Learning to read can be a challenging adventure for some children. All the pressure and expectations from the teachers and parents can sometimes put a dampener on the excitement for your child. This loss of excitement can make children lose the desire to read at all.
Here are one tips to make reading fun and enjoyable for children when both you busy schedules mean less time and more pressure:
- Popcorn game
- Reading buddies
- Highlighting difficult words
- Flashlight reading
- Create a reading corner
- Impromptu relaxed reading
This is a fun way for children to gain confidence by reading the words they know, and passing on the words that are causing frustration. While reading a book together, you can take it in turns with your child to read aloud. When the one who is reading says “popcorn”, it is the other person’s turn to read.
We all have had times where an explanation of something made more sense coming from one of our peers or a sibling. That’s why a reading buddy can be great for children who are facing challenges with their reading. This gives you child the opportunity to practice reading without an adults watchful eye causing possible nervousness.
Grab an older book and a highlighter and have your child highlight every word one the page that he can read. After all the words your child knows are highlighted on the page, take a moment and ask your child to look at how many words he can actually read. This is quite a confidence booster.
A great ine for little boys! Before your child is too tired at the end of the day, take some time and read in dark room. Take a torch with you and read the book by flashlight.
Set up a ‘reading corner’ somewhere in your home. Let your child be a part of decorating it and picking just the right spot in your home for the reading corner. Make it comfortable by adding some bean bags or pillows, maybe a favorite poster on the wall or even some family pictures.
Take a break and just read to your child sometimes. This takes the pressure off them reading and also shows them how to use expression and punctuation in their own reading.
Sometimes all it takes to make reading fun is some imagination and a change of scenery.
