Teaching your child how to read

Children are usually more competitive in the classroom. They can see and hear what others are doing and achieving. This makes the kids want to be as good or better than their classmates. Online learning during this pandemic has eliminated this interaction and, as a result, many children lost the urge to learn to read. To parents, this often feels like an impossible task that leads to tearful children and frustrated adults.

If your child is having trouble reading or is losing confidence, change your tactics. Kids just want to have fun and there are many simple things parents can do to make reading fun.

Reading means reading everything around you, not just the contents of a book. Here is an example of a fun way to incorporate reading to everyday life:

• As you walk, ask your child if they can find five ‘A’ s. ‘A’ can be a short vowel like ‘cat’ and ‘A’ can also be a long vowel like ‘cape’. Change this as you like to make it fun. You may want to reward them for reading and participating.
• Use newspaper or catalogues and ask your child to cut specific letters/words. You can paste the cut-out words and letters on to a sheet of blank paper to create new sentences.
• Have letters/words of the day: every time they recognize the letters/words, reward them with something such as their favourite-coloured balloon or a small snack to keep them engaged.

One of the biggest problems that cause many children to lose interest in reading is when they are asked to read text that contains difficult-to-read or difficult-to-pronounce words. This is uninteresting and can be quite depressing for a child who cannot read slowly and follow the story. It is a good rule of thumb to never ask your child to read a text that contains unknown or unreadable words for the first time.

It’s always best to look at an individual word first and talk about that word and its meaning. What characters are included? What kind of sound do these letters make? Don’t feel stressed even if you don’t have time. You can always read to your child every day, usually at night as a bedtime story.

As a parent, it’s important to ensure your child’s education is heading in the right direction. Want more information or to book a free consultation with our managers about your child’s learning needs? Email us at admin@australiantutoring.com.au or check out our website at https://www.australiantutoring.com.au/ or call us at (02) 8592 8558.