Reading is undoubtedly an important part of being successful during life. If you are unable to read, then it is difficult to go very far in life. How do you help your kids to achieve success with the power of reading? Fortunately, there are a number of different ways to help your children. 
Read to them from a young age
Reading can help nurture a wider range of your children’s skills than just their literacy skills. The American Academy of Pediatrics has published a report that explains just how wide-reaching the benefits of reading to children are. If you read to your children when they are infants, it helps to create a nurturing relationship. This helps children to develop language skills, cognizance, and socio-emotional development. All of these skills are vitally important to develop a child who has the tools required to be successful. This can make a huge difference when it comes to later in life irrespective of their eventual professions and pursuits. Whether that be an apprenticeship directly into a job or a medical assistant associate degree, increased language skills will assist in everything from job interviews to their online application for college.Aside from this, however, there are some more immediate boons of introducing a child to reading early. When a child goes into kindergarten, it is much easier for them to access the curriculum that is put in front of them if their language skills are developed to a higher level. The most important aspect that this helps to develop is that their ability to learn to read themselves is significantly increased. The more you read to your children, the more of a head start you are giving them when it comes to succeeding at school. It also helps to create an additional bond with them from an early age, as well as a positive memory based around books.
Encourage them to read at home
Once your children are able to read themselves, it is important to encourage them to do so. Schools spend a lot of time on teaching children how to read, but they do not always attempt to encourage children to enjoy reading. By making sure that you set aside time for them to read, you will be helping them on their way to greater success later in life. It is not just about setting aside the time though. Fostering a love of reading is more than about just throwing books at them and waiting for them to absorb the knowledge.It is important to let your child choose their own books. If they choose a book themselves, then it is more likely to be something that they will enjoy. If they enjoy it, then they are more likely to stick to it. Put simply, give your child the freedom to discover the books they like. There is no such thing as a bad book to a child. Any book they choose to read will increase their vocabulary, improve their fluency, and improve their cognitive abilities. If you have a child who is particularly reluctant, let them choose a comic book. It could be the gateway into reading that you need, one that will help them in the long term.
Ask them questions about what they have read
Understanding what they have read is one of the biggest barriers that children have when they first start reading. A lot of children can read the words but are unable to understand what is going on in the story. This is not always because they are incapable of it, but when they first start out reading, it takes a lot of their mental capacity to focus on reading the words. It is like understanding how to deal with money on the day you have first learned how to add and subtract. The capability is there, but the focus on using the basic skills just takes up too much effort.A great way to help your children develop the ability to take in the information on the page is to ask them questions. Ask them after every page they have read
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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