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Top Tips for Teaching Your Child to Read

9/25/2020

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Reading is a crucial skill that we tend to take for granted. The ability to read can help us succeed in life, and can also be a fantastic form of entertainment.

Most people don’t really give a second thought to the process involved when learning to read. It’s only when you have to start teaching someone, like your own son or daughter, that you start to understand how complex it is. It’s not just a natural part of growing up; a child will have to be taught by someone with an awareness of phonics and other skills and strategies.

A primary school near Chorleywood explores this further, below.

 
If you’re trying to teach your child to read, you’ll need to be patient and start off simple. The first thing you should do is learn what skills are involved in teaching someone to read. Not everyone is naturally a good teacher; you have to know what you’re doing if you want to do it correctly. 
 
Perhaps sing some songs and nursery rhymes and clap to the beat to help your child with their phonemic awareness, which is essentially the ability to concentrate on and handle individual sounds within different words. Make or buy some simple word cards with basic, 3-letter nouns and adjectives and sound them out slowly with your little one, one letter at a time, until they become used to it. Of course, you will eventually be able to move onto harder words but take your time and don’t rush your youngster!
 
Technology has some downsides, but when it comes to helping our children with their education and general development it can be great. You’ll be able to find some fantastic resources online, such as YouTube videos or online lessons, that can teach your child to read in an engaging way. This is a good option for those days when you’re feeling a little overwhelmed or frustrated and don’t know how to help your child.  
 
Try and make the experience as fun as possible and remember that every child moves at their own pace. Little and often is probably the best approach, as well as mixing up your strategies so that it doesn’t get boring. You should even let your youngster pick out their own books once in a while, to help instil an early love of reading in them. 

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Exploring Creative Writing with Your Child

9/17/2020

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Helping your child with creative writing projects may seem like a waste of time and you may prefer them to focus on their maths or science studies. However, creative writing is actually extremely beneficial for children as it helps them develop such a huge range of skills that they can transfer across all school subjects, and even throughout their personal life.
 
Creative writing helps young people think outside the box and explore their imagination. It improves their spelling and grammar skills and teaches them various new vocabulary. This will help them to become a better communicator, whether written or verbal. Whenever a child learns a new skill, they get a little self-esteem boost, which will help them overcome challenges throughout life.
 
With all this in mind, even if your child doesn’t intend on becoming the next JK Rowling, it’s worth exploring creative writing activities with them in your free time. If you are wondering where to start, take a look below at some tips from an international school in London.
 
Of course, you can’t expect your youngster to write their very own best-selling novel. Start with some simpler tasks, such as encouraging them to re-write the final chapter of their favourite novel. This shouldn’t be too challenging as the characters and storyline have already been fully developed, so it will just be a case of making a few tweaks here and there. Discuss how such small changes to a scenario can lead to completely different end-results.
 
If your child does insist on writing their own story, it might help them if you suggest a problem that their characters have to solve. Often, the most challenging part of writing a story is the very beginning, so you could write the opening sentence for your child and let them progress from there.
 
Another thoughtful activity you could suggest is that your child writes a book review after they’ve finished reading a novel, pretending to be a reporter or a blogger. Encourage them to use lots of adjectives to describe the story and ask them to think about how it made them feel; did they laugh, cry or feel frightened at any point during the story?
 
Before beginning any of these projects, your child should always prepare a plan. Mind-maps are great for this because they encourage you to delve a little deeper and think about all of the words and phrases that would work nicely in a particular genre. If you’d like some more inspiration, don’t be hesitant to contact your child’s school as the teachers will likely be more than happy to help. 
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Why Reading is so Important for Young People

9/5/2020

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​Literature opens the reader up to a whole host of different historical and cultural matters and is often overlooked as an important element of the school curriculum. Actually, reading is a crucial aspect of a child’s educational journey; it’s a way for them to learn, while also being a form of entertainment and relaxation.

It’s one of the first things they learn how to do when they start pre-school and goes on to play an important role in every single school subject, not just English. There are undeniably a variety of benefits to reading and it’s certainly better for children than hours on their digital devices (although in moderation, this can be beneficial, too). A private school in Somerset explores the importance of reading for children in further detail below.

One of the primary benefits of reading for young people is that it can boost their general knowledge. As mentioned above, books allow the reader to explore a multitude of both real-life and imaginary events, famous landmarks and cultural traditions. They can learn about different genres and writing styles and start to develop critical thinking skills.

What’s more, reading will help boost your child’s vocabulary, as well as their spelling and grammar skills. As a result, they will become better communicators, both written and verbal. Enhanced general knowledge and communication skills will contribute to improved academic performance across all subjects, so essentially, children who are keen readers will likely perform better in school. In addition, they will be equipped with the necessary skills to successfully apply to universities and jobs when they’re older. 

Reading also improves a child’s ability to concentrate on something for long periods of time, which is another valuable skill that can be transferred across other areas of life. If your child doesn’t seem to be showing an interest in reading, perhaps they haven’t found a genre they like yet.

Encourage them to try various different types of books by heading to the library or ordering online. Let them choose a novel themselves, as forcing them to read something just because you like the book won’t get you anywhere. Most schools try to encourage their pupils to read, so if you’re lacking inspiration, be sure to contact your child’s teacher. They will be able to give you some age-appropriate recommendations to get you started. 
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    Author

    Stewart Bint is a novelist, magazine columnist and PR writer. 

    He lives with his wife, Sue, in Leicestershire in the UK, and has two children, Christopher and Charlotte, and a budgie called Sparky.

    Usually goes barefoot.

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