Reading is the more important element in the life of everyone and is the base for the knowledge. Strong reading skills are important from the childhood to set up the pillars of the success.
Reading will help your child to have emotional and intellectual development. The first step before wishing to learn something new is to read and understand. Kids require this right from their childhood which makes them more family with many words. Love for reading can be a crucial part in the language skills, independence, and the emotional development.
This article discusses the importance of the reading skills. It presents some tips and ways to enhance the reading abilities of your child.
What Is Reading Comprehension?
Reading comprehension is the ability of the children to read a sentence and understand the meaning of it. It is ability to observe the letters and process them into a word. Reading comprehension is not only the ability to recognize or understand a single word, it is the ability to recognize word, sentences, paragraphs, and to make the sense of overall meaning.
Benefits Of Reading:
Reading is a part of every children from the moment they step into their school. Reading benefits children in many ways. Here are a few:
1. Mental Stimulation:
Many studies show that staying mentally stimulated reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia, this is because of the fact that keeping the brain active and engaging it always prevents the brain from losing the power. Just like any other muscle in the body, brain also require physical activity for the proper functioning and the health. Doing puzzles, and games like chess, and reading are the helpful activities for the cognitive stimulation.
2. Reduces Stress:
Studies suggest that reading reduces the stress by 68 percent. Children might have academic stress all throughout the day in their schools, this will slip away when they lose themselves in a great story. A good story can distract the minds of your kid and put them into the present situation, draining the tensions away and helps them to have some relax.
3. Knowledge:
Everything we read can help to fill our mind with the bit of information. The knowledgeable kids are well equipped to handle challenge in their life. Knowledge will reside with your child for the entire life.
4. Improves Memory:
Reading the story book makes your kids to remember the characters, background, ambitions, history and various sub plots that make them move throughout the story. Brains can remember all these things with the ease. Every new memory that we create will strengthen the existing ones and stabilizes the mood.
5. Improves Writing Skills:
Exposure to many different books makes your child to be good at the vocabulary. Observing the fluidity, and writing style of the other authors may influence the writing of your child.
6. Improves Focus and Connection:
The internet connected world making both the kids and the adults do multitasking. Keeping the screens in hand, doing the homework and making the interaction with the others may put your child at the risk of stress and lowers their productivity.
When the kids are engaged with a good story, they forget the world around them and make them to immerse in the detail of the subject. Make your child to read for about 15-20 minutes before the bed time and observe the improvement in their concentration.
How To Improve The Reading Skills Of A Child?
Here are a few tips to improve the reading skills in your child:
1. Read Together Every Day:
The best thing that you can do for your child is to read along with your child. If your child is a reluctant reader, read out for your child depending on their age. Select some age appropriate interesting books for your child. Set some reading time for your child every day.
2. Make Reading Fun:
Children do not improve their skill of reading rapidly, if they feel it a daily chore. Try to make their reading a fun activity by being more creative.
For example, if your child love to read the mysteries, settle down with some spy book and flashlight. This can help to increase their interest in reading.
3. Select Age Appropriate Books:
Make sure that your child gets lots of practice with the simple books. They should recognize at least 90 percent of the words without any help. Stopping for a word more often makes the kids to lose the focus and grip over the story.
Whenever your child is ready for the transition from the picture books to the chapter books, try scholastic’s Branches Books that helps to bridge the gap for the growing readers.
4. Help Your Kids To Find The Books They Love:
Sometimes reason for the low reading comprehension arises from the fact that the children are not interested with what they are reading. Many children say that they can read more, if they could find an interesting book. The thumb rule for a better reading practice is to make your child to read something simple and they actually like to read.
5. Interact With Your Child While Reading:
Don’t just read sentences from the book while you are reading a book for your child, interact with them while reading. Ask out while reading the story and point out what’s happening in the pictures. Discuss with your child what is going to happen next and know the experience of your child with the each character. Let your child to explore why they are doing and what they are doing.
This way increases the reading comprehension of your child and strengthens the bonding with your child.
6. Help Your Child To Write:
Ask your child to prepare the groceries list and a thank you note to their grandma. Encourage your child to keep a note of special things that happen at the home. Allow your child to use the letters and the sound patterns that they are using in their school.
7. Make Reading a Part Of Daily Routine:
If you wish to make your child good at the reading, occasional reading won’t help to make them a good reader. Make your child to read at a specific time daily. Make them read a story before their bedtime which will be more beneficial.
8. Make Your Child Read Labels:
Take out every opportunity to make your child good at reading. Reading signs and logs will help your child to understand that the symbols have the meaning. For instance, you can allow your child to figure out some signs on your way to the grocery store. You can ask your child to find out the items and their packing details.
9. Develop The Library Habit:
You can make your child to read more by taking them to the library for a few weeks to get something new and interesting for your child. The libraries offer some appealing reading programs for your child that can further enhance their interest in the reading.
10. Figure Out The Reading Problems:
Teachers can not find out the reading problems with your child till they become severe. It is your responsibility to know whether your child could be able to identify the unknown words as per the context and clearly understand what they read.
11. Help Your Child To Overcome The Reading Problems:
Some children take the group setting as the opportunity to mask their lack of reading skills and some others hesitate to seek out the help. Don’t wait until the problems turn more serious. Intervene at the right time and help your child to overcome the difficulties with the reading by making them to read in front of you.
Inabilities can not disappear as magic. The children who are recognized earlier and treated the proper way can become good readers. Ensure that your children get right help and inputs from the teachers, tutors, or learning centers as soon as you discover the problem.
12. Lead By Example:
This is one of the best ways to increase your child’s reading skills. The best way to encourage your child is to lead by the example. Parents are the good role models for their children. They are more likely to imitate the behavior that you display. If your child sees you reading book every night before you sleep, they like to do the same. When the kids see that you read to refresh your brain, they like to do whenever they feel stressed or bored.
13. Use Reading Examples Outside The Books:
There are plenty of ways to encourage your child to read the books. Without opening the book, you can make your child to improve their reading skills.
Here are a few techniques that you can use to help your child to improve the reading skills.
• If your child wishes to go to a movie, ask them to pick the convenient times.
• If your child loves to help you in making dinner, ask them to read out a good recipe from the cook book.
• Encourage your child to read out the road signs, weather reports, store hours of operation, or emails from your family members.
14. Incorporate Reading Into Activities:
Incorporating reading into the activities that your child loves and making them to realize how reading is an integral part of their every day life will encourage your child to improve their reading skills.
15. Patience Plays a Role:
Remember that every child is different. But, as a parent it is very easy for you to get into the frustration with your child due to the lack of skills. Don’t compare the abilities of your child with the other child which makes you to worry more. Each kid can improve the skills at their own pace and it does not mean that they are not sharp.
16. Supplement Their Class Reading:
This is one of the best tips for improving your child’s reading skills. If your child’s class is running on a specific theme, look for some easy magazines and books for your child on the same topic.
Some prior knowledge on the specific concept will help your child to enhance their reading comprehension and classroom texts.
17. Use Aids That Help With The Reading:
To assist your child in reading, use the textbooks, computer games, books on tape and other materials available in the store. Games are the great choice as they give your child some fun while working on the skills.
18. Surround Your Kid’s Room With Attractive Reading Material:
The first thing to do before wishing to improve the reading skills of your child is to make them to read. Tempt your kid with magazines and story books as per their age. Have a large supply of the appealing books and place them in cars, bedrooms, living room, and near by the TV.
19. Have The Family Reading Time:
Establish 15-20 minutes of reading time when every one in the family are quite seeing you reading will make your child to get some inspiration. A 15 minutes of reading can help your child to gain the efficiency.
20. Try Audio Books:
Let your kids to listen the audio books in the car or in their room before they sleep. Audio books can make the reluctant reader to foster some love for the books. Utilize the free time of your child and play some audio books and encourage them to follow the text with their eyes. This helps them to learn many new words.
21. Encourage Your Child To Write:
Writing helps the child become a good reader and reading makes them become a better writer.
Use a chalkboard or a family message board as a great way to make your child involve in the writing activity. Keep all the writing supplies in the reach of your kids. Ask your child to write the stories of your family outings and the other activities. Respond to your child’s writings and don’t concern with the spellings. Over the time you can help your child to learn to spell correctly. The only encouraging thing that parents can provide is the appreciation for their efforts.
22. Make Your Child To Write Their Own Diary:
Encourage you kid to write their own diary by including the things that make them happy or the inspirations things that they have observed in someone. Writing the diary is a great way to record the great memories of their life. Diary writing stimulates the expressions of the children and helps them to think out of the box.
Reading Activities For The Children:
Here are a few activities to improve the reading skills of your child:
1. Guess The Object:
This is a fun game to demonstrate the power of description. Make a hole in the box that is much enough for the kids to pass their hands. Place an object in the box and allow your child to describe the characteristics of the object and allow them to guess what it might be.
2. Role Playing:
This is a great way to encourage the empathy and perspective taking in your child. Role playing encourages kids to learn some situation specific vocabulary. For example, if your kids plan to play the doctor patient role play, they try to gather the vocabulary related to medicine.
3. Treasure Hunt:
This activity helps kids to realize the importance of reading. Hide the toys, gifts, or chocolates in different parts of their house. Write down the clues about their location on the piece of paper. Make your child to read the question aloud, answer and find out the object.
4. Match Pictures And Their Words:
This activity helps your kid to recognize the pictures and their names. Arrange all the pictures around your child and write the names on the flashcard. Ask your child to place the flash card on the picture matching it.
5. Word Search:
Write down the letters of various words in a grid and ask your kid to make out the words as much as they can and write them on below the grid. This activity encourages the children to build the great vocabulary and enhance their reading skills.
6. Dictionary Making:
This is one of the best methods of developing reading skills for a child. A dictionary is a good learning tool. This is especially great when your child makes their own dictionary.
Put several sheets of paper together to make a booklet. Ask your child to write a new word at the top of each page and ask them to look for an image that describes the word and ask them to paste it in the respective pages.
7. Fix The Paragraphs:
Newspapers are the form of best communication with the outside world and you can get lot of learning activities from the newspapers.
Clip out the interesting paragraphs from the stories inside the newspaper and cut those paragraphs apart. Ask your child to read and put the paragraphs together in order.
In conclusion, the first step the parents should follow before making their child good at something is to recognize the areas that make them to lag in the specific skill and sharpen them. Start to improve the reading skills of your child right from the childhood to help them handle the demands of the school curriculum with ease.
