About the Author: RJ dela Cruz is a Language Arts teacher at The Learning Place International, the sister company of Instant Reader.
I myself wasn’t an early reader. I remember staying in school for an extra hour almost every day in first grade because I was terrible at reading and needed to take remedial classes. When I had to read a word, I spent all my energy stringing the sounds of the letters together so that, even when I had achieved the correct pronunciation, I didn’t understand nor remember what I had read.
Thankfully, my teachers didn’t give up and personal practice improved my reading skills. Who would have thought that-- fast forward to several years later—I’d become a Language Arts teacher helping kids with reading comprehension and grammar?
Now, as a teacher, I motivate kids to read through several ways. The use of stories is one of them.
Expose your kids to stories they like.
You may be one of those parents who stuff their child’s room with scholastic books hoping hopelessly that he/she will one day march to the shelves, pull out a book, and turn to a reading wiz. Dear you: that’s not very likely. However, while there is no perfect recipe to encourage your child to read, here’s one that worked several times in my experience: expose them to stories they like. Here’s why.
Kids love stories. Have you ever seen your child laugh incessantly while watching a cartoon? Cartoons are stories! Has your child ever bugged you with questions on what you’re doing, where you are going, or whom you’re going out with? Your child is actively seeking a story! Storytelling is an undisputable teaching tool. And although it doesn’t automatically result in an interest in reading, it does expand your child’s learning and curiosity. Plus, you’re developing your child’s listening skills.
Kids are curious. And supporting their curiosity makes them more curious and more open to learning. When I noticed my nephew’s interest in dinosaurs, we watched Youtube videos of dinosaurs together, and I bought him a Dinosaur Encyclopaedia. He was immediately reading about the body features and diet of spinosaurus, triceratops, and other creatures that lured him to read more despite the difficulty of pronouncing their names.
Kids seek answers. When I picked up the first novel I’ve ever finished, it was because my sister said it was a good story and I wanted to know if that was true. I had a problem and I had to read to solve it. Likewise, when you take the time to listen to the things your child asks about and expose him/her to reading materials that talk about them, he/she is already motivated.
Knowing your child’s interests is a good first step to encourage him/her to read. However, just like the big problem I had as a child, just putting the sounds of letters together gave me too much stress that I absolutely hated reading.
Instant Reader™ saves children from this stress by focusing on phonemics instead of the alphabet Find out more about this here: Are You Saying that Teaching the Alphabet is All Wrong. Instant Reader™ also infuses fun into learning to engage kids and keep excited them as they learn.
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