A Proven 6-Step Guide for Developing Reading Skills

Reading is fun, and it can also be monotonous at times. Have you wondered why some people have great reading skills and some can’t even sit through a short reading session? The difference between these two types of readers is their ways of developing reading skills. Let us find a few proven ways that can help you build a steady and proper reading routine.

Six Ways for Developing Great Reading Skills

Reading is a very crucial part of our daily lives. So, the best way to improve reading habits is to find the perfect reading moment in our day-to-day life. Apart from this, you need to keep in mind the following points if you want to help your kids improve their reading skills.

1. Reading Aloud

Reading silently is the natural habit of reading that comes with experience and age. It is not always possible to read entire books out loud. However, at an initial stage, kids must be encouraged to read aloud so that they can hear what they are reading and can remember the content better. This can also help in identifying pronunciation errors or tone of speech.

A kid reading a book aloud

2. Reading Books of the Right Level

It is important that kids read books that complement their age. The level of learning must be kept in mind when reading at an early stage. It is often tempting to read ahead of one’s scope, but kids should read content in easy, simple language. The content of a kid's books should be relatable for the kid or at least something that he/she can understand at his/her age. This will allow easy internalisation of what is being read.

3. Rereading Content for Better Fluency

Oftentimes we tend to read a book only once and consider it done. It is advised that kids or early readers should read content at least twice to build great fluency in the language. The kid will remember what was read earlier. In this way, the kid will be able to anticipate the upcoming piece of content while reading an earlier paragraph. Kids grow more confident in reading this way.

Rereading books

4. Discussing with a Teacher

Sometimes, kids face problems reading a piece of content in a book and need guidance from a teacher. A teacher can help a kid understand the meaning of a paragraph, a word, or a phrase and can also help in the kid’s communication skills by discussing the difficult content in the language of instruction. This can greatly smoothen the process of reading for kids.

Discussing with a teacher

5. Supplementary Reading

Reading in class is absolutely essential for students. However, reading outside the classroom and school texts increases the ability to get familiarised with the topics and themes better. Supplementary reading of similar books and content can help the kid get better at growing the necessary knowledge about the related topics, which can, in turn, ease the process of reading.

6. Verbal Processing

Verbal processing is a great way to internalise the contents of a book and its themes. It can be done by discussing expectations from a book before reading, by talking about the actual content of the book while reading, and by asking about the summary or thoughts about the book after reading.

Conclusion

Developing reading skills is a necessary task in today’s world, and children should be encouraged towards the same so that they don’t face any trouble learning the ways at a later age. Early learning is always beneficial as it gives a kid a certain span of time to grow good reading habits.