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Ready, Set, Read!
Parents Play Key Role in Developing Solid Reading Skills
Think of why you read: to perform a task, to be informed and for literary experience. If you had not developed solid reading skills as a child, you may have difficulty completing job-related tasks or reading for enjoyment. Education experts agree that children develop reading behaviors early in life and that parental involvement at home helps children perform better in school and become enthusiastic, lifelong readers.
"Beginning early in our childhood we develop the behaviors necessary to put reading to use for different purposes and to perform various functions," says Richard Bavaria, Ph.D., vice president of education for Sylvan Learning Center. "Throughout our lives we read directions or instructions to perform a task; we read newspapers, magazines and other materials to be informed; and we read stories, poetry, plays and other enjoyable materials for the literary experience."
By encouraging children to read at home, parents can help them establish a lifelong love of books, transforming reading from a basic skill to a pleasurable activity. Sylvan Learning Center recommends that parents spend at least one hour per week – 10 to 15 minutes a day – reading with their child.
"Children who read regularly at home do better in school," says Bavaria. "Parents play an instrumental role in the development of their children's reading behaviors and in fostering an enthusiasm for reading. Reading is an adventure that begins early in a child's life and should extend beyond the classroom. Children exhibit certain reading behaviors at a young age, and by understanding and nurturing these behaviors, parents can make reading fun and motivate their child to develop a lifelong friendship with books."
To help parents nurture their child's reading behaviors, the experts at Sylvan Learning Center offer these grade-specific tips and ideas for reading at home:
- Make cookies together. Read the recipe aloud to your child.
