The Top Five Tip For Improving Your Child's Reading And Writing Skills
By: Shawn Cox
Submitted: 2011-09-13 13:55:04 | Word Count: 693
It can be hard work getting your child to be come better at reading and writing, following theses 5 simple steps will help your child a lot
1 – Enthusiasm
Try to act excited about reading and writing. Even if you didn't enjoy reading or writing at school it's important that your child sees you being enthusiastic about these activities. Enthusiasm is infectious and you'll be amazed at how this simple technique will help your children feel motivated to read and write more often.
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2 – Success breeds success.
This idiom is so true when it comes to children doing well at school. Once children start to feel like they are doing well and making progress they automatically feel motivated to do more of the activity. So, ALWAYS make sure you praise your child's efforts when attempting to read or write. It's a known fact that it is far easier to criticise somebody than it is to find something positive to say, so your challenge is to always give positive feedback first BEFORE attempting to give ideas on how your child could do better. Of course, try to omit any negative comments altogether (this is easier said than done!)
3 - Ownership
Try to allow your children to have as much ownership as possible. This will in turn make them far more enthusiastic and self-motivated. For example, ask your child what they are interested in and what sort of books they would be keen to read. Then take them to the shop or library and let them choose their own books, with your guidance. The same approach could also be taken, for example, with writing pens/paper. As a special treat allow your child to choose their own special writing pen or writing paper. Just like adults, children love to feel important. By allowing your child these simple privileges their self-esteem will rocket and also their enthusiasm for reading or writing.
4 – Purpose
Your child will be far more motivated if their reading or writing has a purpose. For example, encourage your child to communicate with others via letters or email (e.g. thank you notes, invitations to a party, friends/relatives overseas, Christmas cards, Birthday cards etc). Before visiting a new place or before going on holiday you could try to get information on the town or the country, either from the library or from the internet, and then you could help your child to read all about it. Whilst on holiday you could encourage your child to write in a diary each day, so that when you got home you could refer to the diary when writing a recount of your holiday, or when adding captions to your photos in a photo album or on a PowerPoint slideshow. These could then be shared with friends and relatives.
5 – Audience
Try to have an audience in mind for your child's reading or writing. For example, tell your child that you are going to both read a special story to someone as a treat for them. The audience could be your partner, a relative or a friend. Explain to your child that before your performance you must both practise to make sure that the story sounds exciting and enjoyable. You could share the reading depending on your child's ability, for example, you could read alternate paragraphs or alternate pages, you could read the difficult words and your child could read the easier words. After practising and trying to encourage your child to read with expression, you could have the performance. You could even include props to make it more exciting, depending on the time available.
The same approach could be taken for writing. For example, tell your child that you are both going to try to write a short story for someone (as above). Again, you could share the workload depending on your child's ability. Once the short story is written your child could decide whether they want to just read the story to the audience or perhaps act it out with props etc. Most children love acting.
