The Gingerbread Reading Guide: How to Teach Young Children to Read

"The Gingerbread Reading Guide" is a complete step-by-step guide to teaching reading to young children. Addressed to parents who would like to teach their children to read, it also has been used by teachers of beginning readers. The book answers many questions that parents might ask. At what age can I teach my child to read? Should I use phonics or sight? How do I teach the alphabet and letter sounds? Do you have suggestions for teaching a child to blend the letter sounds? How do you teach words of more than one syllable? How do you teach a child to differentiate between b and d? If I decide to teach my pre-schooler to read, how do I arouse her interest? If I decide to teach my school-age child how do I motivate him? What do I do if my child reads words backwards? Included are games to play, songs to sing, cookies to bake in the shape of letters - all with the goal of reinforcing reading and having fun!

Helen Steinman was born in New York City. She attended Connecticut College and received her BA from Brandeis University. She received her MS in social work from Columbia University. For seventeen years she worked for the New York City Department of Education as a School Social Worker. Her interest in teaching reading began when she decided to teach her own children to read at ages 6, 3 1/2, and 2 1/2. Subsequently she took courses in reading and worked as a volunteer reading teacher in public schools. She has conducted workshops for parents who want to teach their own children to read. Also, she has appeared on radio talk shows. She lives in Scarsdale, New York.