How to introduce your kids to reading?

Wimbledon Day Nursery    

When your kid reaches nursery school, learning to read is one of essential life skills they will pick up. In every nursery school, the teachers spend time teaching children to become regular readers. They have a wide range of activities, strategies and other innovative techniques to develop and improve kid’s reading skills. These include::

●     Going with the child’s interests as they’re more likely to enjoy reading if it’s about something they like.

●     Talk about the pictures in the books by identifying keywords, images and phrases so they can learn visually too.

●     Look at the structure of the story. Discuss the beginning and end of the story and how the text goes from left to right.

●     Use signs as well as labels within the settings, for example, labels on furniture like the door, bed, chair, etc.

●     Kids are highly influenced by their parents, which is why it is advised to focus on your child’s reading skills right at home. Here are some essential tips for the parents to help kids to learn reading.

1. Make reading fun

Parents should try and make reading a delightful activity. Sit with them for as long as they need, and don’t force them to continue trying to read else they will ultimately lose interest in it.

2. Sound out

When your kid is reading to you and struggling with a word, try not to correct them immediately. Instead, help them to ‘sound out’ the word, and prompt them to use the sounds of related letters rather than alphabet sounds.

3. Avoid negativity

Try to avoid negative words such as ‘wrong’ or ‘no’ if your child makes an error. Perhaps say something like "Let’s read it together." and point out the letters or words. Make sure you keep on praising your child, to help build the confidence in what they are doing.

4. Regular practice

Set aside a specific amount of time each evening to spend reading with your child. Little and often is usually the ideal way to approach reading so make sure you at least spend a quiet 15 minutes with them before bed each night.

5. Variety

It is necessary to offer your child a variety of reading materials to help them learn new things. Try different types such as comics, pictures books, poems, magazines, and so forth, to give them the opportunity to develop further.