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Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast. I'm Sonia Schaefer. Teaching your child to read can sometimes seem like a daunting task. I remember the fear and trepidation I felt with my first child. I was so afraid I was going to do it wrong and ruin her. I could just imagine

the whole sad scenario in my head. I would make one mistake in teaching her how to read,

and it would mean all the difference to her life. She would never read. She could never go to

college. She could never get a good job. She would end up a bitter old woman

who hated her mother because I messed up teaching her how to read. Isn't it amazing how our minds

go down those dark paths so quickly? Well, the truth of the matter is, if you surround your child

with good conversations and a literature-rich environment,

she's most likely going to do the heavy lifting for herself. In fact, you'll probably have a hard

time preventing her from learning how to read when she's ready.

And that's the key.

So much of the process of teaching your child to read is based on readiness.

When is my child ready to take the next step?

So let's talk about some of those signposts, some cues that you can watch for to see

when your child is probably ready to move on in the process.

Step 1 is playing with letters and sounds.

You start the process of teaching your child to read by giving her letters that she can play with.

And that can be done at any age when she's little.

Just as you might give her toy animals, give her some wooden letters or magnetic or foam letters

to play with.

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