“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr Seuss
This quote from Dr Seuss, taken from one of his most famous children’s books, perfectly illustrates just how important reading is as a life skill. Reading, whether it’s books, newspapers, essays or blog articles, can teach you about the world and help you make the most of your life. And that’s why an erudite nature is one of the most crucial character traits you can pass on to your offspring.
Children are incredibly impressionable and malleable when they are young. They pick up habits from their family and peers, and their innate curiosity will lead them to embrace new activities and stimuli. As they grow older, kids start to form their own preferences and habits, making it a lot harder to encourage behaviors like reading for pleasure. Therefore, if you want to teach a child to read, and to love reading, you need to start young.
Teaching your little one to read will open millions of doors for them in life. Not only will it enable them to gain satisfaction from the enjoyment of devouring their favorite novel, but it will also benefit them on whatever life path they choose. No matter what line of work your child ends up in, they will need to be able to communicate through the written word. This might be merely exchanging emails, or it might take the form of creating sales reports, business pitches, or writing articles for a local newspaper. The more able they are to articulate events, concepts, and feelings through words, the more successful they will be. A more advanced vocabulary and linguistic style will make them more capable of persuasion, empathy, and collaboration. Simply put, they will do better in life as a result of their reading ability.
So what can you do as a parent to teach your young child to read? When they are an infant, they can barely identify the letters ABC, let alone consume a lengthy tome about the Napoleonic Wars. These things take time, and you will have to gradually help your little one to adapt to this new skill. Of course, their teachers at school will be invaluable but the real learning happens outside of the classroom when a child is left to their own devices. Why not try spark for support if they are struggling to grasp the concepts.
So to help you out on your parenting journey, here are ten great tips for teaching your child how to read.
Buy them books
If you want to nurture a love of reading within your child, the best thing you can do is to buy them books. This way, they will simply be a part of their life and not something that is seen as boring or difficult. Start with picture-based books that only contain a few simple words. This will help them to grasp the concept of a word as something that conveys meaning, as well as giving them a head start on identifying certain letters and phrases. As they get older and more confident, you can start to buy them more complicated books with different characters and narratives. If you are unsure of which novels to buy your child, here are some of the best children’s books of all time to give you a bit of inspiration.
Read with them
Reading with your child is a great way to help them grapple with their literacy skills and understanding the meaning of different words. You can start by reading aloud from books, using different voices for each character to keep them engrossed and entertained. Reading out loud is one of the most beneficial teaching elements, as it helps them develop comprehension skills, grow their vocabulary, and actually hear what a fluent reader sounds like. And once you have read a book to your child multiple times you may be able to get them to read out certain passages themselves.
Ask questions
When reading to or with your child, it’s a good idea to ask them questions about the book. This is not to catch them out, but rather to get them thinking about the meaning of the words and what is happening in the narrative. Ask younger children questions about the pictures e.g. “Do you see that boat?” or “what do you think is happening there?” to get them interacting. FOr older children, you can ask more complicated questions about the motives of characters, e.g. “Why do you think she said that?”
Surround them with words
Books are not the only source of learning. It can help to surround your child with words throughout their everyday life to get them accustomed to reading all the time. Put educational posters about topics like space or animals up on their wall. Stick letter magnets on the fridge and give them stickers with their name on. Point out signs and adverts when you’re out and about and your child will naturally pick up a few things.
Use songs and rhymes
As well as being fun to sing, nursery rhymes and songs are an excellent way to help children pick up sounds and syllables of words, which in turn helps their reading. Play music in the car or while playing at home and sing along together.
Play word games
Word games are another great way to enhance your child’s literacy skills by encouraging them to think about different aspects of language. There are plenty of games online around letters or sight words and reading that you can play together.
Teach them core skills
Reading is not just a case of identifying different words and practicing how to say them out loud. There are five core components of literacy, and you should take care to include all of them in your teaching. These key skills are:
- Phonemic Awareness: The ability to identify different sounds and syllables within a word.
- Phonics: Understanding the link between different letters and the sounds they make.
- Vocabulary: The meaning of different words in different contexts.
- Reading Comprehension: Understanding the meaning of written words within the context of a story or informational passage.
- Fluency: Being able to read out loud accurately, quickly, and with comprehension.
Lead by example
Children look up to their parents and are likely to pick up any habits that you might have, whether good or bad. Therefore if you never read for pleasure and you spend your free time on your phone or watching TV, your little one is less likely to want to read for enjoyment. But if you present yourself as a voracious reader with a big pile of books on your bedside table, they will want to emulate you.
Use devices wisely
Devices like smartphones and iPads can be a force for good or for bad, depending on how they are used. They can aid learning in many ways, through the use of interactive games and videos, but this should always be utilized in collaboration with other forms of learning. Too much screen time can be damaging to a child’s health and cognitive function, not to mention addictive. Be vigilant about the amount of time they spend using smart devices, and ensure any online activity is productive and safe.
Be patient
The final tip is to remember that learning to read is a monumental task, and it won’t happen overnight. There might be certain skills that your child picks up quickly, while struggling to grasp others. Remember to be patient with them and never show frustration or anger. Always try to make the learning fun, and in time your efforts will prove successful.
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