Tips to Get Children Reading

The goal of any reading programme should always be to have children reading real books. Reading activities and worksheets have their place, but the goal of any good reading instruction should be getting children reading, as well as understanding and enjoying what they are reading.

Reading is a complex art, one that requires a number of different skill areas, particularly: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and text comprehension. Reading instruction that incorporates all five of these key literacy areas teaches kids not only to read, but gives them the tools they need in order to derive meaning from books.

In order to get children reading, it can be very helpful to use a reading programme. Literacy experts agree that reading programmes can be very effective in teaching children reading, and the most effective programmes have as their goal children reading real books. To do that, the most effective programmes instruct students in all five literacy areas.

There are also some things you can do to help children reading when at home, including:

Have great books available

Great reading material is a fantastic incentive for reading, and the more good books available for kids to read, the better.

Have books that are at the child’s level of reading ability

Books that are either too easy or too hard dissuade children from reading them.

Take the time to read to your child

Teachers are quick to point out that kids need to be read to even after they learn to read. There is something about being read to that helps kids both learn to read better, and draws them into the joy of reading real books.

Let your child see you read

When children see adults reading, they can see that reading is an enjoyable activity in itself, not just as a task.

Another great way to encourage children reading is to make use of a good reading programme. Reading Eggs has as its focus children reading real books. Every lesson instructs young readers in the key literacy areas in order to help kids become fluent readers, enabling them to understand what they read while deriving enjoyment from the act of reading.

Testimonials

An amazing programme that introduces and supports the essential foundations of reading. Highly interactive and captivating – would buy it again in a flash!

- Sarah Liddicoat, John XXIII Primary School

My children love Reading Eggs. They enjoy learning to read and spell with the lessons. My son struggled with other phonics programmes. But he loved Reading Eggs. Opening a new egg after each lesson kept him motivated to finish the programme. My daughter loved the skill bank part of the programme. She was glad Reading Eggs had a spelling section.

- L. Taylor