Parents often love for their kids to start reading and writing at an early age. And it could be disappointing when a parent finds out that this seems not to be happening.

Reading and writing – literacy – is a very important lifelong skill, one that every child would have

As it’s often said, parents are their children’s first teachers. So, in the home front, there are many fun exercises you can do with your kids to help them improve how their reading and writing and more so, sharpen their reading skills to become fluent readers.

We share some of them below:

9 Ways Parents Teach Their Children Read More Fluently

Read to your kids from infancy

Who says mums can’t start reading to their babies while still in the womb. According to Parenting.firstcry.com, “The stories you read to your baby evoke certain emotions in him or her… He also becomes alert and responds to it.

If you read to your baby daily, he will recognise your voice once he’s out in the real world, and this will help develop a strong bond between you and your baby.

In certain cases, babies also pick up newer words and understand their meanings pretty early in their lives.”

While many mothers start with reading their favourite bible verses, there are a whole lot of books from which to choose, the choice is yours. Whatever you’ll be reading to your kids, make sure it’s appropriate. 

See Also: Best e-learning platforms in Nigeria

 Have your kids read to you and vice visa

Once your child starts pronouncing the syllables, then get ready to start having them read to you. They are going to be cracking you up a lot with their pronunciations but this will help them learn to read fluently and half the time.

Try to flip the coin sometimes.

Read to your kids. As they listen to mum or dad read their favourite books, they are learning pronunciation and punctuations which will help them read more fluently.

Start with picture books that can catch their fancy, then look for books that are appropriate for them as they grow.

Lead by example

Children learn from examples than from instructions.

If you want your child to improve their reading ability and become fluent readers, then let them see you read. Parents are getting busier by the day and finding time to read so their kids can follow suit can be very challenging.

It will help if parents develop reading habits so that reading becomes fun and not like a task. So, if you want to improve your child’s reading level, cultivate the habit of reading yourself.

Talk with your children

You want your child to read fluently, then engage them in daily conversations.

Talk to them about anything, talk to them about everything. This helps them to learn new words and expand their vocabularies. This, in turn, helps your kids get familiar with more words and improves their fluency.

Engaging your kids in interesting conversations where they get to learn new words also require sacrifice on the paths of parents, it requires that as you spend more time with your child.

If you can make the sacrifice, you’ll greatly help your child read better and more fluently and it will be worth all of your sacrifices. 

See also : 5 Ways Parents Can Finance Their Children's Education 

Make reading fun and exciting

If your child doesn’t like to read, why not make reading as fun as watching Disney World? You could set up a fanciful and colourful book space where your kids would do their readings.

In the home, there is the bedroom, the dining room and the sitting room, why not set up a reading room/space for that purpose?

You could also reward your kids in some kind of way if they are able to complete their books within a certain time limit (the books you choose and stipulated time should be age-appropriate).

Kids love fun and before long, they’ll love fun reading.

Make reading a regular activity at home

If you make reading a part of your daily family life, your kids will learn to love reading.

Set aside some time during the week when the family does nothing but read; no TV, no games, no Youtube, just books. When you set aside time for reading, make sure you stick to it.

Kids don’t like you to interrupt their playtime, you don’t want to bump into them in the middle of a cartoon show and tell them it’s time to read. Instead, have a regular schedule that the children are aware of and stick to it.

Variety is the spice of life

You can help your struggling child improve their reading ability by spicing up reading. Download exciting audiobooks and play for your children. Children also love picture books and illustrations.