TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ isn't as hard as one might think.  It takes patience, time, and the ability to figure out what your child's current reading level is as well as what your child's current favorites are.  Mostly, it just takes patience.  Let's begin with the basic in...

READING 101

1.  WHAT IS YOUR CHILD INTERESTED IN?

This is the easiest, but most overlooked part of reading 101.  Most parents already know that reading to a toddler or preschooler is important.  This is more than bonding time, it is learning time that is fun as well as educational.  For both of you.  Picking out books that are about things your child is already interested in is the first step before your child begins to read.  Books that have lots of pictures, but few words, are the best place to start.  If your son is nuts about fire engines, get a picture book about them.  If your daughter is crazy about princesses, get a picture book about them.  You want the books to have a few easy words of description, or very short 'small word' stories.  For instance:  The fire engine is red.  The princess is pretty.   The words 'the', 'is', 'red', and 'pretty' are words that your child will learn very quickly to recognize.  The first two because 'the' and 'is' appear in almost every thing one might read.  The word 'red' because it is small and can be associated easily to the fire truck.  The word 'pretty' because all little girls understand that word.  Books like Mother Goose, Sesame Street, and other books for young children are full of small, but easily associated words.  No matter what your child is interested in, there is a book out there about it.  Remember that even though you've gotten tired of a book, they haven't.  You may read the same picture book for 2 years!  They may read it for another 3!  Patience, Patience, Patience.

2.  POINT OUT THE WORDS AS YOU READ THEM

Even if it doesn't look like your child is following your finger as you read, eventually they will.  Emphasizing the small, often used words like 'the', 'is', 'are', 'in', etc., children will begin to recognize those words long before they, or you, realize it.  Don't push them to look at or attempt to help read any words until they are paying attention on their own.  It is futile in most cases.  Just keep reading, pointing, associating, etc.  Once they are actually looking at your finger, really start emphasizing the small, regular words.  After a few days of them watching you point and emphasize, ask them to help with words that are small, like 'the', 'is', 'in', 'are', etc.  If they show no interest in helping, give it a few more days and try again.  Remember, the key is for them to already be watching your finger as you read the words.  The first time, the second time, the twenty second time they recognize a word and say it with or without help, praise them!  Patience, Patience, Patience.

3.  PUTTING WORDS TOGETHER

Remember when your little one first began to talk?  It was one small word at a time.  Their reading skills will be the same way.  Now that they are identifying small words, you may want to get a few 3X5 cards and with a big crayon, write one small word to a card and use these for flash cards.  Don't overwhelm your little one.  Introduce a new word once or twice a week.  Make a second set and tape them to a wall in your child's room.  When reading a story with your child, look for small combinations like 'in the', 'to the', 'the big', 'the red' (as in 'he found his toy IN THE bedroom' or 'she went TO THE store' or 'THE RED fire engine') etc. Just like when they learned to talk and finally began putting words together, so will they learn to read.  Patience, Patience, Patience.

4.  BLUE CAN HELP

Shows where there are small words, in writing, can help keep your child interested.  Blues Clues uses a Handy Dandy Notebook.  Make your child one of these.  Sesame Street is always profiling a letter of the day.  Combine the two shows.  Hide 'clues' for your child to find.  They can be numbers, letters, or even items that are little words in themselves.  A plush dog or cat.  Your child will easily associate the letters c-a-t with the cat.  Watch a few of the Nick morning shows for ideas and then use your imagination.  Patience, Patience, Patience.

5.  MY CHILD IS ALREADY IDENTIFYING WORDS, HOW DO I KNOW WHAT LEVEL OF BOOKS TO BUY?

OK.  Your child is ready for his or her first actual reading book.  There are hundred, nay thousands, of children's first readers.  First, look for books that deal with something your child is already interested in.  Look for books that have, you guessed it, small words.  My son started with small words and pictures.  'Mat has a bat'.  The bat was a drawing of a baseball bat.  'Mat has a hat'.  The hat was a drawing, not the actual word.  I think I got the series from Scholastic, but I'm not absolutely sure.  We gave them to the little boy next door when he was starting to read and they moved and took them with them. 

6.  WHAT ABOUT MY OLDER CHILD?  HOW DO I KNOW WHAT THEIR READING LEVEL IS, AND HOW DO I BUY BOOKS FOR THEM?

This may be the easiest area of this guide.  Determining what books are going to be too easy or too hard for your child, at any age, is relatively easy.  Open any book to the first page of the story.  Have your child read the first two or three sentences aloud.  If they can't get past the first sentence without mistakes (hesitation, or sounding the words out is a good thing, but actual mistakes can be a problem), the book is too far above their reading level.  If they read slowly, but get the words correctly (again, hesitation and sounding words out is a good thing), this is about their reading level.  If they whiz through a few sentences, your child is ready for the next level, although they may just want the book for pure enjoyment.  It's okay to get that book, but pick out a harder one too.  Remember, whether your child is 2 or 12 or 22, they will read about their interests with gusto.  It doesn't make any sense to give your 10 year old boy a book about Dinosaurs if he is really interested in Nascar.  There will be plenty of mandatory reading in school. 

7.  MY STORY AND THE CONSEQUENCES

Make sure that what you buy your child to read is something he or she will want to read.  My oldest son was crazy about the Goose Bump series (as were all the boys at the time) when he was in second grade.  His teacher hated those books and wouldn't let the children read them, even telling them that reading them at home was off limits.  She sucked the love of reading right out of the boys in her class.  I know now that I should've let him read what he wanted to in that case.  I should've stood up to her and told her, well, you know what I should've told her.  She may not have liked the books, but he was reading.  Every day.  Well, until she sucked the love of reading right out of him.  He never enjoyed reading after that and school was difficult for him.  Let them read whatever it is they want to read at home (within reason of course).  As long as they're reading, you've got a good thing goin' on!  My youngest son is a reader.  He is in the top 2% of the country academically at just 12 years old.  The above article outlines exactly how I taught him to read.  He's reading Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea right now, but if you look in the top drawer of his night stand, you'll find a well read, very loved book about fire engines...

Thank You for taking the time to read my guide.  It was harder to write than I thought it would be.  If anything seems confusing or unclear, please don't hesitate to contact me.  I volunteer full time at a local elementary school teaching first graders, who are behind, to read.  I also work with students where english isn't spoken at home.  The above is a basic outline on how I work with them as well.  I've yet to have a child not learn to read at the second grade level by the end of first grade.  Reading is something every child wants to do, even when they are struggling and telling you different.  Each child learns at a different pace and that is what we, as adults, must remember. 

UPDATE

I've noticed that only 2 out of 12 readers (who voted) found this guide helpful.  I don't quite understand that.  Facts are that teaching a child to read is as simple as reading to them at a very young age.  I don't know what the folks who voted that this guide was not helpful were looking for.  Teaching a child to read requires no special skills other than minimal reading skills yourself, patience, and a desire to see your child read.  I've known, and taught, many children to read with no more than what info is listed above.  I've known and taught many adults to read using the same method. 

I started to delete this guide, but have decided to leave it as it stands.  I have not changed anything in it.  Not one word.  Not one punctuation mark.  I firmly believe that, if followed, you can teach anyone to read.  Perhaps it is the other 818 people who didn't vote that this guide helped?  I'd like to think so...