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One of the most essential skills for children is the ability to pick up a book and read from cover to cover. Reading is a regular activity encouraged by parents and teachers at all schools, including this pre prep school in London, which allows children to develop their vocabulary and writing skills.
To encourage your child to read more by themselves, here are some top tips we recommend.
Continue to read all kinds of books
Varying your child’s reading material helps massively with their confidence. What you might be finding is a struggle in their skills actually turns out to be a lack of interest in particular genres. That makes a lot of difference when it comes to children learning to enjoy reading, and that’s a great thing for you to witness.
So, pick out a range of books that are at their suitable reading level. It could be a handful of picture books, a graphic novel, or a series of short stories. Similarly, it could be about particular themes - such as stories focused on a female protagonist, or magical stories - that interest them more.
Take an interest in what your child is reading about to see what could be a good place for them to start picking up a book on a regular basis.
Explore fun ways to introduce new words
Vocabulary development helps a lot of children in becoming more comfortable with what they know and what they don’t know. The more opportunities your child has to learn new words, the bigger the likelihood they will want to explore new words and phrases. It helps your child become more confident and keen to pick up a book so that they can find new words to learn.
Fun ways to bring in new words include plenty of word games, or games like Pictionary. You could also play charades, spell out new words by using paint, or spell out new words through the alphabet.
Talk a lot in front of them
It might seem like an interesting approach, but there is a lot in talking often in front of your child. Avoid “dumbing down” your language as it’s still really important to your child’s growth if they can hear exactly how you talk and what words you use on a regular basis. This encourages them to learn what these words can be used for in other scenarios - great for helping them to recognise other words in a book.
Reading should always feel fun and exciting, which is why it’s a very popular pastime for children. The more you can encourage your child to pick up a book, the better their progression in literacy skills. Try these approaches today to see how your child gets on!
