How to help your child read or to improve their reading
Lockdown has had a negative impact on reading and now many children may be afraid to pick up a book in the fear of being teased, or they just don’t know how.
Reading can be fun and when you use your imagination it gets even better.
We spoke with former educator and tutor Joanne Trout on following the basics and using those building blocks from the start:
Here are a few tips on how to get your parents started in helping you.
∎ Ideally it is not to confuse children, especially when you take sounds. Parents can confuse children with letter sounds.
∎ Reading begins with a child’s name. Parents tend to write the names in capital letters, which confuses the child when they start school.
∎ When your child is at school where there is a mixture of English and Afrikaans, deal with one language at a time so that the child has a better understanding.
∎ With reading, do not put too much pressure on the child; each child learns at a different pace.
∎ Taking the time to read with your child. Introducing nursery rhymes from a young age is important for listening and reading at a later stage when they begin school.
∎ Introduce shapes to your child and let them read the names via play.
∎ Some parents will bombard their child with too many words; do this casually.
∎ If your child struggles with sound emphasis, show how your mouth moves with each letter and make flashcards with sight words. Sight words are single words which must be introduced one at a time.
∎ Do not just use only paper; reading can be learnt via play, as paperwork can be daunting. For example, combine a picture with the sound and let the child trace the letters in the sand or draw a picture related to the word.
Be consistent and not to forget to practise the sight words and to go back to that sight word or sound to move on to the next.
∎ When the child is reading, do not do several sentences. Break it up, separate the words and see if the child can recognise the word, and if not, you know the child has to work on that word. Children like to mimic and parrot read and they do not actually know the word and it is challenging to undo this.