improve reading skills 14 by Articles Exposed
Published Date: 20/04/08
Having the ability to read well is one of the fundamental building blocks we need to give our children. Too often we send our child off to school thinking that they?ll learn everything they need to know there. Granted, they do get the basics, but for things like helping a child to improve reading skills, a parent needs to take a hands-on approach.
When my daughter first began school I was looking forward to the day she?d come home and read a sentence or recognize a word for me. I quickly discovered that it was really hard work for her to read and if there was a way to improve reading skills geared towards five-year-olds I wanted to get involved.
Her teacher suggested that I read to my daughter each night. She gave me a list of books that contained simple words. She said that by allowing my daughter to see the pictures and words as I read them this would help improve reading skills. My daughter would begin to associate the written word with the picture, and she actually did.
Another idea that the she had that I wanted to try was to get my daughter accustomed to writing out simple words. Nothing beyond three letters to begin with, but we?d sit down together each evening and work on one particular word; it really worked. The next evening I?d show her the word from the night before and she?d almost always say it perfectly. This was an easy and effective way to improve reading skills that I?ve shared with many other moms and dads.
Of course my daughter graduated from first grade and moved onto second and then third. With each year I realized that I?d have to use new methods to improve reading skills at the grade level she was at. I always found it immensely helpful to ask the teacher for ideas and other parents as well. Some of the parents had older students so they had already worked with those kids and knew what was effective and what wasn?t.
Today my daughter has graduated from high school and is in college. She?s always read at a level or two above her grade level and I think a good deal of that can be credited to all the work we did to sharpen her reading skills when she was young.
It?s very rewarding and reassuring for any parent to see their child flourishing in the educational world. Intelligence is one of the strongest assets anyone can have and by helping to improve reading skills when a child is young, you?re giving them a priceless gift they?ll treasure the rest of their lives.
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