While not everyone agrees that reading is one of life's pleasures, few would dispute that reading is an essential skill for a rich and full life.
Certainly, without learning to read well, schooling becomes a lot more challenging. If you're not a good reader and writer, you will encounter many hurdles in a school environment.
Becoming a good and confident reader also brings many advantages. When you read, you learn about yourself, and you learn about the world. It's also an excellent way to lose yourself. People often talk about that when they read a good book. There's a whole host of benefits that come with being a good reader.
Most children learn to read and read well. However, too many children struggle and become adept at avoiding reading because they find it difficult. To become better at anything, we have to do more of it; therefore, it is critical to support struggling readers to persist with reading.
How to ease frustration when your child's learning to read
Many caregivers enjoy helping children learn to read. But some find this experience a source of anxiety and frustration, leading to negative attitudes to reading, which can be destructive. One reason learning to read can be a tense time for caregivers and children is that help is not always helpful.
Unless you have learnt how to teach children to read, it is unlikely you will know how to do it. You may have a vague memory of how you learnt or what your teachers and caregivers said to you. Despite your best efforts, though, some of what you do as you support your child has the potential to turn them off reading. Home reading, far from being a pleasurable experience, can be a time of tears, anxiety and frustration, and that's not just for the child!
My new book, Helping children become better readers, can help parents, caregivers, teachers and aides to identify the reading behaviours (some good, some poor) of a child and take appropriate action.
It also includes suggestions to promote vocabulary development. There is a strong correlation between vocabulary development and reading. We know that children who know more words are better readers. They read more, and more easily, because they know more words and, therefore, learn more words.
