If you’re worried that your little one is not able to perform well in their reading lessons, then don’t worry because you’re not the only parent.
According to UNESCO statistics, nearly 6 out of 10 children struggle with reading and math, which is why it’s important to make sure your child is strong in reading and comprehension lessons.
Even though literacy skills are essential for children, some aspects of reading can be difficult to master.
So, here are some proven strategies that can help your children overcome any kind of reading or comprehension troubles. Come on, let’s get started!
1. Make the Lessons Fun
In today’s world, you have to replace boring, conventional methods of teaching with something more fun, such as games and reading-based apps.
For example, you can allow your child to choose the kind of reading lesson they want to do or incorporate fun singing and rhymes along with the reading paragraphs.
Alternatively, you can make the paragraphs look like a play, where you enact some portion of it, and then you ask your kid to continue from there.
When reading lessons become fun, children feel much more comfortable in overcoming challenges. Moreover, a fun reading lesson ensures that your child feels less pressured to perform better!
2. Look for SWRD
Specific Word Reading Difficulty, or SWRD, is a common trait among children who find it difficult to read out loud smoothly. Even though they generally understand the content they read, they find it hard to focus on specific words and their meanings.
This condition is also common among children diagnosed with dyslexia. One systematic approach to this is to seek special tutoring for dyslexia that can try out a phonics approach to increase the child’s focus on each word. Children who are taught the phonics method of reading out loud can sound out words.
Another method of crossing SWRD hurdles is by teaching the child the meaning of the word and slowly showing them the pronunciation.
3. Create a Safe Space
Remember, as a parent, you play a very important role in how your child learns reading and writing. If you don’t create a safe space where your child is allowed to make mistakes, they’ll constantly be uneasy and feel afraid to study around you.
Make sure the environment is safe and warm. Sit down with your little one and tell them that it’s perfectly alright to make mistakes but that they should learn from it.
Even if you feel frustrated or angry, don’t direct it toward them. A safe reading environment encourages the child to go over their mistakes and rectify the errors.
Offer positive reinforcement and be their guide when you see them struggling with a particular lesson.
4. Talk to Your Child’s Teacher
Sometimes, your child may not be telling you the struggles they go through in school, be it related to academics or anything else.
If you see that your child is performing well in other subjects but has a problem with reading lessons, it might be a good idea to talk to their subject teacher about the problem.
Collaborating with your child’s teacher to pinpoint where the problem is. Perhaps your kid isn’t getting enough reading practice sessions at home, or maybe they’re distracted in school.
Whatever the reason may be, both of you should share information and exchange reading material and resources that can help your kid perform better in class.
5. Encourage Active Listening
Today, kids get easily distracted when trying to focus on their lessons. When it comes to reading or listening, they’re much more prone to look away or lose interest. This is why active listening is important.
Ask your child to read aloud the passages and listen to you attentively when you read them out loud. Active listening and reading out loud can not only help them read faster but also improve their vocabulary and communication skills.
You can also ask your child to act out a portion of the paragraph to make things interesting. Incorporate guest listeners, such as other family members or even your kid’s plushie toys, as the audience!
6. Make the Lessons Tactile
Encourage multiple sensory alignments during the lessons, such as creating magnetic letters out of Scrabble tiles or writing down cue cards. When children can touch and feel what they study, they learn much faster.
Conclusion
With these proven strategies, you can improve your child’s reading effectively. So, start supporting your little one’s journey and watch them become pro readers now!
