Archives for October 2020

By fourth grade, many children are reading chapter books. This could be a time when kids are discovering their own unique reading personalities and uncovering favorite authors, genres and characters. Some children may struggle to keep track of the plot lines of longer books and parents may worry about reading comprehension struggles.

If you’re wondering: “How can I help my 4th grader with reading comprehension?” there may be other concerns as well. Parents might not know if a book is just too hard for their child or if there are underlying issues like a learning disability or simply a deeper reading struggle. A child’s struggles affect how a parent can better help them at home.

Readers who have more profound reading struggles may need further evaluations, and parents should, ideally, be in touch with the school and the child’s teacher to address these concerns. Parents also could contact the child’s pediatrician.

However, for children who are simply struggling with more complex plot lines (and who, perhaps, do not have pronounced reading struggles), here’s how parents can support their fourth grader at home.

Don’t Just Look at the Age-Level of the Text, Review the Subject, Too.

Sometimes the quickest solution is also the easiest. If your fourth grader is trying to read a book that might be assigned in high school, they may not have the emotional understanding to comprehend the story. Many books include text that may, technically, be written at a fourth-grade level but the subject matter is beyond the maturity of that age group.

This is how “age-level” text can work against parents who don’t look beyond the reading level. Just because a child can decode the text doesn’t mean they can fully grasp the nuances, especially if the subject and emotional issues of the book are aimed at an older audience. Younger children also might not yet have the life experiences to understand the book’s topic or plot complexities.

If your child is struggling to understand the meaning, do a quick deep-dive of the book and figure out if the subject is at level with their age.

As a side note, some children may be able to understand both the text and the topic. A fourth-grader could read complex and mature books; when choosing books, every child is different. Their personalities and understanding of the world differ, too.

Delete Distractions

We’ve all been in situations where we’ve had to read something over and over again to grasp the meaning. Sometimes this has nothing to do with ability and everything to do with distractions in our environment.

Where a child reads could affect their comprehension of the material, especially if the child is easily distracted. A blaring television, parents talking, and songs on the radio could be distracting a child from focusing on a story.

Help your child find the ideal reading environment so they can lock on to their book and focus their attention on the characters and plot. Noise cancelling headphones could help, too!

Let Kids Pick Their Book

By fourth grade, some teachers may begin assigning books for the class to read. However, when a child has free reading time, let them choose the book. If a child is resistant and reluctant to read, have them create an interest list to find subjects that they like and want to investigate. Parents can even theme interest lists for holidays.

For Halloween, ask kids what scary or unique Halloween topics they find interesting. Are they curious to learn more about the Salem witch trials, the history behind trick-or-treating or maybe they want to learn how Halloween even started as a holiday. Don’t celebrate Halloween? Parents can pick a religious holiday, too, or a day that’s special in the family’s culture. The idea is to get kids thinking about their interests and all the ideas they can learn from books!

Make a Reading Comprehension Bookmark

In fourth grade, kids may or may not like parents sitting with them and asking questions about the book. To ensure kids focus on the ideas behind the story, though, parents can create a reading comprehension bookmark. These page setters also provide prompts on what kids need to think about as they read. The comprehension bookmark could focus on the “wh” questions or maybe prompt kids to think about the story plot.

Parents can get ideas on how to create these bookmarks by visiting Teachers Pay Teachers; the site has many great examples! Parents also might want to let kids craft their own bookmark.

Use a Reading App

If a child is really struggling with comprehension, parents also can use a reading app at home. Readability provides an integrated AI tutor that provides auditory feedback when a child stumbles during reading lessons; the virtual tutor also asks questions about the story to better gauge understanding. Kids move through lessons at their own pace, and stories are never too easy or too difficult. Parents can even monitor their child’s progress via the Parent Dashboard; not only can parents review reading levels, but they also can see how long a child used the app each day.

Parents can try out Readability with their child for free for seven days; the trial period provides children with access to all the content and features of the app. Sign up for your child’s free trial today!

Although all kids are taught to read in school, not all of them actually enjoy reading. However, many studies support the idea that reading often and for fun can help improve children’s academic performance in all subjects.

Reading has shown to help improve language skills such as writing and speaking, critical thinking skills, and even math skills. With all the benefits of reading, many parents might search for “how to help my kid read every day”.

Reading every day, even for just 20 mins, can help your kid improve their reading skills and also helps to get them to actually enjoy reading. Here are some tips to get your child to read every day and actually enjoy it:

•  Schedule family reading time 

Reading as a family is a great way to bond with your children, but also helps them to see how much you enjoy reading. This helps give them a model for good reading habits. 

• Use a reading app 

A reading app is a great interactive way to help your child actually enjoy reading.

A great overall reading app is Readability which operates as a private tutor for your child.

The app has the option of being used like an audiobook so that it reads the story to your child as they follow along, or the app can even listen to your child as they read the story then provides them error correction and feedback.

Readability is great for you as well because it provides progress reports so that you can keep track of your child’s improvements.

•  Provide different books with different reading levels 

One reason your kid could be discouraged or not motivated to read is that they are not getting the right books for their reading level.

You want to provide a wide variety of reading materials.

Of course, you want to have books that are in your child’s reading level but you also want to provide books that are just one or two levels above. This helps keep your child motivated to read and prevents them from getting bored. 

•  Let your child pick books 

If your child is picking the books they are reading, they will be more motivated and invested in actually reading them.

The next time you and your kid go book shopping let them choose a couple of books themselves. You can also work together to find books that are about things that interest them such as their favorite tv show, characters, or sports team. 

• Create a reading nook

Creating a space specifically for reading can help your child focus. Having a designated area also helps them to put value in reading as an important habit to keep up. 

• Turn your child into the teacher 

Your child might have some fun reading to a younger sibling to help them learn to read. You can even have your child teach you a few things about reading. When your child is teaching, they are actually learning and practicing the skill even more.

•  Read to them and with them 

Many parents already read to their kids, but it could be another great practice to take turns reading. Instead of reading an entire story to your child, take turns reading one page or paragraph. 

• Laugh out loud 

Using humor can help your child want to read more and more. Select books in your child’s reading level that are funny and read one page to them to get them interested. Then, if they want to continue the story, encourage them to read the rest of the story on their own. 

•  Listen to audiobooks 

Audiobooks can help create a multisensory experience when it comes to learning to read. Reading is often taught in one way.

However, not all kids learn by simply staring at words on a page. They need a more well-rounded approach.

Audiobooks can help encourage reluctant readers to practice reading on their own. Instead of turning on the radio in the car, you can have your kids listen to an audiobook during the drive. 

•  Give them a break 

A key tip for getting your child to read every day is to let them take breaks when they need it. Forcing your child to read when they want to will only make them more resistant to reading. Let them take a break to help encourage them to come back to the activity on their own.

If you want to raise an avid reader, you have to come up with ways to keep reading interesting and fun for them. Different strategies such as using books of different reading levels or creating a reading nook can help make reading fun for your child. Incorporating technology such as audiobooks or apps like Readability can help make reading more interactive, so your child will want to read every day.

Taking action to make sure that your child can read is one of the best things a parent can do to prepare them for the future. However, many aren’t sure exactly how to help a child read.

This is where our blog about reading comes in, helping parents to have the resources and skills they need to make sure their little one not only can read but actually enjoys reading. Enjoyment is the key to success in this situation.

Being able to read empowers children and adults, giving them access to unlimited knowledge and skills. It is also an important part of the education system.

That’s not to say they can’t learn without being able to read well, but that they might struggle to prove what they know if they can’t understand tests and texts used in assessment processes.

How can I help my child who is struggling to read?

The first thing you can do as a parent is to stop thinking about the issue and start acting. Many people worry about how early they should start to teach reading, but if you make reading fun, then you can start at any age.

The trick is to introduce and encourage reading as an enjoyable activity. Don’t drill your child, or force them to spend hours a day on reading. The last thing you want to do is to turn it into a chore.

Instead, take a more relaxed, fun, but also consistent approach to teaching and encouraging reading.

How to Help Your Child Read?

Here we will look at the simple steps that parents can take to help improve their child’s language acquisition. Doing so also helps to improve their reading. Here we give you useful tips to help your child read:

1.  Read to them – This helps them to learn more words and to be able to follow the book with parents. However, if for any reason the parent isn’t able to read themselves, reading apps and audiobooks can help. In that situation, it could be a beautiful shared experience to learn to read together.

2.  Talk to them – It is almost impossible to learn how words should be spoken without hearing how they sound. By talking to your child, even at an age where they don’t understand you or can’t reply, you are giving them the opportunity to absorb this knowledge over time.

3.  Don’t force them to move on to new things – Parents want their children to develop and to do as well as possible. When a child has a favorite book, parents often get bored with it or worry they aren’t learning enough. However, rereading is highly beneficial in teaching reading and repetition combined with familiarity will help them to learn the story’s words over time.

4.  Phonemic awareness is important – You can help make your child more aware of the sounds of letters (phonemic awareness) by breaking down words, or grouping similar words together. With time, it helps them to learn how to sound out words they can’t read, but can often recognize themselves once they know the sounds of the letters and can read it aloud.

5.  Read to each other – Allowing a child to try and read-aloud will enable parents, tutors, or our app to recognize where they are struggling. This can then be addressed with some appropriate feedback or repetition. When they hear it read to them, they may also make the connection with what they read and how it should be read.

How to Help My Child Read Today?

If you’re serious about encouraging them to read, you should try to make sure they have the resources and environment to read. It can also be worthwhile to speak with the school and local government should you consider they need considerable support in order to get them up to speed.

By resources, we mean lots of options for them to enjoy reading what they want to read. This can involve buying books they like, or providing them with our large app library so that they can choose what they want to read. Materials should be age and level appropriate so that they don’t struggle too much.

The environment should also be comfortable and fun. Think about creating a reading corner or reading cave, a place they enjoy and want to be in, and a place where they can relax and be left alone if they want to be.

With this all in place, reading will (with time) become a fun and relaxing activity for them and they’ll likely forget all about the struggles.