5 Tips to Help Your Young Child Learn to Read
As a homeschooler, teaching my oldest child to read has been a journey. It has been trying at times, but has also been an incredibly exciting journey. Watching him go from sounding out each letter and sound to reading every sign he sees has been such a surreal experience.
Reading is absolutely a foundational skill. It opens up a world of opportunity and independence for our children. Getting the hang of it takes time (and tons of patience), but one day everything will click into place and those little ones will be reading like they’ve been doing it their entire lives!
Helping your child through this journey does not take a lot of money or fancy programs. All you need is a little creativity, patience, and, of course, some books.
Whether you’re homeschooling like us or just looking to support your child’s learning outside the classroom, here are tips to boost reading and comprehension skills for your elementary school student.
1. Read Aloud Everyday
Reading aloud is one of the most powerful ways to support developing readers. It helps them hear language fluently, introduces new vocabulary in context, and models tone and expression.
Try reading chapter books together as a family, letting your child draw while you read, or switching off who reads each page. Don’t worry if they want to reread the same books over and over. Repetition is reinforces important patterns.
Reading aloud is a low-pressure, calm way to practice reading while bonding with your child. Allow your child to be in control of the process. Do they want to listen to you read? Do they want to read it themselves? Would they prefer to take turns?
2. Ask Simple Questions While You Read Together
Stop to ask questions frequently. Discussing the reading is the best thing you can do to ensure your child is understanding what they are reading. Pause every now and then and ask open-ended questions. What do you think will happen next? Why do you think they did that? How would you feel if that happened to yo? Are all good places to start to interact with the literature.
You can ask questions about their favorite or least favorite parts of the story and if they agree with the decisions of the characters.
If you are reading a picture book you can always stop and discuss the pictures as well, which are often used to reinforce the meaning of the story.
I also like to stop and ask leading questions to help my son summarize what he has read and determine how well he understands/ remembers what he has read.
3. Let Them Choose What They Read
It really doesn’t matter what they are reading; picture books, chapter books, encyclopedias, graphic novels, the ads that come in the mail, it all counts! Letting kids follow their interests gives them a sense of ownership and joy over reading, which builds confidence and, most importantly, may stop reading from feeling like a chore.
Even reluctant readers are more likely to engage when they feel like their preferences matter.
Reading material can get expensive be sure to use resources like your local library or Kindle Unlimited to find reading materials.
4. Make Reading a Part of Daily Life
Practice makes perfect! The best way to improve reading is to do it regularly. Make it part of your daily routine. It doesn’t have to be a long time. Try starting with a few small books daily or set a reading time of 20 minutes everyday. When you’re done ask them if they want to continue. They might surprise you!
Try leaving books around the house or in the car so they can easily access them when they are looking for things to do. Or make reading part of bedtime or meals.
You can also read recipes together, signs at the grocery store, or road signs. There is reading material all around us and you are not limited solely to books. Show them the important role reading plays in our day-to-day lives.
5. Be Patient
I cannot stress enough that teaching reading to your child will take patience.
It’s a journey that all children will learn at different speeds. Some children may breeze through it, some will take a little longer, and, sometimes, they may just wake up one day and get it. Celebrate progress, even if it seems small. If they sound out a tricky word or remember what happened in a story, let them know you’re proud.
Part of being patient is remembering children read slowly when they’re learning. Allow them the opportunity to decipher the words and meanings for themselves and offer support when needed. If they are determined to figure a word out for themselves, give them the opportunity.
