Schools and private reading classes always start out with the idealistic idea of helping every child to read.

However, although the idea is nice, in reality, often there simply aren’t enough resources to give each child the individual attention that they deserve.

Schools have to stick to set budgets and meet certain educational targets. Sure, they do their best, but unfortunately many fall through the cracks in the education system.

With the current Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak, parents are now having to turn their hands to teach at home.

Home classes are mostly online with schools, but there is also a strong need to supplement this with other activities. Teachers spend hours preparing extra materials, but these are hours that parents mostly don’t have.

Reading is a major part of learning, and so we encourage parents to get their kids reading digital books during these challenging times. We understand that books, even digital books, can be expensive.

This is why we felt that another way was needed for helping every child to read for a low cost and without the restrictions of staffing, budgets, or individual book fees.

We’re here to make your life easier, as while they are enjoying reading, you can grab a coffee or your favorite bottle and relax for a while in peace.

How do you help a child to read?

There are many approaches that can help a child to learn how to read. Now that parents and school students are forced to stay home due to coronavirus closings, these techniques can be easily worked into the schedule with parents and carers.

Here are some general ways that you can help your child read at home:

• Start early in a fun way. Read to them, point out words, and encourage curiosity
• Talk to them in a natural way. This allows them to learn more words in natural sentences
• Let them listen to books, read by you or read aloud by an app
• Make reading a fun activity that they look forward to. Consider creating a magical reading zone for them
• Ask them about any stories they know or have recently read. Telling a story in a simplified way can encourage understanding of texts
• Teach the sounds of letters and similar words
• Ask them questions about what they have read. Start simple and progress to more difficult questions

The above approaches help to build skills required for reading.

Re-reading stories actually is incredibly beneficial, as they get to practice words that they know and repeat words that they’ve learned. It can also help to increase confidence, especially when they read to a carer or tutor and get the story mostly correct.

What Are Your Child’s Strengths?

Learning what your child’s strengths are can help with how you approach helping them to read.

If they are talkers, then make them retell the stories they have read. This could help make reading more fun for them. If they love to listen and listen well, then it could be of great benefit for them to be read to.

While their weaknesses also need support, by focusing on their strengths and growing their abilities, you can help to increase their confidence and turn reading into a pleasurable activity.

How to Teach a Child to Read at Home

If your child struggles to read, which is likely to happen at some point in their development, you will probably at least think about how to help them to read. Now that you are spending more time at home, consider trying a reading app like Readability.

In normal times, the problem for most parents is how to balance work-life versus home-life. Today, it is more a struggle between getting your work done at home and having their school work done at home.

Homeschooling can be quite tiring for parents and kids too. Trying to tutor or force learning with no experience or help can be exhausting and it often isn’t fun either.

Thankfully, there is an easier way now, a way that is helping every child to read well. AI tutoring is real, it’s advanced, and it is perfect for struggling readers with busy families.

Why is an AI tutor a good choice today? This is why:

1. Children can study individually with AI support, or with family/carer support.
2. They can listen to stories being read aloud, or individual paragraphs, helping them to understand how words should sound as they follow the story on-screen.
3. The AI never sleeps, so can help to correct their pronunciation whenever they are reading. This is also good because they can practice whenever they want to.
4. Endless amounts of fun and level appropriate stories with an ever-expanding library.
5. Customized reading programs to support their development and interests. The AI carefully makes recommendations for each reader.
6. Available anywhere on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.
7. Colorful images help to hold attention and also deepen their understanding of the story.
8. Parents get detailed real-time reports about the reader’s abilities.
9. Parents can also manage numerous readers from within their plans’ dashboard.

In these crazy, stay-at-home times, helping every child to read is possible with AI tutoring apps like Readability. AI tutors don’t need a salary and are available all of the time, making them a great and affordable choice for children struggling to read.

If you are ready to help your child to improve their reading level, why not sign up for the Readability free trial. You quite literally have nothing to lose and your child could benefit greatly and learn to love reading.