FAQs

What age should I start teaching my child to read?

There’s no magic age to start teaching a child to read. We would recommend starting with letter sounds early, during preschool years to help them build the foundation and the confidence. But don't be discouraged if your child is past preschool years and has yet to master all of the letter sounds. Just get started and do what you can! Any little bit will help!
Why should I teach my child to read, won’t my child learn how to read in school?

Early reading skills help children develop confidence right from the beginning so that they (and your family) can focus more on having fun! Your child will eventually learn to read in school, but depending on your child, that may or may not turn into a stressful time if they start to fall behind or suddenly find out they are already behind when school just started. The unfortunate reality is that we have really large classes in the public schools with some really great teachers, and some teachers who are just trying their best with everything they need to do in a school year.
My child adjusted really well in Kindergarten and never had any problems with the teacher. I was surprised in the first month of Grade 1 to find out she was already behind in reading. How is this possible? What should I do?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone! We hear this all the time. Depending on your school board, kindergarten is a play based curriculum which means they don’t necessarily teach letter sounds and direct reading instruction - all depending on your teacher. By the time they enter grade 1, parents are often alarmed when they find out at progress report time that their child is behind in reading. There can be a gap for kids between kindergarten and grade 1, but don’t worry, you can get started now, it's never too late! Kids are amazing and pick things up quickly, we just need to give them some guidance.
Shouldn’t we just let kids be kids, and let reading come naturally to them when the time is right?

Lemonful was created on the premise that kids should be kids! Unfortunately, the stress of school and falling behind starts very early for a lot of families. If you have a child that picks things up easily and naturally, that’s wonderful, you probably don’t need this! However, the reality is, some children won’t pick it up naturally without some form of direct instruction. There are a lot of parents (all busy of course!) who don’t know where to begin teaching their kids how to read. For a lot of children, all they need is some clear explanation (it helps to quench their “Why” thirst for knowledge!), and a little bit of practice, and it’ll click!
Shouldn’t we be more concerned about reading comprehension?

Reading comprehension is extremely important for every subject they’ll be doing. However, before we can talk about reading comprehension and skill building for that, we have to teach children the foundation of HOW to read first.
Why is this free? What’s the catch?

Lemonful believes that everyone has the right to basic literacy, and that reading is the foundation of success in anything your child decides to do, and we’re trying to do our part to give back. What’s the catch? No catch! Help us spread the word by sharing this resource so more people can help kids build literacy one word at a time.