11 Powerful Strategies On How To Improve Literacy Skills Of Your Children

One of the ways to raise a well-developed child is to devise measurable strategies on how to improve literacy skills.  Though, activities like running, sensory play, hide and seek are great for children, reading should also be included as part of their learning engagements. Reading should not only be for older children who already recognize letters and can form words but should be introduced from a tender age.

There are so many benefits of reading at any stage in life. From the day a baby is born, reading to the child is very paramount for cognitive development. As they grow older, it becomes part and parcel of them. When children read, it opens their eyes to understanding the world from different angles and viewpoints and also sharpens their creative way on how to improve literacy skills.

The natural curiosity of children exposed to reading from an early age improves and gives them a higher propensity to ask questions. Such children are more eager to learn than others, therefore parents should not underrate the importance of teaching a child to read. How well will a child be familiar with words if not by reading?

Though it may be tough to teach a child to read, yet parents should not force their wards to read because it will backfire as it will be more of a routine and forced exercise which will not arouse their natural curiosity. Click here to request an experienced literacy tutor with the best strategies on how to improve literacy skills of children and adults

How to improve literacy skills of children

Parents can resolve their teaching challenges and raise a child interested in reading through the following strategies;

• Be a reader your self

Imitation is one of the core ways children learn, they are always eager to act out what they see you do as an adult. It is a proven fact that children imitate what you do more than your words.

Children are very good observers compared to most adults, a trait which parents should take advantage of. Even though parents know this, the prevalent practice is that parents would rather talk, talk, and talk. Why? Well, it is easier to talk about something than doing it.

If a parent keeps talking to a child about reading without holding a book to read themselves; then they are going around in circles without achieving anything. However as good as children are with observing, they have a short attention span. So, then how can one get a child to read without running off? There is no better how to improve literacy skill of children than be an example to them

To make a child like the least desirable activity to them at that moment, a parent should do it as well. Take time by yourself to read books too. This does not mean you should pick a children’s book to make them read one, rather pick anything you find interesting and read.

This does not necessarily mean reading a book in front of them, rather just read, and sooner or later they will notice your new habit. Doing this consistently, they will understand that reading is important to you. Click here to request an experienced literacy tutor with who  best strategies on how to improve literacy skills of children and adults

• Have A Small Library 

Another way to encourage a child to love reading is to have all kinds of books. Do not restrict the books in your home to children’s storybooks as parents tend to think the only way to make a child love reading is to make it fun, that is, by buying only interesting picture books. Storybooks are exciting but introducing different reading materials to them is better.

Giving them the choice to pick more than one genre of books makes them want to read more and with time, the child will find other books interesting too. The goal here is to make them love reading generally.

One simple way to do this is to build a small library. You can make a library that the child can easily reach out to. Reading materials such as encyclopedias, magazines, fiction books, biographies, among others should be in the library. Get all these kinds of books that are age-appropriate for them to see on shelves, this will encourage them to form reading habits and encourage their peers on how to improve literacy skills

• Limit Screen Time 

Allowing a child to watch educational shows on tv, or tablets is not a bad idea but it must be done within acceptable limits. Many educational apps are developed yearly for children which are presented as being okay for a child but a child must not be unduly exposed to screens. It is tempting to let your child learn through these means as it saves the time necessary to teach them.

The downside to this is that it shifts their attention from reading actual books which is actually the last thing any parent want for their child. Create a reading time for the child until they have an interest in reading before allowing them to be on the screen for more than an hour every day

Give the Child Time 

It is normal for a child to do things at their speed. The same goes for reading; it is not a marathon and reading should be measured at an age-appropriate level. A lot of parents unintentionally pressure their kids without adequate consideration of the level of the child’s cognitive development.

Rather the aim should be to gradually build interest; not bombarding and eventually exhausting their brainpower which kills the fun part of reading. Some children already have a poor reading habit and it is better not to make it worse and devise how to improve literacy skills.

A simple book, not some complicated English textbook is the best option to start with. Give room for the child to explore the book, no matter how long it takes. Then, arrange a review with the child to check to see how well it is understood. From a book, motivate the child to pick another book to read for the day until it becomes a habit.

• Go to Kids Book clubs 

Joining a book club is one of the surest how to improve literacy skills of children. Children usually love hanging out with their peers. Parents can make use of this opportunity to build their appetite for reading. The thought of reading alone may discourage a child but reading can also be made fun by doing it with others. Parents can help a child develop an interest in reading by taking them to book clubs.

Going to book clubs has many benefits asides from cultivating reading habits because they get to mingle with other kids and learn other things as well. Instead of reading all by themselves, they can also share their thoughts with others. Ideally, this can make them look forward to reading more.

Ways to Develop  Good Reading Habit

• Believing in Yourself

Growing beyond people’s perceptions about oneself is one of the ways to motivate yourself to push harder. No one indeed knows you more than you know yourself, one’s true perception about oneself is expected to be used as a stepping-stone in achieving one’s potential.

Determination to achieve excellence may however be weakened by people’s verbal communication which has its root in the wrong perception of the person the line of communication is directed at. For example, teachers calling students who failed a single mathematics test a failure can break such student’s efforts instead of motivating him/her to put more effort into the next test. One has to believe and say to oneself that he/she has a good memory and he has the potential to understand everything in the book he is about to read before opening the book to start reading.

• Examine Your Reading Ability

Being true to oneself will motivate one to work on his/her weakness. Aspiring readers should be critically examined on their reading abilities in order to identify areas that require improvement. Some people assimilate what they read at once and can be ready for tests without going through the materials for the second time.

Some on the other hand have to read their study materials more than two times before achieving proper assimilation. There is nothing wrong with students in the second category, he/she should draw a reading time table that will give room for continuous reading before the text date.

Also, there are some students that read very fast, they can read a page in less than thirty seconds while others might spend more than one minute on a page. The major focus is not the reading speed but the level of assimilation of the contents being read which must be achieved. There is no  how to improve literacy skills than being true to oneself.

• Work with Your Attention Span

Some students find it difficult to read in a position for some period or sit in a position for a long time because their attention span is very low. They cannot focus on a task for an extended period without shifting their attention to other things. The student with less attention span can structure their reading time table to allow them to take their reading in bits. Structuring a reading time table in an interesting manner will also further stimulate their interest in reading books.

Below is the sample time table for a student with one hour and thirty minutes daily reading plan

Monday To Friday	6:30-7:00am	7-30am 8:00 am	9:00 am 11:00	11:00 1:pm	1:00 1:30 pm	1:30 2:30 pm	2;30 4:00pm	4:00 4:30 pm	4;30pm 5:00pm	5:00pm 8:00pm	8:00 pm 6:30 am
Activity	Morning Devotion	Reading	Classes	Visiting	Reading	Video Games	Sleeping	Reading	Movie	Chatting with friends	Sleeping

• Structure your reading period

Structuring your timetable to fit in with your effective reading period will increase the reading interest and efficiencies. There are generally two types of students: those that are active during the day and those that are more active at night.

It is expected that students who are active during the day structure their reading time table to align with their capacities and use the night period for relaxation. I could remember how some students who are not wired to read in the night come to night class to read.

Most of them read for less than one hour and spent the remaining hours sleeping while people who are wired for the night spent most hours of the night reading. Individuals have different makeup as such any decision on reading period must not be as a result of influence but a sincere reflection of one’s ability is the surest how to improve literacy skills of children.

• Test Your Reading Abilities

One of the ways one can ascertain a proper understanding of the concept read is to put yourself through a test. It is easier to recall what you test yourself on after proper reading. The student can set questions for him/ herself from the reading materials or use the subject’s past questions. He /she must be sincere with the test result because he /she will be the one to assess his/ her understanding of the concept read.

He should not give him/herself pass marks when he/she actually failed the question. He/she should admit failures and visit the content of the questions he/she finds difficult to provide answers as many times as possible until he/she grasps the full understanding of the concept of interest.

• Pass Your Experience to Other

Better how to improve literacy skills of children is to encourage then to teach others what they learnt and that will further enhance a better understanding of the subject of interest. Being able to pass one’s knowledge to others in an understandable manner means the tutor has a thorough understanding of the subject of interest. The student should go through the knowledge content as many times as possible when it seems difficult to teach others what has been learnt.

Benefits of Having a Broad Mind Through Good Reading Habits

• Higher Chances of getting into Leadership Position

Readers are frequently referred to as leaders. Reading invariably puts one in a leadership position because it provides the required capacities and knowledge to identify and proffer solutions to the problems of the people. People always choose one more knowledgeable than themselves to direct their affairs.

A lot of countries make high educational qualifications as one of the criteria to contest for top leadership positions in their country. Below are some examples of world leaders that attained leadership positions based on their high educational qualifications and exposure which is a direct consequence of their reading abilities:

S/N	Name	Country	Position	Field Of Study	School Attended
1	Michael Obama	United States of America	President	Political Science and Law	Columbia University and Harvard Law School
2.	David Cameroon	United Kingdom	UK Prime Minister	Philosophy, Politics, And Economics	Oxford University
3.	Ma Ying-Jeou	Republic of China	President of Taiwan	Law	National Taiwan University, New York University and Harvard Law School
4.	Vladimir Putin	Russia	President of Russia	Law	Leningrad State University
5	Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe	Ethiopia	Prime Minister of Ethiopia	Water and Environmental Engineering. And Civil Engineering	AAU and Finland Tampere University
6	Heinz Fischer	Austria	President of Austria	Degree in Law and Political Science	University of Vienna
7	Hassan Rouhani	Iran	President of Iran	Judicial Law	University of Tehran
8	Manmohan Singh	India	Prime Minister of India	Economics	Oxford University
9	Lee Hsien Loong	Singapore	Prime Minister of Singapore	Mathematics, Public Administration and Computer Science	Harvard University and the University of Cambridge
10	Donald Trump	United State of America	United State of America President	Economics	University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business
11.	Emmanuel Macron	France	France President	Philosophy and Public Affairs	University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense and Paris Institute of Political Studies
12	Uhuru Kenyatta	Kenya	Kenya President	Economics, Political Science, and Government	Amherst College In Massachusetts
13	Michel Temer	Brazil	Brazil President	Law	Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo

• Getting a good employment opportunity

A lot of job seekers complain that jobs are not available in the labor market. Ironically, on the other hand, company directors and human resources managers generally believe that competent job seekers are not readily available making some companies seek the services of the expatriates which cost them a lot of money in view of the regulatory demands and payment of their remuneration in foreign currencies.

The truth is a good number of job openings are available but a lot of job seekers possess the educational certificates but lack other skills (technical & soft) required to contribute to the attainment of the corporate objectives of the organization. Students who are well schooled and have deliberately imbibed a very good reading culture will be better exposed, tend to pass the aptitude test and interview to gain good employment in a reputable organization. Instilling reading culture in children is a good way to prepare them for their future. It is wiser to build a library for your child/children than to leave a whole mansion as an inheritance.

Click here to request an experienced literacy tutor with who  best strategies on how to improve literacy skills of children

• Finishing with good grades

Taking reading as an interesting adventure will positively influence the reading attitude of the individual. One of the reasons students have low grades in school can be traced to inadequate reading culture. Children’s minds are very flexible at an early age and can be easily influenced.

Parents must be able to instill a passion for excellence in their children at an early age by encouraging them to make reading as one of their fun activities and this will influence their grade in school.

Some children have made reading one of their recreational activities as such this kind of children prefer reading to watching movies or chatting with their friends. Child/ children who have a very good reading culture will find it easy to read their academic materials as well which will positively affect their grades in school. Positive know-how on how  to improve literacy skills will be evident

• Building a good network of people

Everyone wants to have a relationship with good people. Reading provides an opportunity to improve on the level of exposure of an individual making others see such an individual as a source of inspiration. Reading expands their capacities to provide a dependable answer/solution to life issues. People who fall into this category tend to have relationships with influential people in society which will immensely contribute to their progress in life.

Click here to request an experienced literacy tutor with who  best strategies on how to improve literacy skills of children