Reading is an important skill that children learn during the early years of education. It is like a building block that paves the way for knowledge to flow. It allows the child to understand what's written and retain it. The child also gets the ability to form a self-perception about what's written in the book and give their opinions. Without being able to read, a child cannot understand what is written in books or hoardings, magazines, newspapers, etc. Hence, reading is the first formal step towards proper education.
While teaching your child how to read, you might face certain obstacles. Each child has their own pace of learning things. Some children might not be very confident readers and may show signs of struggle while joining the alphabets to form words with proper sounds. In this situation, parents must stay calm and understand that this is a normal learning obstacle. It can be tackled by following some effective strategies and techniques.
There are several reasons why a child might have problems reading a text smoothly. Here are some of the top reasons.
Your child may be an under confident reader because they do not know the necessary building blocks of the reading process. It is very important to take this journey step-by-step and to start with something as basic as teaching them the sound of every alphabet. Then it goes from helping them join these various sounds to form a proper word together. However, sometimes, these basic steps are not clear to the child, which is why they find it difficult to form words and sentences.
Learning how to read in a language that is not a child's first language might also be a problem. If a family speaks a different language, and the mode of education is in a different language, then without proper practice, the child might get confused between these two languages.
Sometimes a child may be suffering from an underlying learning difficulty problem, which is why they might not be able to read properly as compared to children of their age. There are several visual or auditory impairments that may also affect the reading capability of a child. Dyslexia is a learning disability, which also creates a lot of problems in a child's ability to read.
Parents must be very conscious of monitoring their child's leading capabilities as per their age and practice progression. This should be done to recognize the early stages of reading difficulties, if there are any. One of the early signs of reading difficulty may be the inability to create words using different sounds.
Some children might also find it hard to remember the spellings of words, despite continuous practice. On the other hand, not comprehending what is being read Is also a problem that needs instant attention. Other than this, if a child is remarkably behind other children in terms of reading abilities, then it is also something that teachers and parents must investigate.
Here is a look at how you can support a child who suffers from reading difficulties.
Lack of practice might be a significant reason why a child is not able to read properly. By giving a substantial amount of time to reading something every day, a child can overcome reading difficulties very easily. Parents can try giving different types of reading books to make the whole process more interesting. Encourage your child to pick up a book on their own and try to try to read.
Reading can be made extremely engaging by the involvement of different types of study materials and technology. These days there are a lot of applications where children can learn to read with the help of some amusing cartoons and sounds. Other than this, parent can also get some visually appealing picture books that are more creative than the regular books. Try to stick to the resource that the child is more comfortable with.
Parents must also try to collaborate with the schoolteachers of their kid. This can be done by sharing integral information with the teacher related to your understanding of your child's inability to read. Additionally, keep taking constructive feedback from the teacher of your child so that you can implement the advice and work in collaboration with the teacher.
Practicing reading with the help of sensory experience can be a more engaging experience for a child. For this, you can get some magnetic letters or board games with different alphabets. Try to make your child pick up each of these alphabets and let them know about the sound of each alphabet. Join these alphabets together to form small words and tell them to join the sound of each alphabet to form a word. Put these alphabets on your refrigerator and in different parts of the house, so that the child is always surrounded with the letters.
Reading difficulties can be a bit challenging for parents to understand and resolve. But today there are a number of ways that can help a parent improve the literary capabilities of their child. The key is to be consistent and calm as it might take a bit of time to see actual results.
References
https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/child-struggling-with-reading/
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/conditioninfo/treatment
https://ldaamerica.org/info/successful-strategies-for-teaching-students-with-learning-disabilities/