How To Improve Your Child’s Reading With One Simple Technique

Whether you are home schooling your child, or whether your child is going to school, the one thing that is vital for their future success is good reading skill.

So what can you, the parent, do to improve your child’s reading?

Obviously there are many things you can do, but there is one, very simple and easy way to do this. The best way to improve your child’s reading is to make your child read out loud as often as possible.

Not only is this one of the most fundamental ways to get your child to read better, it is also a great technique to get your child to speak better and is also a great way to improve their vocabulary and pronunciation.

This technique works well for both very young readers as well as with older children or even with adults.

1. Have a “read-out-loud” lesson every day

Take the time every day to have a reading lesson with your child where they will read, out loud, a passage from a favourite book or magazine.

When your child encounters an unknown word during your lesson, you can either tell them what this new word is, if they are new to reading, or if your child has already learned how to use phonics, get them to try and work it out for themselves.

2. Let your child auto-correct themselves

By hearing themselves read your child will begin to auto-correct him or her self which is the key to becoming a great reader.

If you allow your child to read silently (what a pleasure that would be) too soon, they will be inclined to skip over words or simply improvise any words that they do not know.

However, if you insist that your child reads out loud they will automatically have to stop and concentrate on the words that they do not know. By doing this they will not only learn new words they will learn the technique of auto-correction which is what we do as adults and which ensures that we are good readers.

So, by getting your child to read aloud whenever they are reading at home (they don’t have to be quiet so as not to disturb the rest of their class), for as long as possible, their reading skill will increase dramatically.

3. Teach by example

Like with anything else, our children love to imitate us. If you accidentally stub your toe and let out an expletive in frustration, your child is likely to pick up on the “wrong word” and repeat it endlessly in amusement.

This can prove to be very frustrating for us parents, however, we can use it to our advantage. By honing in on our children’s innate need to mimic us, we can inadvertently improve their reading skills.

By you, the parent, taking the time to read out loud for a few minutes every day you are not only setting a good example, you are also showing your child how to read. By reading clearly, annunciating each word and auto-correcting yourself when you make a mistake or encounter a difficult word, you are showing your child the “method” to reading easily.

Also, by reading out loud as often as possible, your child will know that reading is important to you and is more likely to pick up the habit as well.

Reading out loud is one of the easiest and simplest techniques that you can implement. This one little skill, on its own, can propel your child towards a better reading ability and set them on the path to accomplishing their dreams.

by : Trinity Montecristo