How to Guide: Encouraging a Child to Enjoy Reading and the Written Word

Not all children take to reading and writing easily. In an ideal situation there would be constant reinforcement of school learning and encouragement in home situations, but many children get lost in the cracks of living and never learn the love of reading and writing. Children will blossom with more individualized attention than they are able to get in a classroom setting, if they are just given the chance. If you have a child or know a child that may be struggling with reading skills, here are some ideas to get them involved and on track. The main thing is to help them focus and become more interested in a skill that is not only necessary in school but in every day life. Unlike times gone by, reading is not a luxury or confined to those with money and social clout. It is a basic survival skill and the importance of reading and writing skills cannot be ignored.

Children will fall further and further behind if a shy or insecure child is not helped to improve their skills. The less they can do in a classroom setting , the more they feel like they are failing or incapable of doing the necessary work and it becomes a vicious cycle of failure and continued failure. A perfectly intelligent and capable child can get left behind this way. Then they begin to make up excuses saying things about not being able to do it, it is boring, they aren't interested and so forth when it fact it is quite the opposite and they are building a self defense barrier to deal with insecurities and failure.

Bring words to their level. Start with simple picture books. Sit and work with them. Make it a special time and let them know it is important to you too. Even if it is below their age level, it doesn't matter. Mastering a simple task is the first step to self confidence and when you are working one on one with them there is no peer pressure, just simple learning and enjoyment, Praise the smallest accomplishment. Something as simple as recognizing a few words or seeing similar sounds is worth praise. When children get praise and encouragement, they strive for more of the same and in spite of themselves, they begin to learn and absorb what they are doing.

Take them to a bookstore or the library. Make a special outing of it so it is something to look forward to. Let them pick out a few books. Let them pick whatever appeals to them. If they just want to be read to, to begin with, then do that, just so they associate reading with a positive feeling.

When you are reading, try rhyming games emphasizing words with similar sounds so they begin to see similarities, then point some of those words out in the books or stories and have them find some too.

Poetry is another way to encourage writing and reading. Help them write a poem for a special occasion like a family members birthday, a new child, mothers day, a favourite story and so forth and present it to the person they made it for. Just a simple reaction feeds the desire to do more of the same. Put together a little homemade book of their poetry and tell them they wrote a book. Have them do the illustrations to accompany each poem. Maybe encourage them to show their teacher and if they get praise from the teacher , they will begin to get more confidence in school. Other children may see that accomplishment and emulate them, wanting the same praise, and a peer wanting to be like another child is one of the highest forms of flattery for them.

Play games that encourage reading and writing skills without actually telling them that is what they are doing. A couple of fun examples of this that children love are playing restaurant and playing store. Have them gather things from around the house and set up a play store. Make shopping lists and receipts. Even if there are only two of you, you can pretend to be different people coming to their shop. For restaurant play help them create a menu and order forms. Both of these games can encourage math skills too. These are both fun games to involve other children in too. They get very creative in this play and ask for help writing and spelling words of the items they want to include in the play. In the process they are practicing writing and reading in fun play and it is fairly painless learning.
Computer, game console and video games are another resource but the better way to play games are interactive ones that you can play together and help them with the words on the game boards and playing pieces.. Simple board games with pieces to move around the board are fun. Memory and matching games with accompanying words are wonderful resources to encourage learning to read.

The more you expose a child to reading on all levels, the more they will learn and take in. Make it an enjoyable time with one on one encouragement. A child struggling with reading and writing may come out of themselves and gain the confidence they need to grow with these skills. Don't criticize or demean them and praise every accomplishment, no matter how big or small it is. When they stumble, show them how much they have learned already. Just don't give up on them or let them give up on themselves. If they see someone has faith in them, they will find it in themselves too.