The best way to raise a reader is to surround your child with words they enjoy, long before formal reading begins and far beyond books alone. Read aloud together every day, play with rhyme and the sounds of words, point out the words all around you in everyday life, and let your child see you enjoying reading. A love of words, built early, is the strongest foundation of all.
Key takeaways
- Reading starts long before the first word: with shared books, lots of talk and playing with sounds.
- Rhymes and songs tune a child's ear to the sounds inside words, one of the strongest predictors of later reading.
- Words are everywhere. Signs, packets and labels at home all teach that print carries meaning.
- Keep it a pleasure, never a test.
When does learning to read really begin?
It's a common misconception that reading begins with formal lessons and phonics. In truth it begins far earlier: with sharing books, hearing plenty of language, and playing with the sounds of words. Long before a child can decode a single word, they're building the foundations: a wide vocabulary, an understanding that print carries meaning, and an ear for the sounds that make up speech. Babies are capable of far more than we assume, as I explain in how much young children can really learn.
Rhymes and songs are especially powerful. Tuning a child's ear to rhythm and rhyme is one of the earliest and most important building blocks of reading. It helps them hear the individual sounds within words, a skill strongly linked to later reading success.
Words are everywhere: reading doesn't only mean books
Long before you buy your child their first book, they're already surrounded by words, and noticing them. Words are on billboards and shop signs as you walk down the street, on the petrol station, on the cereal packet, on the side of a passing van. Babies and toddlers notice these big, bright, colourful letters, so point them out and say them aloud.
One of the very first words my own little daughter read, when she was barely talking, was "Texaco" at our local petrol station. Soon after, she read "Kit-Kat" on the side of a van. She had grasped the single most important idea in all of reading: that these funny shapes have meaning. That realisation is where reading truly begins.
You can bring this into your home, too. Write the names of everyday things in large, bold letters on cards and stick them on the objects themselves ("door" on the door, "chair" on a chair, "wall" on the wall) at your child's eye level. They'll begin to connect the written word with the real thing, effortlessly and through play.
Combine this everyday word-spotting with plenty of real books, and your child will be reading before you know it. The whole world is full of words waiting to be discovered.
Simple ways to build early reading at home
Read together every day, and read widely
Share stories, but also real books about animals, nature, history and the world. A child who loves books, and who is used to interesting words, becomes a reader far more readily than one fed only on the simplest texts. My earlier post on raising readers from babies to enthusiastic book lovers has more ideas for choosing books.
Play with rhyme and sound
Nursery rhymes, silly songs and rhyming stories help children hear how words are built from sounds, and they're huge fun. Maggie's Rhyming Time Book was written for exactly this.
Talk about what you read
Ask what might happen next, how a character feels, or what they can see. This builds comprehension and real understanding, not just word recognition.
Keep it a pleasure, never a test
Warmth and enjoyment are what create a lifelong reader. The moment it feels like a chore, the love of it is at risk.
The stages of learning to read
Reading develops gradually. Knowing the rough stages helps you support your child at each one:
- Loving books: enjoying being read to, handling books, turning pages.
- Hearing sounds: enjoying rhyme and rhythm, noticing that words start and end with particular sounds.
- Recognising words and letters: spotting familiar words (like a favourite logo or their own name) and learning that letters make sounds.
- Blending and decoding: sounding out and blending letters into words, usually with formal phonics at school, supported at home. Simple three-letter word activities such as our kindergarten CVC worksheets help at this stage.
Frequently asked questions
My child recognises logos and brand names. Does that count as reading?
It's a genuine and important first step. When a child "reads" a familiar brand name on a box of cereal or a TV advert, they've grasped the crucial idea that written symbols carry meaning, the foundation everything else is built on. They're not yet decoding the letters, but they're well on the way. Point out and name the words to help them move from recognising a shape to reading the actual word.
Isn't it too early to show words to a baby who can't talk?
Not at all. Babies take in far more than they can yet say. Saying words aloud as you point to them, in books, on signs, on labels around the house, plants the seeds of reading long before a child can speak, let alone read.
My child has memorised their favourite book. Are they really reading?
Memorising a beloved book is a wonderful sign, not cheating. It shows they understand how books work, follow the story, and connect the words on the page with what's being said. It's a real and valuable stepping stone towards reading.
Should I teach phonics at home?
You can gently support it, pointing out letter sounds and playing sound games, but you don't need to run formal lessons. The most valuable things you can do at home are build a love of words and an ear for sounds.
It's also useful to know that while phonics works for many children, it doesn't work for all of them. Some children learn better by recognising the shapes of familiar words, and some benefit from a multisensory approach. If reading seems unusually hard, my guide to the early signs of dyslexia may help.
What if my child isn't interested in books?
Follow what they do love, whether dinosaurs, animals, bugs and insects, sea life, unicorns or dragons, and find books, games and wall posters with words that connect to it. Keep the activities short, playful and pressure-free, and let them see you enjoying reading too.
A fun first step
Many of my books in the Maggie's Magic T-Shirt series use playful rhymes that make learning to read fun. These include Maggie's Rhyming Time Book and Maggie's Animal Rhyming Counting Book, while Maggie Makes a Smoothie and Maggie Gets Baking have hilarious rhyming recipes.
View the series of early learning books →
About the author
Teri Farrari is a developmental psychologist, natural health practitioner and early years consultant with more than thirty years' experience with young children and their families. She founded and ran her own Holistic Early Learning Schools, and her work has featured on BBC News, Sky Television, The Sunday Times, the Daily Mail and in Parents magazine. Read more about Teri or work with her one-to-one.
