Helping Your Child to Read

Nothing is more important to academic achievement than being a good reader. Parents know their children best and can provide the one-on-one time and attention that will lead them to success in reading. Getting a child to love reading or helping reluctant young readers is a challenge faced by most parents.

Get them Started

One of the easiest and the most effective way to encourage children to start reading is by getting them interested in what the book holds. This is best done by reading aloud their favourite poems or the latest comic books. Once a child gets hooked on to a few characters, his own curiosity would take care of him getting genuinely interested in reading.

For this, the parents need to start off early. Even a toddler can see pictures and react to them if the parent is holding the book and helps the child associate each picture with a sound or an exaggerated expression. This kind of reading time should be planned without the distraction of a TV or the mobile phones ringing.

Once a child develops a particular interest, ask him to read a few pages to you. This helps to develop the child’s confidence and elocution and public speech talents. Further, the parents can act as the audience and make sure that the child reads and pronounces the words correctly.

Develop the library habit.

Entice your children to read more by taking them to the library every few weeks to get new reading materials. The library also offers reading programs for children of all ages that may appeal to your children and further increase their interest in reading.