{"id":21518,"date":"2024-09-03T11:37:22","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T19:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abcmouse.com\/learn\/?p=21518"},"modified":"2026-04-17T07:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:57:08","slug":"reading-strategies-for-kindergarten-literacy-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abcmouse.com\/learn\/advice\/reading-strategies-for-kindergarten-literacy-skills\/21518","title":{"rendered":"10 Proven Reading Strategies to Build Kindergarten Literacy Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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10 Reading Strategies to Grow Kindergarten Literacy Skills<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Tips and engaging activities for parents to help their child become a more confident and fluid reader.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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By Jill Staake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviewed by Dr. Nika Fabienke<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s such a thrill to see a kindergarten child\u2019s excitement as they read their very first words and sentences. This process comes easily for some children, while others find it more of a challenge. It\u2019s helpful to have a toolbox of reading strategies for kindergarten students at your fingertips<\/strong>, so you can help kids of all abilities build their skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This collection of kindergarten reading strategies includes ideas for teaching the mechanics of words, like phonics and decoding<\/a>. You\u2019ll also find tips for encouraging reading comprehension<\/a>, making sure kids truly understand what they\u2019re reading. Use a mix of these strategies to help your child become a more fluent<\/a>, confident reader. <\/p>\n\n\n

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1. Master Letter Recognition and Sounds<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before a child starts to read words, they must be completely comfortable with all of the letters in the alphabet and letter sounds, including these skills:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Phonemic Awareness:<\/strong> Understand that the sounds in words are represented by letters or combinations of letters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letter Recognition:<\/strong> Recognize the letters on sight and be able to say their names<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letter Sounds One-to-One Correspondence: <\/strong>Be able to say the sound or sounds each letter of the alphabet makes<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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When children struggle with early reading, it\u2019s often because they haven\u2019t fully mastered these key skills. Focus your attention there first, before jumping ahead to reading words. These letter sound activities for young children<\/a> are a terrific place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Introduce Beginning Phonics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s phonics instruction is the result of decades of research into the science of reading. Phonics essentially teaches kids to match the letters in a word with the sounds they stand for<\/strong>, following a specific set of rules. These rules make our sometimes complicated language easier to read, using a process called decoding (the technical term for \u201csounding out a word\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n

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For kindergarteners, that usually means readingsimple words <\/strong>where each letter is pronounced using its associated sound, without needing to worry about trickier combinations of letters (like \/sh\/ or \/ou\/). We teach kids to break words down into their individual sounds, then run them together to pronounce the whole word. Our free printable decodable word lists<\/a> can help, and you can find out more about teaching phonics to kindergarteners here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Add in High Frequency and Sight Words<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You might be surprised to learn that only 100 English words make up as much as 50 to 60 percent of all written texts<\/strong>. That means it\u2019s more helpful for new readers to focus on those top words, known as \u201chigh frequency words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several theories about how to best teach high frequency words<\/strong> to kids. For a long time, reading programs have focused on just memorizing the words by sight. These are usually broken into lists by grade level and used as spelling words. You can also teach them using fun hands-on activities, like the ones found here<\/a>. Further enhance your child’s practice with high frequency words by reviewing sight words lists and playing games like sight word Bingo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newer reading theories suggest it\u2019s better to teach regularly-spelled high frequency words as part of phonics instruction, avoiding the need to memorize whenever possible. Find out more about teaching high frequency words here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Learn About Word Families<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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In phonics, word families are those that have the same ending sounds<\/strong>, such as cat, hat, and rat. Recognizing a word family makes it much easier to decode new words. Imagine a child already knows how to pronounce \u201ccat.\u201d When they encounter the word \u201crat\u201d for the first time, they can see that it ends with the same letters and likely the same sound, so they only need to sound out the first letter, \/r\/.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The terrific thing about word families is that they rhyme! That makes learning them fun<\/strong>, as kids can create their own poems and songs with these words. It\u2019s also entertaining to hold contests to see who can come up with the most words that rhyme with a specific starter word, like \u201cman.\u201d (Ban, can, fan, pan). Get some practice with kindergarten word families using our free printable worksheets<\/a> or our free printable word family lists<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Look for Context Clues<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Readers use context to help them understand words they don\u2019t recognize. For kindergarten, that often means looking at the pictures in their books<\/strong>. If your child is struggling to decode a word, invite them to look at the pictures on the page to see if they find any clues to help them along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also use context clues to build vocabulary when reading aloud to your child<\/strong>, or participating in shared reading<\/a>. If you come across a word they don\u2019t know the meaning of, explore the pictures and the rest of the sentence or paragraph, together to see if they can figure out the definition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Predict the Action and Discuss Characters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pictures can also help kids predict what might happen in a story. As you read books together, stop along the way and ask them what they think might happen next<\/strong>. Consider what you\u2019ve already read, and go back to look at previous pictures for clues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Take time to talk about the characters<\/strong> too. Ask your child to describe them, and ask why they think a character did or said something. Discuss whether they like or dislike any of the characters, and why, and if they relate to any of them in particular.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Discussions like these are part of reading comprehension<\/strong>, and they pave the way for deeper exploration of literature as students get older. Find more reading comprehension activities for kindergarteners here<\/a>.
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7. Retell and Sequence Stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another important way to measure comprehension is to ask your child to retell a story you\u2019ve just read<\/strong>. They should be able to repeat the main plot points of the story, and tell them in the right order (known as sequencing). Try these activities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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