Whether you are a teacher or a parent, decodable texts have become a reliable resource for teaching young learners how to read. These texts help kids sound out words effectively. You can use these books to teach kids who still need to learn the full set of phonics rules or patterns. With these texts, you can help children practice decoding words using their developing phonics knowledge, which supports their reading growth. Some texts make the use of short blends, while concentrate on long vowels. You should select a book keeping in mind your child’s existing phonics knowledge so as to make their learning journey more comfortable and fruitful.
Consider exploring a platform that offers a complete series of decodable books for students from kindergarten to grade 3. The collection will give you a good sense of what your child needs to learn at this stage. However, to make the most of these resources, it is essential to be clear about a few points. Here are a few suggestions in this context.
- Learner’s phonics ability
There needs to be clarity about how much your child understands phonics concepts, especially if you’re teaching a kindergartner or a first grader. If you choose a book that doesn’t align with your learner’s knowledge or skills, your entire effort may be wasted.
- Book’s content
You want to encourage kids to practice decoding words through these books. If learners are unfamiliar with many words in the books due to a lack of necessary phonics skills, the purpose of introducing these books will be defeated. It’s like training your child to play soccer without teaching them how to pass the ball between players. To be precise, giving children books that contain unfamiliar words is a mistake, as they won’t be able to decode them and may become easily frustrated. How should you select the book? Review your choice from every aspect.
It is understandable that almost all decodable texts talk about phonics principles that kids need to learn. If you check the content of the book beforehand, you will know whether it is suitable for your child. At the same time, you’ll be able to figure out how to help your child practice a few words that may be unfamiliar to them.
- Practice
Initially, kids might take time to decode words. So, don’t worry if your child isn’t fluent yet. You need to be patient and let them learn at their own pace. To help them, you can read a small portion of a decodable book in every session. When the child becomes fluent, it will show in their growing confidence. Feeling confident is important, no matter how challenging the text was for them the first time. Make them reread to make their learning process easier. Rereading can also make them fluent as they are exposed to the same words. Unfortunately, some kids may not enjoy rereading. To keep them engaged, you can introduce fun activities around their lessons.
Reading is a necessary skill that every child must learn and develop over time. Decodable materials are the best tools to help children work on this part of their learning. You can make a difference in their reading journey by teaching them the right exercises at the right time.