University of Kwazulu-Natal

Help Your Child Learn To Read Reading Tips For Families

Bonisiwe Shabane
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help your child learn to read reading tips for families

Parents often ask how they can help their children learn to read; and it’s no wonder that they’re interested in this essential skill. Reading plays an important role in later school success. One study (opens in a new window) even demonstrates that how well 7-year-olds read predicts their income 35 years later! Here are 11 practical recommendations for helping preschoolers and school-age students learn to read. Sometimes, parents are told early teaching is harmful, but it isn’t true. You simply can’t introduce literacy too early.

I started reading to my own children on the days they were each born! The “dangers of early teaching” has been a topic of study for more than 100 years, and no one has ever found any convincing evidence of harm. Moreover, there are hundreds of studies showing the benefits of reading to your children when they are young. You don’t need a Ph.D. to raise a happy, healthy, smart child. Parents have been doing it for thousands of years.

Mothers and fathers successfully teach their kids to eat with a spoon, use a potty, keep their fingers out of their noses, and say “please.” These things can be taught pleasantly, or they can... Being unpleasant (e.g. yelling, punishing, pressuring) doesn’t work, and it can be frustrating for everyone. This notion applies to teaching literacy, too. If you show your 18-month-old a book and she shows no interest, then put it away and come back to it later. If your child tries to write her name and ends up with a backwards “D,” no problem.

No pressure. No hassle. You should enjoy the journey, and so should your child. Last year, I spent lots of time with our brand new granddaughter, Emily. I drowned her in language. Although “just a baby,” I talked — and sang — to her about everything.

I talked about her eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and fingers. I told her all about her family — her mom, dad, and older brother. I talked to her about whatever she did (yawning, sleeping, eating, burping). I talked to her so much that her parents thought I was nuts; she couldn’t possibly understand me yet. But reading is a language activity, and if you want to learn language, you’d better hear it, and eventually, speak it. Too many moms and dads feel a bit dopey talking to a baby or young child, but studies have shown that exposing your child to a variety of words (opens in a new window)...

If you have a reluctant reader at home—or a child who simply does not enjoy reading—you are not alone. In fact, a study of 9.9 million students by Renaissance Learning found that more than half of all the students read less than 15 minutes per day. And, when this happens, researchers say it puts young people at risk for reading challenges and literacy concerns, especially because reading gains can fall to below average when kids aren’t regularly engaging with books. Reading for pleasure is not just about literacy, though. It can impact other areas of academics, too, says Niyoka McCoy, EdD, chief learning officer at Stride, Inc. “Reading for pleasure in early childhood has a significant impact on cognitive test results in adolescence, including improvements in academic achievement, memory, speech development, comprehension, and verbal learning.”

To help bolster your child’s daily reading time, sometimes it takes a little creativity—and maybe even a bit of mischief—to make reading fun and build up those minutes. Here are 13 ways to get your kids to read that do not involve forcing them to sit down with a chapter book. Plus, these tips might just help foster a love for reading that they can carry with them into adolescence and beyond. Make stories come alive by tying them to hands-on fun, suggest McCoy. “Reading Charlotte’s Web? Visit the local petting zoo to meet farm animals.

Reading Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs? Watch the movie afterward and cook up a spaghetti night. These kinds of connections help stories stick—and make reading feel like an adventure.” She says you can change the narrative and reignite a love for reading in your child. But it’s crucial to act now to reverse any reluctance to read. “Reading regularly isn’t just about test scores; it also helps children build empathy, creativity, language skills, and confidence.”

Engaging in literacy activities at home can help develop your child’s reading ability, comprehension and language skills, and improve your child’s interest in reading, attitude toward reading, and focus. Activities families can do at home to foster early literacy development include joint reading, drawing, singing, storytelling, reciting, game playing, and rhyming. When joint reading, you and your child take turns reading parts of a book. When reading, ask your child to connect to the story. Have them tell you more about what they are thinking. You can use their interests to choose books.

Give positive feedback and ask open-ended questions during joint reading to boost interest and critical thinking skills. For young children, nursery rhymes are especially helpful for language and early literacy development. Play audiobooks or read aloud at home to increase the amount of language your child hears. Hang different kinds of print around your house. Label objects in your home.

This can show the importance of language, reading, and writing. Help your child build background knowledge on a topic. Talk about everyday experiences, show your child pictures, and tell stories. If you use a different language at home, speak and read to your child in that language. This can help grow his vocabulary and make connections at school. It can also increase his curiosity and readiness to learn at school.

Learning opportunities in a home language will help literacy learning in English. Helping your child read at home is the best thing you can do to set them up for academic success in the coming school year. It’s not just about building reading skills or confidence in reading aloud. Reading together helps children expand their understanding of the world and develop habits that last long after school is out. We talked to four 2024-2025 Scholastic Teacher Fellows, a dedicated team of K–8 educators who collaborate with Scholastic through the academic year, to get their tips (and favorite reads!) for kids going into preK... Their insight reminded us that reading is an adventure and a chance to connect for kids of every age.

Take a look at recommended tips and books for your: PreK: Simple Stories, Easy-to-Read Lines For preK students, kindergarten teacher Milagros Sanchez-Cohen recommends keeping things simple and letting kids’ interests and abilities guide reading selections. Help students learn their letters with these printable coloring pages aligned with Spanish words for... Extend reading and learning fun after a trip to the zoo with these activity ideas. Reading can be a great way for children to relax and escape to a different world.

Here are 10 ways parents can help build and support a child's love of reading. Reading is good for kids. When books are part of the family routine, kids' language skills grow. Books can also help parents teach important values and understand difficult events in real life. They can read alone, or you can make it a family affair. Here are some tips to bring a love of reading into your child's life.

Model good reading behavior. If kids see you reading, they will be more likely to pick up a book themselves. There are many ways to enjoy reading with your child. Here are a few ways to make reading a fun part of your everyday life. 1. Develop family reading routines and rituals

Find a regular time of day when you can dedicate story time into your day. You can read in the morning, after school, or before bedtime! Making story time a cozy routine makes reading an essential and pleasant activity. The nutrition facts on the milk box, newspapers, recipes, maps, and game instructions all make great reading material if your child is interested. 3. Try books that reflect your daily experiences

Reading is one of the most important components of language learning and education. It forms the basis for learning how to read – only to learn from what we read. While most children gain the fundamentals of reading by the time they are in second grade, not every child develops the ability to read fluently. Reading fluency is more or less a skill that enables the reader to read quickly, accurately, and with expression. If your child is struggling to read fluently, there are many strategies you can use at home to support this critical, lifelong skill. Don’t worry!

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