10 Tips For Boosting Your Child’s Reading Skills

Reading is one of the most critical skills that children will need to develop for their future success. If your child doesn’t have strong reading skills, it can be challenging to succeed in school and beyond. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to help your child improve their reading ability so they don’t fall behind with their classmates or struggle later on in life.

In this post, we offer ten tips that will help improve your child’s reading skills!

Read to your child.

Reading aloud is an excellent way for children to develop an interest in books and literacy.

Not only that, but reading together also helps you bond with your child while exposing them to new vocabulary words they may not encounter every day. Make sure you choose appropriate age-appropriate material depending on how old your kid is! Young children will benefit from being read picture books, while older children may enjoy novels or more complex material.

Read together every day if you can!

Don’t have time to read with your child? Try listening to audiobooks on tape while driving in the car instead! This is a great alternative that won’t take up too much of your time but still benefits your kid’s literacy development.

Encourage your child to read for fun.

This is perhaps the most crucial step you can take! Reading for pleasure is an essential factor in ensuring that kids continue reading throughout their lives.

If children don’t have any interest in books, it’s unlikely they will want to pick up one on their own and learn from it. So make sure you set aside time every day or week when your family sits down together and reads something that interests them! This may be comic books, magazines, newspapers, novels – whatever floats your boat!

By exposing kids to different writing styles at a young age, you’ll help ensure they develop an appreciation for literature later on when learning about more complex material like Shakespeare or Dickens becomes necessary.

Reading should be fun, not a chore!

So make sure you encourage your child to read for pleasure so they see it as something enjoyable and not an assignment.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule in school, where students will occasionally have homework or assigned reading that is meant to reinforce what they’ve learned in class. These activities help children advance their literacy skills but can’t replace regular independent reading time at home!

Parents should also consider the benefits of letting kids choose books on topics they are passionate about instead of simply assigning them material based on age group or grade level.

For example, if your son wants to learn more about dinosaurs before bedtime because he’s obsessed with them, let him pick up dinosaur books on his own and read them at home! You’ll be surprised by how much this will improve your child’s reading skills.

Of course, it can also help review the material with your kid afterward if they struggle with comprehension or understanding new vocabulary words. This is an excellent way for parents to bond with their kids over books too, which helps encourage children to enjoy reading even more in the future!

Remember that learning doesn’t have to look like forced studying or memorizing facts from textbooks – sometimes, fun activities are all you need for improved literacy development!

Help your child learn how to pronounce unfamiliar words.

The ability to correctly pronounce words is a critical factor in improving reading comprehension. If your child doesn’t know how to say a word, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to understand what the sentence means or make use of it while writing their own material!

If you see that your kid has trouble pronouncing certain words while speaking, try sounding them out with them before moving on.

While this isn’t foolproof, and some children may not grasp phonics quickly (especially if English isn’t their first language), most kids will have no problem recognizing the sound each letter makes and the sound they make when combined by saying things out slowly at home.

This can also help improve fluency over time because kids are used to saying new vocabulary accurately.

A great way to get your child started with sounding out words is by reading them a book together where the characters sound things out in an exaggerated manner.

This can help children understand how specific pronunciation techniques work without even realizing it!

For example, if you take turns reading sentences from Dr. Seuss books like “Oh The Thinks You Can Think” or “Hop On Pop,” you might notice that the character only pronounces words when they’re stressed (i.e., Oh /t/he thinks you can think!/ I know it’s tough!).

Other times they say long vowel sounds more smoothly (I /p/ray this solves all our problems!). If your kid picks up on patterns quickly enough, they will be able to apply these techniques while reading independently.

Remember that children should learn how words are pronounced naturally rather than trying to “teach” them themselves, so always make sure your kid is the one who figures out new vocabulary first! Doing this can help improve their literacy skills even more and get kids interested in learning too!

Use books as rewards for good behavior or completing tasks around the house.

One of the best ways to encourage children to read more often is by rewarding them with books for completing tasks around the house or based on their good behavior.

This gives children an incentive to improve their behavior and makes positive reinforcement fun, too, because it’s something they’ll look forward to after completing tasks. Plus, many parents find that kids want to read even more once they start receiving these types of awards – so it’s worth trying.

A great way to encourage kids to read more often and improve their literacy skills is by giving them an allowance and allowing them to spend it on new books at the bookstore or library each week. This can also help your child learn how money works because they’ll be able to see what types of things are worth spending it on!

Keep track of how many minutes per week they are reading.

This is a good way to measure progress over time and help motivate kids to do better in school. If you notice that your child is struggling with literacy development, try keeping track of how many minutes per week they’re reading and encourage them to read more often by telling them about their progress!

If your kid isn’t able to finish a book or doesn’t spend the time reading every day, don’t be afraid to tell them what needs improvement and ask if there’s anything they would like help with while encouraging positive behavior at the same time. This will make it easier for both parents and children to improve literacy skills because everyone knows where they stand (and has an idea of what steps need to be taken next).

Remember that this step is important for all children, especially those who are underperforming in school because they might be struggling with literacy issues. The more time your child spends reading every day will also help them improve their vocabulary and comprehension skills faster!

This is a great way to encourage children’s love of books while improving their overall literacy development for several months – which means better grades for kids too!

You can have your children keep a log of all the books they’ve read during the week to ensure they follow through with their goals.

Don’t force your child into reading if they don’t like it or feel comfortable with it.

Reading can be a daunting task for children who find it difficult to understand the text on the page, which is why many kids avoid reading altogether.

If you suspect that your child might not like reading or has problems with some of the concepts involved (i.e., sequencing), take them to see an optometrist first and rule out any vision concerns before letting them start practicing these literacy skills at home!

Forcing activities onto children if they don’t enjoy doing them will only make reading more stressful instead of encouraging positive behavior over time – something every parent wants for their kid(s).

Don’t worry too much about how fast your child reads because this won’t affect comprehension levels either way as long as they take time to read everything and understand what’s going on in the text.

It’s also important to remember that many kids don’t always like reading until they find a book or subject matter that really speaks to them – which is why it might take some time for your child to get into reading as well.

Kids will enjoy reading more if there are books around the house with characters who look like them and their family members, too – because this will encourage positive feelings about literacy development at home instead of making it seem like an impossible task throughout each day. If children feel comfortable reading, then they’ll often enjoy it more as well.

Don’t get frustrated if they don’t get it right away; keep trying until they do!

Discuss what you read with them.

Ask questions about the story and characters, have them summarize what happened in the book, discuss differences between the book and movie versions of the story, etc. 

You can also encourage kids to talk about their favorite scene(s) or character in a book while asking them what made it so special for them. If you read with your child every night or on weekends, then they might finally get into reading because of how fun this activity is!

If children feel like someone cares enough to ask questions after they’re finished reading something, then the chances are that they’ll be more willing to do it again – especially if there’s some reward involved (i.e., spending time with family members).

Don’t criticize or correct your child’s reading mistakes while they’re practicing these skills, either, because this will only make them feel bad about themselves instead of helping improve their literacy development.

The more positive that children feel when it comes to learning and comprehending new things, the better! Remember that everyone makes mistakes along the way; what matters most is taking time to learn from them in order to get ahead (i.e., making connections between different pieces of information).

As long as you encourage your kids and praise how far they’ve come with their literacy progress over time, then there’s a good chance that they’ll continue working on improving these critical academic skills throughout each day/week/month for years to come.

Have a designated reading time.

Make sure to set aside a specific time of the day when your child can practice reading in an environment that’s free from distractions and interruptions.

Don’t worry too much if your child seems distracted during this designated time either; most children need quiet environments with limited disruptions (i.e., cell phones) for them to concentrate on reading.

Not only will this improve their literacy skills, but it’ll also help teach them how to focus on a single activity for extended periods as well!

Reading before bedtime can be a fantastic way for children to relax and unwind from a busy day.

Setting aside some time every night or weekend morning for reading together is an excellent idea because it forces kids to “chill out” instead of engaging in other stimulating activities that might keep them awake into the late hours of each evening/morning (examples: playing video games, using social media platforms excessively).

Create a reading nook in the home where kids can go to read by themselves or with friends 

Creating a designated reading corner in the home can encourage children to read more than they might have otherwise. It provides an inviting space where kids feel comfortable practicing literacy skills each day/week without distractions or interruptions (i.e., friends and siblings).

Since this place will be unique for your kid(s), make sure that you also ask their opinion when choosing colors and decorations so that they’ll enjoy using it as well whenever necessary!

Provide a comfortable reading environment with good lighting, a comfy chair or couch, and something to drink alongside a few books that might interest them in reading.

Kids will enjoy practicing their literacy development more if they’re able to do so in an area with minimal distractions around as well.

Keep up on new releases from favorite authors or publishers (e.g., Scholastic), so there are always new titles available in addition to old favorites.

Children are more likely to read if they have access to new releases from their favorite authors because it gives them something new to explore whenever they need a change of pace from their age-appropriate books.

While you can always keep up with the latest releases by visiting your local library, purchasing new titles online is an excellent way for kids to access these materials so that they’ll have ready reading material on hand!

If your children have an interest in specific topics or genres, it’s best to encourage them to read more about those things rather than force them into activities that they’re not interested in doing at all (i.e., sports) just because other family members enjoy participating regularly. Reading should be fun and enjoyable – for everyone involved!

It’s also important not to forget about old favorites either! Kids need these books, too, since there will be times when they’re feeling stressed out or overwhelmed with schoolwork, so being able to go back and re-read an old familiar story might help reduce this stress level while still providing entertainment at the same time.

Try taking your kids along when you shop for new titles (e.g., local bookstore) instead! Let children pick what kinds of books they’d like, and then read together when you get home.

Conclusion.

As you can see, there are many ways to help your child’s reading development. Whether you want to read with them each night before bed, help build a special reading nook in your home for them to enjoy whenever they’d like, or purchase new titles that are released every month from their favorite authors. These ideas could benefit children of all ages! 

Comment below if any of these strategies have worked for you!