Improving Reading For Children and Teens

This page provides information for parents about the basics of reading instruction. The page explains why children and teens may have difficulty learning to read. The page also offers positive solutions for helping children and teens become good readers or even how to get a child started learning to read.

• Poor Reading Affects Many Children
• Reading Is the Key To Learning
• Learning To Read Should Be As Easy As Learning To Talk
• Why Johnny Can't Read
• Using Periodicals and other Resources to Help Your Child With Reading
• 10 Years Of Brain Imaging Research Shows The Brain Reads Sound By Sound
• Helping Your Child At Home With The Neurological Impress Method of Reading
  
• The Phonics Game Is The Best Solution For All Four Problem Areas
• Reading Check Up Guide (Evaluate your child's reading development)
• Junior Phonics Has Children Reading As Early As Three Years Old.

Another way to help your child is by subscribing to magazines of interest to children or teens.

Poor Reading Affects Many Children

A recent survey showed that 44% of the 4th Grade children nation wide are not able to read at or above the basic, or partial mastery, level on the 1994 National Assessment of Education Progress test. The extent of the problem ranged from 27% in Maine to 62% in Louisiana. In California 59% of the students are reading BELOW the minimum established proficiency level for reading.

Children with poor reading skills often:

• Receive poor grades
• Are easily frustrated
• Have difficulty completing assignments
• Have low self-esteem
• Have behavior problems
• Have more physical illnesses due to stress
• Don't like school
• Grow up to be shy in front of groups
• Fail to develop to their full potential

Reading Is The Key To Learning

The ability to read is essential to being able to learn any subject taught in school. In our high tech society, proficiency in reading is a must to compete favorably in today’s job market. The information age is upon us. You can expect greater demands to be made upon reading ability.

As parents, it’s up to us to make sure that our children can read, write, spell and pronounce words correctly.

Learning to read should be as easy as learning to talk

Just watch how a preschooler will pretend to read a story you have just read for them. They are learning by imitation. Actually that is how children learn many things. Take speech for an example. Young children learn to talk by imitating the sounds made by their parents. They then learn how the sounds go together to make words.

When you helped your child learn to talk you both had fun. You probably made up games to stimulate them to talk. They interacted with you and that made the learning process enjoyable. You both smiled and laughed when they learned to say new words or phrases.

Reading and writing are simply talking on paper. Why shouldn’t learning to read be just as much fun as learning to talk? Here are some tips for encouraging your child to enjoy reading:

• Read to your child. No matter what age your child happens to be, he will benefit from listening to you read aloud.
• Discuss the books you read to your child.
• Be a good reading "model" by letting your child see you read.
• Introduce your child to books that discuss his hobby, interests, or new experiences.
• Buy books as presents for your child and he’ll learn to value books.
• Make sure your child has a library card.
• Use the Reading Check Up Guide to evaluate your child's reading development.
• Encourage Your Child To Read - Subscribe to Magazines of Interest To Children/Teens