We all want our children to learn at an early age at home. We usually give them their first lesson in alphabet and reading at home before we send them to formal schooling.
It is a real struggle to teach kids how to read especially when they are too young and first timers. They are easily distracted. They love to play rather than to study.
I have here some tips on how to make it easier for you to teach your child how to read. These steps are based on my own experience teaching kids from 3years old and above.
ALPHABET
Introduce the alphabet to your kids. You can teach them the alphabet by singing the ABC song. However, you shouldn't let them just memorize it. You should introduce them to each letter. The goal here is for them to know what letter is it even if you jumble the letters in the alphabet.
SOUND RECOGNITION
When your child mastered the letters in the alphabet, teach them this time the sound of each letter in the alphabet. You can use songs too to catch their attention while you teach them this.
Do it slowly to avoid information overload and exhaustion. Don't give the student the sounds of teh whole alphabet in one blow. You can do it group by group so they wont't get bored of the lesson.
PICTURES
Avoid using pictures when teaching your children. If you do, kids will think that memorizing the picture is already reading when in facg they are just guessing the word based on the picture they see.
I am not a pro when it comes to kids but this is what I learn based on my experience teaching kids for the past years. Hope it works for your kids too.