materials — just attention and a good mood. Skip whatever doesn't click, and repeat whatever your child enjoys.

If a game has turned into a test, stop. Tomorrow you can try again — as a game this time.

— From the editors

How this section works: activities are described step by step, timings are approximate, and you can stretch or shorten them. We don't give grades or expect results by a particular day — what matters more is that your child feels happy and relaxed.

A week of sound games

  1. Sounds all around

    Listen together to what you can hear at home and outside: the kettle hissing, a fly buzzing, a car honking. Try copying these sounds with your voice and guessing who or what makes each one.

  2. Stretch the first sound

    Name objects while stretching out the first sound: sssun, mmmoon. Invite your child to stretch the sound in a word of their own, then look around for things that start the same way.

  3. Clap the syllables

    Clap out the names of family members, toys and favorite foods together. Long words get lots of claps, short ones get just one, and it always gets a laugh.

  4. Silly rhymes

    Say a word and come up with one that rhymes, even a nonsense one: cat — bat — zat. Funny made-up words are just as good as real ones, because you're playing with how words sound.

  5. Odd one out

    Say a few words where one sounds different — for example, they all start with the same sound except one. Let your child catch the odd one out, then make up a string like that for you.

  6. Your own rhyme

    At the end of the week, make up a short rhyme together about someone in the family or a favorite toy. It doesn't matter how polished it is: what counts is that your child searched for the rhythm and rhyme themselves.

Retelling from pictures

  1. Choose a familiar story

    Pick a book you've already read several times and that your child loves. A familiar plot frees them from the fear of getting it wrong.

  2. Page through without the text

    Cover the text with your hand or simply don't read it, and ask your child to tell you what's happening in each picture. Help with gentle prompts: who's here, where are they going, what are they holding?

  3. Link the pictures into a story

    Ask your child to connect the separate scenes with words like "first," "then" and "in the end." If they skip something important, go back to that picture and remember together what happened there.

  4. Switch roles

    Now let your child be the storyteller and you the listener who gasps, asks again and wants more details. It feels good for them to sense that someone is interested in their story.

  5. Invent a different ending

    Ask what would have happened if the character had acted differently. The new ending can be drawn, acted out with toys or simply told at bedtime.

Signs your child needs a break

  • They start yawning, getting distracted, fidgeting and asking to do something else the moment you open a book.
  • Mistakes they handled easily yesterday suddenly come back, and they answer every hint with irritation.
  • Instead of delight in playing with words, you see tears, stubbornness or a remark that they can't do anything anyway.
  • Your child hides books or invents excuses just to avoid sitting down to read together.
  • You notice that you're rushing, getting cross and counting pages instead of enjoying the time together.
  • Lessons

    Lessons for parents: how to read aloud, talk about a book, play with sounds and meet letters without hurrying.

  • Topics

    Picture books, rhymes and nursery rhymes, fairy tales, first independent books, nonfiction and screens, plus our article catalogue.

  • Glossary

    Simple definitions of words about sounds and letters, about reading and about how a children's book works.

  • FAQ

    Answers about this guide, about reading at home, and about when and whom to ask if reading is a struggle.

Sources

  • Guidance materials for parents on early reading (in general terms)
  • Editorial materials of the All For Children guide

The advice in this guide is kept general and draws on guidance materials for parents and on children's library recommendations about reading as a family. Every child finds their way to books along their own path and at their own pace, so follow your child's interest and mood, and bring any questions about speech or reading to a teacher or a speech-language pathologist.