10 Ways to Improve Your Child’s Reading

Is your child struggling with reading in school? Is it affecting their self-confidence? If the answer is yes, I understand exactly what you’re going through. I’ve worked with kids who were reading below their grade level, and I could see the toll it took on them and their parents. 

If you think about it, you might realize that most of your child’s day includes some kind of reading. Your child can handle it in one of two ways. They can be excited to read and raise their hands like they’re trying to put out a fire. Sound familiar? Or they can be the kid that acts out to avoid reading and related schoolwork by any means necessary. Which type of kid do you think interests me the most? Yep, you guessed it: the one that’s saying, “I hope the teacher is absent today.”

Why did I just loooooove working with kids with both behavior problems and reading problems? Well, because I knew that, just like your child, they were good kids with wonderful personalities and loads of potential. They just needed some structure, fun, nurturing, and motivation. Then, and only then, can we really get to know these kids. 

What is your child interested in? Does your child have any talents? What makes your child laugh like a maniac? Besides video games and television, what can your child immerse themselves in for hours and come out feeling accomplished and triumphant?

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I guarantee that if they are behind at school,
getting things wrong all the time, and basically feeling unsuccessful,
then they are not being their true selves. They also may be feeling depressed.

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Think about it:

How would you feel if, at your job, you were being reprimanded daily for messing up your duties? How about getting a poor evaluation?

What if you didn’t know how to make it better? Would you enjoy your job? Would you look forward to going there every day?

Would you feel good about yourself? What if everyone at your job knew about your poor performance? Well, that is exactly what your child is going through. 

Let’s help them out. Below are 10 ways to help your child improve their reading level.

1. HAVE EMPATHY

I remember getting a child’s IEP (Individual Education Plan) when I was teaching and when I was a mental health specialist. I would meet with the team about the child and read their file before I would meet them in person. 

What are the child’s behaviors? When did these problems start? How are they functioning at school? What reading level are they on? Do they do their classwork/homework?

Most of the time, there was a correlation between their behavior and school performance. Whether I was at a school or at a mental health hospital, my question was always the same: Why?

To ask the question “Why?” means to have empathy. To know the answer is to make a plan. You can’t make a plan to help your child improve their reading unless you know what is really going on with them. Let THEM tell you. So spend some time with your child without books, meetings, or homework and ask some questions.

1. What do you like about school? Why?
2. What do you not like about school? Why?
3. How do you feel about reading out loud in class? Why?
4. How do you feel when it is time to hand in your work? Why?
5. Did anyone practice reading with you today?
6. If you could read better, would that make you happy? Why?
7. If you could choose the book, what book would you choose to read? Why?

     2. SET UP A ROUTINE  

Even if your child is a free spirit, they need and WANT a routine. This may seem unbelievable. But the reason that your child wants a routine is that they ALWAYS want to know what is happening next. Life is scary and unpredictable in the eyes of a kid, so it helps to give them structure so that they feel safe and aren’t trying to guess what’s going to happen.

Sometimes, they just want to know what they have to do before they can do what they really want to do. For example, if your child sees that their schedule includes cleaning their room and right after that, they see a block for their very favorite thing, i.e., drawing, then they would look forward to finishing their room so that they can enjoy their drawing time.

In your case, have your child understand that as soon as they come home from school or aftercare, they will grab and enjoy a snack with you while you share with each other how your day went, then read together.

     3. WORK IN SHORT INCREMENTS

Start your Daily Reading System with just 15 minutes of reading a day (Click here for a free PDF and audio training).

Most of the time, kids who have trouble reading have a lot of anxiety around reading. It is important to remember that kids act how they feel. So your child may begin to act out every time it is time to read.

To avoid this, be sure to read for only 15 minutes, as directed in your Daily Reading System. After 15 minutes becomes a breeze, increase your guided reading time to 30 minutes while continuing to work in short increments.

Read for 10 minutes, then take a break for 5, during which they get to talk to you, draw, color, use the restroom, or get a drink of water. Do this 3 times for a total of 30 minutes of reading. After a while, they may want to continue reading and skip the break. If so, let them. This signals a positive change in confidence and independence for your child.

     4. HAVE A LOT OF PATIENCE

This is REALLY important. In the beginning, your child may try to control the process by acting out. That old friend Sabotage comes to visit.

Kids do this for 3 reasons. First, again, they may be feeling anxiety regarding reading. Secondly, they may not believe that this is going to help them become a better reader. And lastly, they don’t believe that it is going to last.

So they figure it’s just better to speed up the process. So there may be days when you want to pull out your hair. You may even lose your head a couple of times. But remember, it’s going to get better, and in 30 minutes, it will be over.

And don’t worry — your hair will grow back.

     5. START WHERE THEY ARE

When I became a substitute teacher for a behavior-disabled special education class, the thing that worked best for me was providing choices. In my class, ALL students read out loud. But it was a pleasurable experience. They had a choice. I told them they can read a sentence, a paragraph, or a page. And we celebrated with a “good job” or a high five when they finished. That way, each student was eager to participate (practice) and graduate to the next level, based on their level of confidence.

So, if you are reading together and they choose to read one sentence, then you would read the rest of the paragraph. If you have multiple children, everyone can work together to read the book for 30 minutes. Group learning is lots of fun!

     6. HAVE FUN WITH THE TEXT

Remember, kids want to learn when they are having fun. If something funny happens in the text… LAUGH! If something happens in the book that reminds you of an event from your childhood, tell your child the story.

Or perhaps, they can relate to the main character in the book. I remember reading There’s a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar to my class of mostly behavior-disabled boys. Man, did we have some great discussions about that book!

     7. CREATE A WORD WALL

EVERY child should have a word wall in their home. It should be right next to the area where you practice reading every day. Every time they come across a difficult word that needs to be sounded out, that word goes up on the word wall. Those words should be read aloud daily before reading. This should take just a couple of minutes. It can be a daily confidence boost, as it will remind your child of all of their many accomplishments during reading time. Don’t forget a high five or fist bump at the end! 

     8. START FROM THE BEGINNING EVERY DAY

Now, your child may look at you like you’re being weird when you do this, and you may think I’m weird as well. But believe me: it works. This is how I helped students get up to their grade level in reading within a year. This also improved their behavior. See the connection?

This is how it works. Say you are reading There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom (I really like this book). On day 1, you only get to page 2 in the book. Day 2, you start on page 1 again. Right from the beginning. Why? Well, a couple of reasons. 

1. It serves as a confidence boost (kids need plenty of that), because they know that they can confidently read this section aloud since they’ve read it so many times.
2. They will easily read words they struggled with before.
3. They will start to understand the story instead of focusing on getting the words right.
4. They will have better discussions regarding stories.
5. They will progress further into the text with their 30 minutes.

     9. READ ALOUD TO AN AUDIENCE

When you get to this phase, there is a true feeling of triumph for you and your child. As a matter of fact, you may not even recognize them. I always say that when a child improves, their whole mind opens up. When they finish an entire book, let them invite a neighbor or have your relatives and their kids over. Have them decide who the audience will be. They can also just read in front of the family. This is a graduation. Celebrate good times. COME ON!! Okay, I am getting really excited. 

We used to have graduations every Friday in my class. Again, they were required to read a paragraph or a whole page in front of the class. And if they were able to do it, which they usually were, then they were ready to move onto the next book or chapter with the rest of the class. But again, it was tailored to their reading ability or confidence. 

     10. REPEAT!!

Yes. Repeat for the next chapter or next book. Allow your child to experience challenges by letting them choose the book for the first month. Then, get chapter books that suit their grade level — not their reading level.

I know it is not very conventional, but I have a reason for this. Usually, a child starts on their reading level and work on mastering that. But I believe that too much time is wasted when going by the reading level.

Instead, I believe in implementing various advanced techniques that are designed to have children reading on their grade level while simultaneously reviewing and mastering content that was not mastered in the previous years. These techniques helped my darlings progress in reading very quickly, in a safe but challenging way. 

I'm very excited about your journey. You and your child both deserve the best. So get to work and email me at [email protected] to let me know how these techniques have helped you.