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Think of why you read: to perform a task, to be informed and for 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. Education experts agree that children develop reading behaviors early in life and that parental involvement at home helps children perform better in school and become enthusiastic, lifelong readers.
"Beginning early in our childhood we develop the behaviors necessary to put reading to use for different purposes and to perform various functions," says, Richard Bavaria, Ph.D., vice president of education for Sylvan Learning Center. "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."
By encouraging children to read at home, parents can help their children establish a lifelong love of books, transforming reading from a basic skill to a pleasurable activity. Sylvan Learning Center recommends that parents spend at least one hour per week — 10 to 15 minutes a day — reading with their child.
"Children who read regularly at home do better in school. Parents play an instrumental role in the development of their children's reading behaviors and in fostering an enthusiasm for reading," says Dr. Bavaria. "Reading is an adventure that begins early in a child's life and should extend beyond the classroom. Children exhibit certain reading behaviors at a young age and by understanding and nurturing these behaviors, parents can make reading fun and motivate their child to develop a lifelong friendship with books."
To help parents nurture their child's reading behaviors, the experts at Sylvan Learning Center offer these grade-specific tips and ideas for reading at home:
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. Students choose their own books, take short comprehension quizzes and redeem their accumulated points for small prizes. Book Adventure also offers teachers and parents resources and tips to help children develop a lifelong love of reading.
Learning feels good™ at Sylvan Learning Center, the leading provider of in-center and live, online tutoring at home to students of all ages and skill levels. With more than 27 years of experience and nearly 1,200 centers located throughout North America, Sylvan Learning Center has positively changed the lives of over two million students and families. Sylvan's trained and certified teachers provide personalized instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, study skills and test-prep for college entrance and state exams. At Sylvan, students develop the skills to do better in school and the confidence to do better in everything else. For more information regarding the Sylvan Advantage™, call 1-800-31-SUCCESS or visit Sylvan's tutoring Web site at http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com.
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Jennifer Gaegler, Sylvan Learning Center
(410) 843-8928
jennifer.gaegler@educate.com
