How to help with...reading
Besides being a must-have skill, reading can provide your child with hours of fun and entertainment. But how can you encourage your child to take an active interest in reading? In this instalment of Spark Island's 'How to...' guides, primary school teacher Sean Callery gives advice on how to nurture your little book worm.
In a nutshell
- Reading is such an important skill that parents are very keen for their children to learn it as early and quickly as possible.
- However, children don't always share this enthusiasm. It can be hard to learn and they need to feel that they can do it, and that it will help them have fun.
- The first valuable step you can take is to show that you are a reader. Be seen reading, and talk about what you read.
- Remember what you read. Books, newspapers, cereal packets, menus, TV guides, road signs, horoscopes, supermarket labels, instructions, signs - almost anything can be made into exciting fodder for your child's progress.
Here are some more useful ways to encourage your child's reading habits.
It's story time
There is a wonderful range of picture books in the shops and libraries which your child will enjoy looking at and having read to them.
- Talk about the picture on each page before you read it.
- Children love hearing favourite stories again and again, and they will often learn words to some parts of the story by heart.
- Let them recite the words while you point at the words on the page - you're teaching them that the words go from top to bottom, left to right. Pretending to read is an important stage in the process! .
Tell and read familiar stories (like Cinderella or Jack and the Beanstalk) and poems (like nursery rhymes). These are texts that your child will come across a lot and if she knows the story and names, it will help her recognise them as words. Reading to your child helps her to learn to read by showing her new words and ideas, and adding to the message that reading is fun.
Reading with your child
Once your child is at school and is being taught reading skills, you can help by spending a few minutes a day sharing a book with them.
- Let your child choose the book, even if you think it is too hard, or easy, or you don't like it - they will feel motivated
- They may become very attached to a favourite book, which can be pretty boring for you as you plod through it for the tenth time. Take a breath, and look at the pictures! Repetition is important in learning to read, and you need to accept this
- Boys in particular sometimes prefer to read information books rather than stories. As long as they are actually reading and enjoying them, this is no problem. Also, they come across a very wide range of texts in the classroom, so they will not be missing out on stories and poetry.
Hearing your child read
- Make it cosy and comfortable
- Find a time when you are relaxed, not thinking about the next job you have to do - if you are feeling pressured, so will your child. Maybe a glass of wine would help (you, not your child!)
- Look at the title and the pictures first. Talk about what will happen in the story
- Read the book, or the next part of it, to your child first. Then, you could take it in turns, reading a page or a sentence each
- Make it fun - use different voices when people are talking
- During and after sharing the book, talk about it. Say what you like about it
- Try to link the book to your child's own life. Have they ever done something that happens in the book, or met a person who is like one of the characters? If they identify with a book, they're more likely to want to read it
Three Ps for progress
When your child is stuck on a word, remember the three Ps: pause, prompt, praise.
- Pause: However frustrated you feel, count to 10 in your head.
It's important to give her time.
- Prompt: Read up to the word again (to put it in context). Ask what the first sound is (not the first letter). Put all the sounds in the word together.
- Praise: When your child reads the tricky word, or has a good go at doing so, tell her she's done well - it's something we all respond to! Don't worry if she substitutes a different word that still makes sense (like 'house' instead of 'home') - she's using the context to have a go.
Wait for the surge
If you feel your child is not progressing, first compare how she is doing with where they were a few months back. That should reveal how she's improved. Some children do not improve a little bit each week, but in great surges, followed by weeks where they seem to stay at that level. Do check it out with her class teacher.
As your child's reading progresses to longer books, and clearly does not need a regular reading session with you, switch to talking about what she is reading.
Some questions to ask:
- What could happen next in the story?
- What are the characters like?
- What is the problem that must be overcome (there will always be at least one in any story).
These questions can only be answered sensibly if your child understands what she reading, so you are then increasing her comprehension skills.
Where to next
The Guardian Children's Book Editor, Julia Eccleshare, reveals how to choose the right book for your children
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