Good Parenting

There is a very simple saying that rings very true for those wanting to maximize their child’s success and that is reading is fundamental. In this instance the type of reading that they do is not important as the fact that they are reading. The more a person reads whether it is comics or the newspaper, the more knowledge they retain. Teaching your child to read and increasing their reading abilities will help them enormously in their adult lives. Again, there are a lot of ways that you can go about improving your child’s reading abilities but I will highlight those that I believe will have the most use.

Make time to regularly read to your child every day.
There are studies that show regularly reading out loud to your child will help them in reading comprehension, vocabulary and the decoding of words. From preschoolers to preteens, this exercise will increase their desire to read independently.

Surround your children with reading material.
Instead of surrounding the kids with video games or television, surround them with books. Make it so anywhere they go in the house there is some type of material that they can read. This will encourage your child to pick up one of the books and read.

Have a family reading time.
Make a time where the entire family can read together. Not reading aloud, just being in the same room and reading. If the child watches you read it will inspire them to as well.

Encourage a wide variety of reading activities.
Have your child read everything. Make them astute to road signs, menus, warning signs, any and everything that they can read. Make sure that even if they just tell you how far New York is that you congratulate them.

Develop the library habit.
Make the library an adventure. They should want to go to the library to get new books to the point they are actually getting excited. Taking your child to the library once or so a week will get broaden their appreciation for books and the type of material they will read.

Make sure that you take a number one fan approach to your child’s reading progress. You want to not just know what they are reading, but how well. You want to know if the book challenges them or is too easily to properly place them with the right level of book so they are constantly learning.

Look for reading problems.
Try to get a handle on any reading problems right away. If the child cannot say a certain word, work with their pronunciation and it will be easier for them to move forward. Some teachers don’t catch the problem until really late if at all, so you want to make sure you do what you can to stay on top of any difficulties they experience.

Use a variety of aids to help your children.
Use anything that will increase your child’s reading ability. Games, textbooks, special classes. Finding a variety in teaching methods will keep the mind fresh because it will seem so new to the child.

The key to success is to make sure you are their number one cheerleader. Children need and want your input, so show enthusiasm when talking to them about their reading. Enhancing their reading skills is a clear way to help maximize their success.