The 4 Keys to Developing Great Reading Skills in Our Kids

Source

Reading is a fundamental skill that will lay so many different foundations for our children. From academic success to lifelong learning, we should foster an appreciation and love for reading in our children. But we need to understand the keys to developing strong reading skills in our children. Let’s show you some methods.

Understand the Three Components of Fluency

Creating a strong foundation for our children can be around three essential areas. The three components of fluency in reading aloud are accuracy, reading speed, and something called prosody, which is the rhythm or intonation of the speech. Many people are now using AI to power voice prosody, which can serve as a handy reminder of how your child should sound like they are progressing. When we understand how accuracy, reading speed, and prosody can work together, we can see which areas need more focus.

Encouraging Questions and Discussions

If your child comes home with the book and there’s a lot of kickback because they don’t want to read for whatever reason, it can seem like a race to the finish just to get it out of the way. We should foster a curious mindset. It’s not just about setting aside time to read but also putting aside more time to engage in discussions about the character, wording, plot lines, and their opinions on the narrative. We all, as adults, know how to read, but we don’t necessarily know how to read between the words. This is what is commonly known as critical thinking. Children are naturally curious, which is why engaging in discussions about the subject matter will help encourage a deeper sense of meaning for the child.

Create a Reading-Friendly Environment

If your children only read in school, they will associate reading with academia, a bad environment, being forced to read, and all other negative connotations. Granted, there will be things that our children don’t want to read, but at home, we can set up a cosy reading area with a variety of age-appropriate books. We should make reading a positive and enjoyable experience by associating it with the simplicity of warmth and comfort. This is something we could all benefit from. A little reading corner can help us switch our brain into reading mode every time we approach it. Much like our bedroom should be a place for relaxation and sleep, the same thing should apply to our reading.

Visit the Library

It’s not just about the words they read but about the feel of the book, the atmosphere, and the environment that can encompass them and contribute to a great appreciation of literature. Libraries provide an array of resources to fuel their reading journey, and regular trips should be a family affair.

There are so many skills we need to teach our children to give them a solid head start, such as teaching them healthy eating habits, but we also need to remember that reading is not just about understanding the formations of letters but the deeper meanings and context. By laying a solid strategy into your parenting approach you will be setting them up for life.

This is a collaborative post.