Reading is fun for those who can read as well as understand what they read. Children in their developing stage have to learn to do many things, reading being one of them. But some children can struggle with reading, and some others might not be able to understand what they read. For growing children, knowing how to read is very important as that is what will help them increase their knowledge. Parents and teachers should help their kids to learn to read as well as reflect on what they read. All children are different, and they have different patterns of learning. Adults must understand their learning pattern and use it to solve their learning problems.

Below are some points that can help our children be better readers.

Help them while reading.

Sit with them and help them read the context. Don’t jump on to saying the words quickly. If they are not able to read any words, ask them to read the spelling. Ask them to guess the sounds that each letter makes and then they will come up on their own with the word. First, they should know to read the words, and then slowly they will be able to read the sentence.

For children with trouble reading, concepts must be broken into small pieces. Let them read a single paragraph containing five to six sentences a day. This would create an interest in them reading as well as ensure they would not feel forced to read. When children feel that we adults are forcing them to read, they might lose interest in reading. This is the reason why we should know which is the best time for them to study. Some children love to read in the morning, while others at night. We should catch them accordingly and help them learn to read.

Praise them!

Praise anybody and that person will be motivated to do the same thing in a better way. Praise can help children get encouraged and reinforce doing the right things again and again. If they read a single sentence fluently, praise them. If they are reading any spelling and come up with the correct word, praise them. This would encourage them to read more. But praising should not be done every now and then. They should know the value of praise as well, so limit it to the extent they require it.

Try different reading activities.

Struggling readers may be good at writing and in other subjects as well, but reading should also be taken care of. There are various activities which can be used to help them read.

• Peer learning

Struggling readers can be paired with some good readers, and they can both help each other read as well as understand what they read. Later, they can read the same thing in front of the class. This would encourage them to read more and also create an interest in reading.

• Group activities

Breaking the class into groups and then asking them to read can also help struggling readers read properly, as here they have to show their proficiency in front of their friends. Some points can be given to the group where most of the participants read well.

Knowing how to read and understand what you have read is very important. Good readers can read the instructions written in public places and follow them accordingly, whereas children struggling with reading might miss such things. Reading also helps us to increase our knowledge, so if one knows how to read, they can learn about the whole world.