Ways to develop your childs reading skills

13 September, 2013

In the news this week there have been reports of a study carried out by the Institute of Education at the University of London, which looked at the reading habits of around 6,000 children in the 19 0 !ritish "ohort #tudy$ It analysed the links between how often children read and their test results in %aths, vocabulary and spelling at the ages of five, ten and 16$ Interestingly, the study found that reading for pleasure is %ore i%portant to a child&s develop%ent than how educated their parents are, and that those who read often during their Surround your children with childhood receive higher results in tests at age 16$ reading material 'dditionally, reading opens the door to a world of adventure, culture, diversity and knowledge, and is an activity vital to the develop%ent of curiosity and a love of learning$ #o, how can you help to develop your child&s reading skills, so they can en(oy these nu%erous benefits) *ere are so%e ideas+ Surround them with books !y surrounding your child with books and reading %aterial, both around the house and in their bedroo%, your child will be %ore inclined to pick the% up and get absorbed in the pages$ ,ith so %any other ga%es, electronic devices and progra%%es battling for your child&s attention, you will want to give the% every opportunity to e-plore the wonders of the written word$ Encourage a wide variety of books and reading materials 't .u%on, we believe that a part of developing strong reading skills is the ability to self/select a wide range of reading %aterial$ 0his doesn&t need to be li%ited to books, but can also include newspapers, %aga1ines, websites and other literature$ Set a good example "hildren co%%only copy the behaviour of their parents$ 0herefore, if they see you regularly picking up a book, your child %ay be %ore likely to do the sa%e$ 0alk to the% about what you are reading, the characters you have %et and what you think %ight happen ne-t, and encourage the% to do the sa%e$ Read to each other 2eading to your children can be a powerful way to get the% e-cited about stories and e-pose the% to te-t %ore advanced than they are able to read the%selves$ 's well as reading to the%, encourage your child to read to you$ !e patient with their %istakes and pay attention to the story so you can discuss it together afterwards$ 3ou %ight like to ask the% to su%%arise the story afterwards to gauge their level of understanding$ Take them to the library 4roviding your child with a wealth of books doesn&t have to %ean spending a fortune at the book shop$ 5on&t forget the trusty local library, which will enable your child to loan a plethora of books free of charge$ ,hilst you are there, you could also take advantage of the %any other services the library has to offer, such as internet access and 565 hire$ Consider enrolling them on a reading programme 0here are a nu%ber of supple%entary activities your child can benefit fro% outside of school$ In addition to football, dance classes and swi%%ing, your child %ay also benefit fro% enrolling on a reading progra%%e, such as the .u%on English 4rogra%%e$ 0he .u%on progra%%e ai%s to develop a high reading ability and nurture a life/long love of reading in each student$

0here is also a 2eco%%ended 2eading List to co%ple%ent the worksheets, offering hundreds of fantastic books for a wide range of interests and abilities$

http://www.meddybemps.com/ParentsGuide/ReadingSkills.html
Copyright 1998, 2013, Susan Jindrich

Take an active role in your children's development.

Use this site to help your child learn to:

Please note that Language, Listening, and Writing Skills contri ute to the de!elop"ent o# reading readiness$ Learning to read %ill e di##icult i# these skills are not present$ &here are also other skills and a ilities %hich "ust e de!eloped along the %ay$ 'e"e" er( the single "ost i"portant thing you can do to prepare your child #or school is to read to the" e!ery day$ Before learning to read, your child needs to: )e e*posed to %ritten %ords in the en!iron"ent and in %ritten "aterials$ Point out %ords in the en!iron"ent on %alks or trips in the car$ +a!e a %ell stocked li rary, either through purchase or #ro" the li rary$ ,i!e your child ooks as gi#ts$ Point out %ords in ooks as you read to your child$ Let your children see you read #or pleasure or necessity each day$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( ,o to Beantime Stories to #ind descritpions, age reco"endations and links to our t%enty4t%o original stories$ 5e!elop a lo!e #or ooks through eing read to and seeing others read$ 'ead to your child each day and let hi"6her see you reading other "aterial 7 ooks #or pleasure, cook ooks, ne%spapers, etc$8 'ead predicta le ooks that the children can 9read9 ack to you 7predicta le ooks ha!e a repeating phrase or re#rain 4 e*a"ples are( The Gingerbread Manand It Looked Like Spilt Milk).

 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( -ur story, But That

Wasn't The Best Part is a good e*a"ple o# a predicta le ook$ &ake your child to the li rary e!ery #e% %eeks$ Consider purchasing a #e% ooks on C5 or do%nload so your child can listen to the" %hene!er they %ant and can practice turning pages and keeping up %ith a story$ 'ecord stories %ith your phone, !ideo ca"era, or a recorda le ook such as those sold y +all"ark$ Let your child dictate original stories to you and reread the" to hi"6her o#ten$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( :se Story Starters #ound at the 3oung Writers Workshop to encourage dictation and original story telling

)e e*posed to the rhyth" o# the language$ &his %ill help the" read %ith so"e ani"ation in their !oice instead o# ;ust a "onotone$ /t also helps the" de!elop rhy"ing skills$ 'ead nursery rhy"es to your child$ :se #inger plays$ <inger play ooks are a!aila le at your li rary$ &hese ha!e the added onus o# helping to strengthen those #inger "uscles$ Share "usic %ith strong rhyth"s and songs %ith rhy"ing lines$ Play a !ariety o# "usic during the day$ Play classical "usic during nap ti"e$ =o>art is especially good #or de!elop"ent o# ti"e and space concepts and thinking skills in the rain$ 5e!elop good eye4hand coordination and !isual discri"ination$ =ake collages %ith your child and dra% %ith the"$ Pro!ide stencils #or the" to trace$ Cut shapes #ro" play dough and then let your child trace around the"$ +a!e a o* #ull o# di##erent si>es and colors o# toy cars #or hi"6her to sort$ Play a ga"e %hich in!ol!es cra%ling in so"e %ay 7good cra%lers "ake good readers8$ =ake or uy a #ishing ga"e %here children can #ish #or a certain color or si>e o# #ish or a certain shape o# #ish 7they can also #ish #or shoes, !egeta les, etc$8$ &hro% and catch alls %ith your child$ Set up an e"pty plastic soda ottle o%ling alley$ String eads, "acaroni, etc$ )uy a si"ple set o# lacing cards$ lace the cards together$ Let your child practice cutting %ith super!ision$ 'iding a tricycle or scooter helps de!elop coordination$ Putting together pu>>les is e*cellent #or de!eloping these skills$ and thinking skills$ 5rop clothespins into a %ide4"outhed ;ar$

 Play lots o# sorting ga"es 7sort socks in the laundry? sort kni!es, #orks, and spoons? sort lea!es you pick up on a %alk( sort crayons, 5uplos or Legos y color8$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&/0S( Sort pumpkins or leaves y si>e, shape, or color$ 5e!elop tracking skills$ 3ou can %ork on these skills %ith your child$ &racking in reading is the a ility to #ollo% a line o# type across a page #ro" le#t to right and #ro" the top o# the page to the otto"$ 'ead to your child daily and let the" see you tracking 7use your #inger to point as you read8$ Pro!ide lots o# ooks and the ti"e #or your child to e*plore the"$ Patterning acti!ities help de!elop tracking skills$ Make patterns with beads or blocks and ha e !our child cop! !our pattern" then !ou cop! patterns he#she $akes. Pla! hopscotch and hop through the pattern o% the ga$e. -utside, point out irds or airplanes #or the" to track across the sky$ -.L/.0 1C&/2/&/0S( 1rrange birds or pumpkins to "ake patterns or se@uences8$ )eco"e cogniti!ely ready to read 7through co"prehension skills, pro le" sol!ing a ilities, reasoning skills, and recall a ilities8$ +elp your child de!elop co"prehension skills y discussing a story together e#ore you read it( look at the co!er 4 "ake a prediction a out %hat "ight happen in the ook, and then a#ter you read it talk a out %hether the prediction ca"e true$ 1#ter you read a story, ask @uestions a out it to the child to see i# they understood$ 1sk your child riddles to de!elop thinking a ility$'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&/0S( 1sk Animal Riddles or ransportation Riddles$ +elp your child de!elop pro le" sol!ing a ilities y &sking probing 'uestions about how or wh! the! $ade or did so$ething and how the! could do it di%%erentl! ne(t ti$e. )ncouraging !our child to %ind $an! wa!s to acco$plish a task. Working pu**les together at increasing le els o% di%%icult!. 'easoning skills "ust also e de!eloped and you can do this at ho"e$$$ +sing si$ple $a*es" pu**les" block building" si$ple board or card ga$es. +sing recall acti ities like asking !our child to recall the e ents in a da!. )(plaining what !ou are doing and wh! things happen the wa! the! do.

)e physically ready to read 4 you can help y$$$ =aking sure your child is getting enough rest each night$ 0ncouraging 7 ut do not #orce8 your child to eat and to try ne% #oods$ =aking sure your child gets enough physical e*ercise each day$ 0*ercise %ith the"$ 3ou %ill oth e glad you did$ Aeeping up %ith physical and dental check4ups$ )uild a large and e*panding !oca ulary$ &alk to and listen to your child o#ten$ /ntroduce ne% %ords %hene!er you can and play %ord ga"es together$ 0*plain %hat you are doing and %hy things happen the %ay they do 7 roaden their kno%ledge through language8$ &alk, talk, talk to your child and listen, listen, listen to %hat they say and ask$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( &ry our play#ul "ethod o# introducing ne% %ords$ See( !ord Puppies$ :se our sa"ple lesson a out 1laska and create so"e o# your o%n$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( /ntroduce the %ords #orSpatial "oncepts and #pposites %ith our play#ul illustrations$

When the above skills have been acquired your child

ill:

)egin to recogni>e letters and you can help y$$$ Working %ith your child to #ind and na"e letters %hen they sho% an interest$ Looking at and talking a out the letters in your childBs na"e$ Playing letter lotto 7a )ingo type ga"e using letters8$ Looking #or the letter in %ords in a ook$ Looking #or the letter around the roo"$ 5o pattern poe"s %ith %ords using that letter$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( Learn to recogni>e letters through !isits to the Alphabet Soup "a$e$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( Learn to recogni>e letters 9at %ork9 in %ords and sentences in %issing &etter/Busy &etter$ +ear the sound and connect it %ith the letter$ Look #or a chosen letter in the %ords o# a story and say those %ords together$ 0ncourage your child to "ake the sound o# the letter$ +ang up a paper %ith a letter %ritten at the top and that day record all o# the spoken %ords in %hich you hear the sound o# that letter$

 Play letter lotto 7a )ingo type ga"e using letters8$ 'ead alpha et ooks together and e"phasi>e the sounds o# the letters$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( ype letters on an egg to create %ords %ith a chosen letter$ Speak the %ords to hear the sound o# that letter 7e*a"ple( ' as used n rat, #ar, and or8$ 'eali>e letters #or" %ords$ 1s you read to your child point out indi!idual %ords and repeating %ords$ <ind repeating phrases in predicta le ooks and point the" out to your child$ :se #ile cards to %rite a %ord on each card$ <or e*a"ple, %rite 9cat9 on t%o cards and 9 at9 on t%o other cards$ .o% you ha!e t%o "atching sets$ =i* the" up and ha!e the child "ake "atches$ 'ead alpha et ooks together and talk a out the %ords$ <ind kno%n %ords in other ooks$ 'eali>e sounds co" ine to "ake %ords$ 'ead pattern poe"s 7the sa"e %ord repeats in e!ery line8 and sound out the letters in the repeating %ord$ 'ead ooks %ith only one %ord to a picture and sound out the %ord$ :se %ord cards so the child can use the picture to "ake the sounds o# the letters$ 'ead stories %ith lots o# sound %ords like Mr. Brown ,an Moo- ,an .ou/$ 'ead alpha et ooks$ 'eali>e a %ord says the sa"e thing each ti"e you see it$ 'eread #a!orite stories so your child %ill get the idea %ords re"ain the sa"e$ 'eread stories your child has told you and you ha!e %ritten do%n$ Look #or the sa"e %ord in another sentence and read that sentence aloud$ 1sk your child to pick out the "atching %ord$ &hat %ill help the" reali>e that any certain %ord %ill always contain the sa"e letters$ /n the car, read ill oards, uilding signs, and tra##ic signs$ 'eali>e %ords go together to #or" sentences$ Point out to your child that each %ord has a space et%een it and the ne*t %ord$ 'ead to your child, point out sentences, and pause et%een sentences$

/"pro!e his6her a ilities to read through practice and positi!e #eed ack$ 0ncourage all e##orts to read, e!en a si"ple retelling o# a story$ ,o to the li rary together o#ten and let your young reader pick out ooks he6she is interested in reading$ Sit %ith your child and listen to hi"6her read$ 'elated -.L/.0 1C&/2/&3( See our Book Reviews

and Recommendations.