Not Reading Yet?

1 question I have been asked a lot is ,"How do you teach a child who knows letters and sounds but isn't  reading yet "?
I did not do anything very formal with my children.What I did do was to incorporate fun activities and used books and products to help me instead!
So if your child knows the  letter sounds already, learning to blend them to make words is really the next step. Using something like www.Readingbear.org  a free reading program that sounds out words for kids,might be useful.
And then there are other things you can try like a Tag pen and the Learn to Read set one.Lots of children love it, and it has the option to read  the story, read each word as he/ she touches it, sound out the words, or spell the words little workbooks, games, etc. that asks what sound pictures start and/or end with, etc. Also, some that practice rhyming, which will be helpful, if you plan on using phonics.

Also Leapfrog Letter Factory Dvd (should be on instant streaming on Netflix)

1 product both my kids loved were  refrigerator magnets to reinforce letter sounds and start some short-vowel words (like "mom" and "mop")
Alphabet puzzles, Making play dough words, lots of alphabet coloring,Lauri Lace and Link letters are all easy to use and teach with!
You could use flash cards, like these well-done Phonics Made Easy ones.

Early reader books like this Berenstain Bears  ,Big Dog, Little Dog,  are good to read at this stage.
 Playing phonemic awareness games. " word with the sounds /c/ /a/ /t/" and the child shouts "CAT." (...and so on)
        There are many great apps be sure to check them as well. Reader Rabbit has been around very long and now has apps,Here is 1 for Phonics   that appears to be free.Until next time!Happy teaching!