Literacy: Turning Foe to Friend

Hey parents! It’s been a while since that last stress article, hasn’t it? Well, while we definitely hope you’re using that two-parter to help your kids, here are more tips.

We now return to our academic series with another entry on how to help your child become a better reader. We have done several entries on reading, even alluding to the new educational belief that every discipline must eventually use ELA and reading. Well, we also understand that many children that are very gifted in other areas either struggle with reading or have anxiety reading aloud. This story is going to cover how to overcome some of the challenges that come with building reading skill and comprehension. Let’s get to the content, shall we?

Tip #1: Read out loud to your child, particularly when they are early readers.

This particular tip serves multiple roles. Most important of those is that the environment of reading is established at an early age and maintained. Early readers in particular have, in many cases, not mastered phonetics, let alone definitions and contexts. Reading to your child out loud is a fundamental building block in building their confidence, and can even set the precedent for making the home an academic “safe space”. Let’s take a look at what that looks like:

1. Set a specific time and space in the home reserved for reading. Not necessarily a library, but something akin to it.

2. Speaking of libraries, taking your child to libraries, bookstores, and other quiet spaces for one-on-one reading time.

3. Making sure reading happens at regular intervals during a given week.

4. Being sure to allow your child to ask questions during reading to make the experience more interactive.

Result: Your child, as an early or growing reader, has reading time in their schedule. This sets an academic precedent that is centered (at least in part) around reading, and provides your child with confidence in reading. They will eventually be inclined to start leading reading sessions.

Tip #2: Let your child pick books they are interested in. Coming right off of Tip #1 (as well as past entries), allowing your child to have an active role in the learning process will obviously motivate them. After enough sessions, you may find your child is very excited to have reading time, either when you read a book to them, or eventually as they read the books themselves. This can also possibly offset required reading for coursework they may be “less interested” in. When your child picks books they are interested in, they:

1. Display enthusiasm about reading.

2. Gain confidence in reading more quickly by picking up their own literary interests.

3. Provide a fundamental building block of making your child more deliberate about their own learning.

Result: First the reading, and then eventually writing, scientific design, and eventually your child is deliberate about forming all the elements of their education. It can all start with something as simply is letting your child build their interests in reading. Even if your child doesn’t become a Nobel prize winner (and they absolutely could), they at least will have built confidence in their reading skills.

Tip #3: Create a reward system for milestones reached. Well, let’s face it; kids like prizes. While different children are motivated by different things, it is critical to almost every child to be recognized for their efforts. A posted and agreed-upon rewards system will only encourage your child to read more. When your child is incentivized, they will:

1. Probably read at a higher rate. Be sure to ensure they are reading for enrichment and not for the reward. Integrate this into the rewards system, as well as making sure rewards are practical, and based on achieving more challenging goals.

2. Be excited about the idea of receiving the reward, and extra joyful when they earn that reward, especially when the reward is based on their specific preferences.

3. Have an early example of hard work being rewarding, that they can carry throughout their career.

4. Be connected to you even deeper because of the reward system.

Result: Your child is reading more, obviously. However, with a rewards system that is set up correctly, they are being challenged throughout the reward system. They are also, again, being deliberate about their learning process. We all know the real reward is their strengthening reading skills, even though they will tell you it’s the video game you got them as the top prize.

Tip #4: Encourage your child to read a wide variety of genres. We have talked about this in past blog entries for both reading and writing. Glad we can finally talk about this specifically. What’s your favorite comedy? What’s your favorite thriller? What’s your favorite mystery? You probably named three very brilliant, but very different works. The beauty of their difference is that they also invoke different kinds of thoughts. Becoming interested in multiple genres can only enhance reading skill and comprehension. When your child delves into multiple genres of literature, they:

1. Naturally learn multiple thought processes in approaching literature.

2. Learn multiple renowned authors from a very early age.

3. Understand that literature can be episodic, continuous, brief, or long, depending on the author and the genre.

4. Have deeper reading comprehension, obviously.

Result: Your child probably has not only improved reading skill, but also a deeper appreciation for reading. Understanding different genres, and having several preferred authors will have them keeping up with literature independently. Academically this allows them to navigate their reading assignments more smoothly and almost invariably leads to improved performance.

Tip #5: Set an example for your child by reading. Again, this is where we get back to you being your child’s number one advocate. While we won’t make any specific book recommendations, we definitely want to remind you that even if it sounds like your child is off in their own world, they’re always watching. As with everything else, the best leadership is by-example. When your child sees you reading, they will:

1. Often ask about what you’re reading, ask to read it after you, or alongside you.

2. Provide openings for you to have a “book club” of sorts with your child.

3. See that you enjoy reading, and aren’t just “assigning” it “like a teacher’.

4. Sometimes ask you to read the books they are reading for class or independently alongside them.

Result: At this point, your child will have the opportunity to bond with you with reading. And if your child is getting a lot of reading time at home, then reading at school will likely be less of a challenge than before. Your child will be well on the way to using reading to strengthen their knowledge in other disciplines as well.

That about wraps it up on how to help your child become a better reader. Again, reading is fundamental for strengthening knowledge in nearly every discipline. For more tips on reading, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you, and we will return with our next entry.