Here is how you can help your child get better at reading

With all the help he or she can get from parents or teachers, a child who struggles with reading can certainly become a good reader. Even dyslexic kids stand a chance of getting better with early diagnosis and the right tools and environment.

And it is possible that your child's reading difficulties are fueled by other factors such as short concentration span or visual processing issues. Children with either one of the aforementioned may get anxious anytime a book is open in front of them.

How to help a child struggling with reading

Here is how you can help your child get better at reading Pulse Nigeria

Below are ways you can help a child struggling with reading.

Rereading several times

A child without reading difficulties may read written words in one or two trials, but your child will need to reread the same things severally. This helps the child to recollect words easier and pronounce readily. The repetition is a way to achieve fluency in reading, and the more the child grabs the more he or she is motivated to do more.

Create a conducive environment

The conducive environment may mean having the child in the study where he or she can concentrate, but the important thing is to make sure the child isn't burdened with any deadlines for specific tasks. This removes the chances of panicking due to a looming deadline. The child gets to work at their own pace.

Spice things up

Here is how you can help your child get better at reading Pulse Nigeria

Reading can be or has the tendency to become tedious even for an adult. It can be the same for your child with all that reading. So it is important to sometimes get them something that absorbs them and makes the reading enjoyable. If your child is between the ages of 6 to 10, you can buy them picture books, comic books, and simple poems.

Use gadgets and apps

You would be surprised how much help you can get from gadgets, the embarrassment of choice. You might be tempted to think as a parent that they should be getting tons of books since the problem is with reading. Get your child a tablet, an iPad specifically. There's an option to disable internet connection. iPads come with built-in reading and writing apps that can help your child tremendously.

Connect to a larger outcome

It can become difficult and tedious to keep doing the same thing just for the sake of academics. Takes all the fun from it. So to keep your child motivated, connect the exercise to the real-life profession. Makes them look at the bigger picture, keeping them motivated. Tell them they can become journalists, editors, writers, professors in the future.

Reach out to teachers at school

Don't isolate the child as though the problem is just yours. It is safe to assume that your child's school want to see them thriving too. So reach out to the teachers. And when you do reach out, let the child be in the loop. To know that you are working with the teachers to provide help and support makes your child really feel supported.

Conclusion

There's a misconception in Nigeria that dyslexia and other reading difficulties are conditions reserved for children in the west. Here, parents, most times assume that the child is just dull. So instead of providing help, the child faces endless scrutiny, name-calling, judgement, and comparisons. Please, what your child needs is support, and if it's not getting better, see a specialist.

Source: Medical News Today

This article was first published on AfricaParent.com