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How can I help my child learn to read?

Soren Rosier, PhD
Teacher & Education Researcher
Soren Rosier is an Education Expert based in Palo Alto, CA. He is the founder of PeerTeach, a platform that empowers students to grow their leadership, confidence, and love of math through AI-powered peer tutoring. Additionally, he is an instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, where he teaches courses on designing impactful tools for learning. Before beginning his PhD, he taught middle school in Oakland, developed teacher training programs, and evaluated the efficacy of popular ed tech products at SRI International. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a PhD in Learning Sciences & Technology Design at Stanford University.

Soren Rosier, PhD

Teacher & Education Researcher

Expert Answer

Start with teaching them phonics, or the sounds of letters, to help them break down words.

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Question

What books should my child be reading?

Soren Rosier, PhD
Teacher & Education Researcher
Soren Rosier is an Education Expert based in Palo Alto, CA. He is the founder of PeerTeach, a platform that empowers students to grow their leadership, confidence, and love of math through AI-powered peer tutoring. Additionally, he is an instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, where he teaches courses on designing impactful tools for learning. Before beginning his PhD, he taught middle school in Oakland, developed teacher training programs, and evaluated the efficacy of popular ed tech products at SRI International. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a PhD in Learning Sciences & Technology Design at Stanford University.

Soren Rosier, PhD

Teacher & Education Researcher

Expert Answer

Find a book that's within their independent reading level, or else they might get confused and discouraged.

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Question

How can I help an adult learn better pronunciation?

Community Answer

Have some patience and whenever you say a word, have them repeat after you multiple times. Break down the word into easily pronounceable syllables if they are having trouble.

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Question

How do you teach difficult ideas to someone?

Community Answer

Start with simple words and concepts and then work up to the difficult idea. Learning is all about forming connections.

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Question

How do I learn how to read well?

Desiree H. Espinoza

Community Answer

Read materials that are suitable to your vocabulary ability. If you read at a third grade level then read more of books designed for that readability level. The beauty of reading is that it's simple... read more often. Write some thoughts and reflections as you read.

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Question

Is it wrong to teach adults to read and write without showing the relationship between the sounds and letters?

Elissa Schwartz

Community Answer

It depends on what the adult already knows. The relationship between sounds and letters must be taught (if they do not have knowledge of this), both for the sake of pronunciation and spelling/writing.

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Question

There is a senior citizen who has expressed to me that he can't read. I would like to teach him. Where do I begin?

Community Answer

Start with picture books. Read to him. Have him transcribe the words. Read to him again. Ask him to try to read some back.

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Question

The methods outlined are good. How and where can I access materials?

Desiree H. Espinoza

Community Answer

Education World is an excellent resource. I also like Scholastic's resources. Finally, Read Works will help you find materials.

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I have a friend who knows how to speak, but doesn't know how to read or write. What can we do?

Community Answer

Look for tutoring in your area. There is no shame in being illiterate, but anyone can learn to read and write. There's probably not much you can do for them yourself if you're not a trained educator, but you can help them hire someone.

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How do I improve someone's reading comprehension when teaching?

Community Answer

It might be necessary to explain that sounding out words is only the first half of the reading process. Once words are correctly identified, part two of the process begins: understanding. Start by having the student read a sentence aloud. Then, have the student look away from the text and state, in his own words, what he just read. If he cannot do this, repeat this process. The idea is to train the student to process what he has read by thinking about and understanding it before going on to the next sentence. The long range goal is to train the student to do this automatically as he reads silently. It's a slow process. Be patient and never underestimate the power of encouragement.

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Question

How do I learn to read and write if I am 26 years old?

AmyBro

Community Answer

Learn the sounds of the letters of the alphabet and memorize a list of high frequency words. Find websites online that have resources on how to learn reading, such as mythreereaders. Don't worry that many reading resources are geared toward children -- you can learn how to read using the same techniques at any age!

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Is my child a genius if he can read at 18 months?

Community Answer

No, he's not. This is very common.

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Question

What adult books can I recommend to my adult student?

Mzm555

Top Answerer

Cater books to their interests and hobbies which will motivate them more! If their level of reading is low, you can always get some books from the children's sections of libraries/book shops as these usually can still be quite appealing even to older readers.

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