Reading Skills are Critical

Helping your child learn to read is one of the best investments you can make in his or her education. Nothing else will have as great an impact on future learning. A child who can read can learn and study independently, while one who struggles to read and comprehend will struggle in every subject. School success begins with acquisition of reading.

Learning to read is hard work, though, and it doesn’t come easily. In order for a child to develop as a reader, he or she will need to practice several skills:Becoming a reader involves the development of important skills, including learning to:

• Listen and discuss stories read aloud
• Identify letters and letter patterns
• Connect written and oral language to decode words
• Read often, until decoding is an automatic process
• Expand vocabulary
• Use new words in conversation
• Understand what has been read

Parents play a vital role in reading development. You can help your child practice his or her reading skills at home, on the road, in stores, and anywhere you are. Here are some easy things you can do:

• Help them learn the alphabet. Name the letters and have your child identify them. Recite the alphabet in the car. Letter recognition starts the process.
• Practice sounds. Sing songs, recite poems, and create your own. When you read signs, point to the word and to individual syllables, so your child can see the patterns and how sounds are spelled. Help your child learn the sounds of language.
• Point out the words that are all around us, and how they help you. Read road signs, cereal boxes, labels, toy instructions, etc. aloud to your child. Demonstrate that reading skills are critical.
• Read aloud to your child.
• Listen to your child read. Resist the urge to correct everything, but be read to help when he or she falters.
• Read on your own. Children who see their parents reading for pleasure are more likely to read for pleasure themselves.
• Turn off the television, computer and cell phones while you are reading with your child. Eliminate distractions.
• Discuss what you are reading, even things you read on your own. This reinforces the idea that reading provides information and entertainment.
• Subscribe to a newspaper. You would be amazed at how much your child will absorb from it.
• Visit the library regularly. Let your child choose his or her own books.