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Ready, Set, Read - Developing Solid Reading Skills That Are Critical For Three Lifelong Reading Functions

Parents Play Key Role in Developing Reading Skills That Are Critical For Lifelong Reading Functions

Throughout our lives, we read directions or instructions to perform a task, we read newspapers, magazines and other materials to be informed, and we read stories, poetry, plays and other enjoyable materials for the literary experience. If you had not developed solid reading skills as a child, you may have difficulty completing job-related tasks or reading for enjoyment as an adult.

As students in grades four through eight become more sophisticated readers, their reading behaviors become more analytical and their thinking more abstract. Children at this level dissect words and word parts for meaning and continue to expand their vocabulary. They read for enjoyment in areas of interest and take particular interest in reading series books. By engaging children in the world of reading, parents can help their child enjoy reading more and become a more proficient reader. Sylvan Learning Center recommends that parents spend at least one hour per week — 10 to 15 minutes a day — doing some form of a reading activity with their child.

To help parents nurture their children's reading behaviors, the experts at Sylvan Learning Center offer these tips and ideas for reading at home for children in grades four through eight:

• Pick a different country each week, and challenge her to learn a bit more about that country by visiting the library or researching it online.
• Help your child with the latest experiment in his science book. Talk through each step and discuss what he is going to do next.
• Research and select books about your child's interests, such as a sport or hobby.
• Make a trip to the library a weekly "date" with your child.
• Read the newspaper with your child. Elicit his opinion about current events.
• Encourage your child to read series books (Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket, The Chronicles of Narnia, Little House on the Prairie, etc).
• Create a family book club where you and your child read the same book and discuss it.
• Help your child find a favorite author. Have him create alternate stories for the author's repetitive characters.
• Read her favorite books.

The Internet can also provide many opportunities for children of all ages who are looking for new things to read. Book Adventure is a free, Sylvan-created, interactive, reading motivation program that can be found online at www.bookadventure.com. Parents can help children choose a book, take a short comprehension quiz and redeem accumulated points for small prizes. Book Adventure also offers teachers and parents resources and tips to help children develop a lifelong love of reading.