When Should You Teach Your Child to Read?
And How Should You Do It?
the pig goes oink or the mailman has a funny, nasally voice, bring those features to life. You can also have your kids help you with daily tasks that require reading, like making a to-do list or shopping at the grocery store. When they’re helping you and having fun, it won’t feel like learning at all! Finally, the best way to make reading enjoyable for your children is to enjoy it yourself. Your kids watch what you do, and if they see you enjoying a good book, they’ll want to read even more. Reading opens up the world to them, and with your help, nothing will dull their love of learning.
If your child is between 3–5 years old, you’ve probably noticed that they’re becoming a lot more talkative. By the time children are 4, they can usually speak in 5–8-word sentences. That makes this age range the perfect time to get your child interested in reading. However, this can raise a lot of questions. For starters, the question of how to get your child interested in reading is almost more important than when you do it. You may wonder how much time you should spend reading with them, how intensive reading time should be, and if you should make everything involving words and letters into a reading lesson. While the answers to these questions will vary from child to child, there’s
S leep is the body’s way of recharging. While you fall into dreamland, your body is completing maintenance tasks, which includes balancing your hormones, repairing muscle and tissues, and boosting your immune system. Studies even link strong cognition, memory, and development with a good night’s sleep. So, when your body doesn’t get the sleep it needs, all those necessary tasks don’t happen. Unfortunately, as Dr. Meg explains, this isn’t uncommon for most children. “I don’t know any kids who have zero sleeping issues,” Dr. Meg says. “I have never met a child who never snores, never grinds, or never has a problem with the tongue. Usually, 9 out of 10 kids will have one of these symptoms.” If a child is struggling to get a restful night’s sleep, they will often snore, wake up throughout the night, struggle with behavioral and emotional issues, and frequently wiggle or move in their sleep. one goal that every parent should strive for when teaching their child to read: Above all, help them enjoy it. When your child starts kindergarten, learning to read will be a part of the curriculum. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to teach them to read earlier, though. If your child loves to read, it can make their learning experience much more enjoyable. There are plenty of ways to help your child enjoy reading from an early age. One is to simply read to them and make storytime fun. If
When assessing a child for an oral appliance, our team looks beyond the teeth. We look at the health and positioning of the mouth as a whole. For example, signs of frequent mouth breathing can be a sign of improper jaw alignment, which can cause sleep-disordered breathing conditions and an increased risk of tooth decay. We can also look for signs of snoring and teeth grinding just by examining the mouth, teeth, and throat. Dr. Meg is certified through Healthy Start, an oral smile guide program designed to grow with your child’s expanding mouth to correct positioning, open the airway, and protect your child’s teeth from decay and damage. In the past, many dental experts believed it was difficult or near impossible to treat a child’s grinding habits because of their growing and developing mouth. But thanks to Healthy Start, parents and children no longer have to mitigate the symptoms with less effective therapies and treatments. An oral smile guide program with Healthy Start can give your child’s health the boost it needs to optimize sleep and safe breathing habits. Call our office today to learn more about this program and how we can help your little one sleep and breathe easier.
What Can a Smile Guide Do for Your Child?
If this sounds like your child, an oral smile guide may be just the tool they need.
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