Reading is an essential life skill which offers numerous benefits to children. Reading not only supports your child’s learning, but it can also be used as a form of entertainment. Furthermore, reading is a great way to relax and de-stress. Read on to learn more reasons why Surbiton High School believes reading is so important for children and what you can do to support your child’s reading at home. Teaching your child to read does not have to be stressful.

By encouraging your child to read regularly, you will help to expand their knowledge and spark their imagination. This will not only help them academically, but it will also help them socially, as it will give them lots of interesting things to talk about with friends and family.

Different Reading Material

Reading increases your vocabulary. It doesn’t matter if your child is reading books; websites or magazines, all forms of reading are beneficial. When your child comes across a word that they do not understand, ask them to write it down and then look up the meaning. This will help to enhance their vocabulary and it will also benefit their writing skills. Offering lots of reading material helps your child find something they enjoy, for us with my youngest that was Beano books. Once you capture their interest teaching your child to read is easy.

Read Regularly

Regular reading will also give your child a better understanding of good sentence structure and the rhythm of words. This will help when it comes to creative writing exercises at school. If your child enjoys reading a particular book, you could set them a challenge to create their own ending to the story. Think of what parts of the storyline you could change to achieve a different outcome.

If your child struggles with stress or has trouble sleeping, reading could be the answer! By getting stuck into a good story, your child will be able to forget about their worries and begin to relax. Next time your child feels stressed, introduce them to a new book and let their imagination take them away to somewhere new.

Incorporate Into Everyday Activities

Where possible, try to include reading and writing into your everyday activities. For example, you could ask your child to help you read a recipe, write your shopping list and then help you to find these items at the supermarket by reading the overhead signs.

Use Available Technology

You should also take advantage of technology to support your child’s reading. Tablets and smart phones are ideal for downloading free reading apps. Apps provide safe spaces for reading without parents worrying about unsafe content online. Parents are able to choose what their children can access; use timer features and monitor their child’s progress.

Finally, it is important to keep your children reading throughout the school holidays. This will prevent them from falling behind. It is very common for children’s reading development to regress over the longer school holidays, when they lose their school routine.