When teaching a child, it can be effective to use tools, resources, and topics that they are already interested in. Teaching reading to your child is no exception. For a lot of kids, their interest, or one of them, is animals. Using animals to teach the basic formations and sounds that are associated with the letters and pictures can be a great start to teaching your child to read.
There are several children’s magazines available that are dedicated to the animal-child connection. Subscribing to some of these magazines gets kids excited to read, especially when they realize the mailman will periodically bring them a present. If your kids are struggling to read or struggling to get interested in reading, use a tool that they are naturally interested in. Maybe for different children, it is music or trucks or sports or something else. Find what works for them.
Then, find a magazine that seems to fit the age level of the child. For younger children, I recommend one that has big, bright, colorful pictures with interesting facts. One that fits this description is Zoobooks. Some even have interactive puzzles and games the child can play and learn. A simple search on the internet for “children + animals + magazine,” or whatever topic the child is interested it, will turn up many choices.
Teaching reading to your child is easier when you employ the use of a subject that children naturally want to know more about. In fact, once one of the magazines is used and no longer current, they make great tools for kids to cut out pictures and make bulletin boards, calendars, and stories. It can be a great start in getting to the next level of reading, encouraging creativity, and teaching writing.
