Were you one of those parents that took your child to pre-school and discovered that some of the other students already knew how to read? Aside from being surprised, you probably wondered what those parents did differently. Well, there's a good chance that their children learned to read with phonics.

During their first few years, children learn to understand and reproduce hundreds of words in the language that they hear spoken in their homes every day. But four-year olds don't automatically know which sounds are related to those same words when they are in written form. If you've ever tried to learn a new language with a totally different alphabet, you already recognize the challenge that your pre-school child faces.

Using methods that eliminate the boredom and frustration that is associated with traditional methods like flash cards, phonics is an ideal way to teach reading to young children.

But before any parent decides to teach with phonics, it is important that they understand how it works.

How Does Phonics Work?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines phonics as "a method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning the phonetic value of letters, letter groups and especially syllables."

Phonics is a technique that teaches kids how to read at their own pace in a systematic and enjoyable way. It is the study of the sounds that letters make; and grasping that basic letter-sound relationship is one key to learning how to read. Once they understand that words are comprised of sounds they'll understand that those sounds can be blended (and re-blended) to form new words. In other words, phonics provides the tools kids need to "decode" new words.

Use Everyday Activities to Make Phonics Fun

1. Point out objects or words that begin with the same letter as your child's name. "Hey look, there's a ball Blake. Ball begins with the same "bbb" sound as your name."

2. Search for sounds while grocery shopping. "Okay, let's find some fruits and veggies that begin with a "bbb" sound. Berries, bananas and broccoli. Yeah!" Then move on to another letter.

3. Recite tongue twisters like "She sells seashells by the seashore." See if your child knows what most of the words have in common.

4. Play I-Spy, using letter sounds; “I spy something that begins with "ddd."

5. Place colorful magnetic letters on the fridge. Ask your child to choose letters that match a sound from the dinner menu. "sss" is for spaghetti.