How to Develop Reading Skills in Kids

With the advent of technology reading as a habit has almost disappeared. Everyone surfs the internet for news, information, and entertainment. Newspapers, magazines, and books hold a back seat. In fact, a very small fraction of the population is interested in reading or researching. Digital database and libraries have taken the place of libraries or bookstores. People today prefer to spend their time on movies, parties, internet surfing, social media and other such things. Very few of them actually like to read.

Why should we develop reading skills and habit?

• Reading has numerous benefits, especially for kids:
• It develops the concentration in kids.
• It helps in enhancing one’s vocabulary.
• It improves one’s language and pronunciation.
• It enhances one’s creativity and writing skills.
• It enhances comprehension skills.
• Reading also enhances one’s
• Knowledge on numerous topics and keeps one informed.

Books are one’s best companion, one can read to gain knowledge, to relax, to get answers to their queries and books help in spending one’s time in a productive way.

Some just love to read, whereas there are others who run away from books or studies. The second case is true for most kids, they just want to run away from reading books. So today let us talk about some ways through which we can develop and enhance reading skills in children. Here are some innovative ways to inculcate reading habits in kids:

1. Comics or storybooks: Provide your kids comic books and storybooks, as kids enjoy stories. Graphics and simple language in comic books also make reading interesting.
2. Internet: Kids of today are computer and internet savvy. Therefore they love to spend time interacting with social media and reading blogs.
3. The interest of your child: Know their interest and encourage them to read on those topics, if you find something interesting on the things your kid is interested in sending him, encourage him to tweet on topics that interest them. This will not only develop his writing skills.
4. Explore anything: It is not necessary that your kids need to read only school books to enhance reading skills. Ask your kids to read anything, anything like, what is written on posters, advertisement boards, menus and many other such things.
5. Newspaper and magazines: Encourage your child to read newspapers and magazine, they can read on topics that they enjoy, say sports, fashion etc.
6. Develop a reading environment: Set aside a time in the day for reading, all family members can do the same. They can read out stories to their kids or ask their kids to read out to them.
7. Library: Encourage your kids to take up library membership and read books on various topics.
8. Guide your kids: Track your kids reading skills. Find out aspects and problems that they face while reading. Guide and teach them ways to overcome these problems.
9. Reading aids: If your child struggles with reading, then take help of reading aids like audio CDs, computer programmes, and games.
10. Encouragement and care: Be positive and encourage your kids when they are doing well, show your enthusiasm when they pronounce words correctly, read correctly grammatically with adequate expressions.
11. Practice: Allow him to practice his reading, comprehension, grammar and so on. Encourage him to visit reading websites or websites with stories and e-books.
12. Games: Encourage him to play games which enhance reading skills, like word games, vocabulary games, pronunciation and grammar games. These games are available online, or in puzzle books, workbooks etc.
13. Audio tapes: Encourage your child to hear audio aids like CDs, audio books and introduce him to text to speech tools.
14. Consulting dictionary: Encourage your child to use the dictionary, it can be in the book form or online dictionary. This will help him to improve his vocabulary, writing and comprehension skills.
15. Connect reading to other areas of life: Encourage him to read things on TV, say news, subtitles of movies. This way he will be able to develop knowledge about the happenings in the world. Subtitle reading will allow him to comprehend different languages.
16. Conduct competitions: Conduct reading and writing competitions. Ask your kids, their siblings or friends to read or to write essays. Conducts quiz competitions on word meaning, grammar correction etc. All this will improve the vocabulary, comprehension and language skills of your children.

Parents who want to develop reading skills in their children can try out some of the tips mentioned above. Developing reading skills will improve your child’s vocabulary, grammar, comprehension and writing skills; it will also help your child to gain knowledge on numerous topics and issues, and it will also enlighten your child about all the things that are happenings around the world.

@Thanks