Improve Your Child’s Reading Skills All Year Long

The 2015 Kids & Family Reading Report by publisher Scholastic showed that 71 percent of parents name strong reading skills as a child’s most important skill. What, then, can families do to improve literacy throughout the year?

Here are a few ideas:

·  Read aloud at home every day - Literacy expert Timothy Shanahan has a colleague who calls this advice the “chicken soup” of literacy education because “we prescribe it for everything.” In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics asks its member physicians to urge parents to read to children, beginning at birth. The benefits include enhanced brain development in children and closer parent-child relationships.

·  Let children choose what to read – Let your children choose the books they read. Research shows that children who can pursue their reading interests by selecting their own books, fiction and non-fiction, are more likely to read them and enjoy reading more.

·  Take children to the library – It’s a no-brainer: kids will read more if they have more books to read. You don’t have to spend money on books; make regular visits to the library, where parents and children can choose from thousands of selections.

·  Schedule family reading time at home – Some families find that dedicating time to everyone reading—alone in silence or together aloud—works well for them. By doing so, parents show they “walk the talk.” Make sure everyone is unplugged from electronic devices.

·  Guide and support kids as they read – Kids of any age and reading ability can have difficulty with pronunciation and comprehension. Try to be available as your child reads. When he or she is done, take a few moments to talk about what was read.

Would you like to do all you can to improve your child’s reading skills? See "11 Ways Parents Can Help Their Children Read" and "How Can I Improve My Child’s Reading?", both from Reading Rockets.

“Literacy is for life” is a public awareness campaign of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, aiming to improve literacy for Pennsylvania children from infancy through grade 12.