One day, the following email came to me from a Dad, "My son can read the word Zacchaeus but he can't read the word because. Can you tell me any tools of the trade to teach him how to read because?"
My reply was, "Because is harder for your son to read because he cannot see a because! In his mind or at least in his Bible storybook, your son can see Zacchaeus—he's a wee, little man."
I went on to say that there are two types of words that children read. The first create mental images such as cat, running, or porcupine. These are easier to learn than words that do not create mental images. Other words are "connectors" such as, there, should, and because. They help comprehension by connecting nouns, adjectives, and verbs into meaningful sentences.
One good way to teach a child a connecting word is by hooking it to a noun. For example, Dad could write a short phrase, "because Zacchaeus was small," on a note card. Now the word because makes sense. His son will be more readily able to learn how to read because.
What other "tools of the trade" can parents use to help their children learn to read? The top three are: The 1 in 20 Rule; To, With, and By Reading Technique; and How to fix Reading Mistakes. Let's look at each of these:

The 1 in 20 Rule
 Your child will learn to read faster if she reads appropriate selections—not above her instructional reading level. How can you know what your child's instructional reading level is? Just follow the 1 in 20 rule: choose material that your child can read with no more than one mistake per twenty words.¹
 Many parents balk at this by saying, "He should be reading at his grade level," or "The books should be at his age level." It will actually slow your child's progress to make him read above his instructional level; in fact, all he does is practice bad reading!² Don't hand your child a book above his reading level and say, "Read this for fifteen minutes," and then walk away. No, no, no! You are just teaching him to hate reading. Watch out, his behavior will quickly reflect that!
 In reality, most children do a great job choosing books at their own reading level. When your child is giggling at Garfield cartoons, just smile and know that her reading skills will improve. She is a good job of practicing fluency, reading for comprehension, and speeding up her recall of the 100 most common words that make up half of all print.
 It is far better for your child to spend thirty minutes per day reading books at or even below her reading level, than for her to spend ten tortured minutes practicing bad reading above her reading level.

To, With, and By Reading Technique
How do you help your child learn to read the harder materials? The To, With, and By reading technique is your best bet. It looks like this:
TO