Fun Way to Improve Reading Skills for Your Beginning Readers

Our son Justin has been wonderful through his preschool. He has learned how to read phonetically when he was 4 years old. By the time he was in kindergarten, he was reading 3 chapter books a week. Now, there are many kids who are far ahead of him at same age. But he has been well above average in reading. So what's the problem?

When he entered his first grade, the problem was obvious. He can read fast enough, but his comprehension level was just not on the same level. I've tried discussing the story with him page by page as he read. But he soon tired of reading this way. So, what's the alternative? Well, something we adults do for fun.

How about a book club for 6 year old? Yes, a book club. My wife has called up several of Justin's kindergarten buddies, now going to different elementary schools, and organized a book club. Every 2nd and 4th Friday, they are to meet for discussion of a book they have read.

Every week, all the kids are assigned a common book. They have 2 weeks to read it either by themselves or with help of their parents. During the meeting, book can be discussed with adults leading the discussion, which in our case are moms. This way, they get to keep in touch with friends who aren't going to same school anymore, get to have play time with them (can we help it if it's educational?), and most of all look forward to reading the next book so that they could discuss it with their friends.

If you don't have anyone to start with, good place to start meetings like this would be meetup.com or craigslist.org. You can advertise your meeting and start one when you have enough members. Be careful not to have too many in a group. Four to six is the ideal number as, if the group gets too big, some of the kids won't participate in the discussion.

With book club for kids, not only will your children improve in reading comprehension skills, but they'll develop a reading habit that'll last a life time.