There are a number of steps you can take on how to help your child become a better reader and to support the reading habit once they are in school. These include:
How to Help your Child Become a Better Reader
Below are 5 ways to help a child become a better reader:
1. Read along with your child
Reading books with your children is one of the most important things you can do if you’re looking for how to help your child become a better reader.
For a little child, a parent could start off by reading a book to him or her for a set-aside period of the day and for a given time period, say 20 minutes of reading out loud. While a child is still a baby, practicing reading out loud to them should be part of a parent’s daily activity in quiet time. As they grow older and could read on their own, we should set a time for time to read. However, this would be best done when we, ourselves, also have something to read.
2. Take your child to Bookshop
Taking your child to bookshop or visiting the library together could help a child develop an interest in books. This has to be an intentional effort of showing them around and talking to them about the importance of reading. Aside from hearing it from you, you could engage the librarian or the bookshop owners to have a short dialogue with your child about the importance of reading. Asides from this, attending a book event where they hear people share their experiences with books they have read and how it has changed some aspects of their lives can be particularly inspiring too.
This kind of early exposure the best way on how to help your child become a better reader and this would spark their interest in getting to know what they don’t know.
3. Ask your child questions regularly
You should always ask your child for what they have read. This habit would help them transition from flipping through the pages to actually paying attention to what they are reading as they know they would share it with you afterward. It has been proven that those who teach others what they know reinforce the knowledge of such things in them. In the context of your child, allowing them to summarize to you would further make them understand what they have read and anticipate sharing it with you the next time.
4. Limit TV watching
Limit the amount and kind of television your children watch. Seek out educational television or videos from the library that you can watch and discuss with your children.
5. Create a reading time and place
Set up a special time, place for reading and writing in your home. A well-lit reading time and place filled with lots of good books can become a child’s favorite place. Keep writing materials such as non-toxic crayons, washable markers, paints and brushes, and different kinds of paper in a place where children can reach them.
