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Win the Reading Battle
It’s a never-ending struggle in many homes, but you CAN help your kids to love and excel in reading by making it a priority at home and an enjoyable experience as well.
The day your enthusiastic kindergartener comes home reading with that little twinkle in their eye is truly a memorable and monumental day; the day they fall in love with reading and indeed become a reader. Years pass and in the blink of that twinkling eye, they are struggling to find a book they love and struggling to keep up — and loving their iPad games more. What happened? It’s a cycle some kids go through; parents, too. We want our kids to grow up to be good readers, but it’s harder than we had expected and tech distractions haven’t helped. That initial excitement of “Mommy, I can read!” can easily go into a downward spiral creating pure exhaustion for you. So how can you win this never-ending battle and actually bring the love of reading back amid the reading loss?
WHAT IS READING LOSS?
Reading loss can happen at the turn of a page. Kids can easily get behind if they are not participating in formal literacy programs during the long summer months, or are learning at home and unable to match up to the curriculum taught at school. Although it doesn’t mean all is lost, it may take some extra work to get back on track. Unfortunately, reading loss is a thing and it affects more than just a kid’s ability to read at the level they should be at. The best antidote to reading loss? Reading! Reach out to your child’s teacher if you think your child is struggling, since early intervention is key to the treatment of dyslexia and other learning differences. But your main role in all of this is to foster good feelings about reading, not to teach the mechanics of reading itself. “Ironically, to help your child excel academically, you need to treat reading as a leisure activity that has nothing to do with school,” says Maria Russo, coauthor of How to Raise a Reader (Workman; 2019).
Reading fluency affects comprehension, so it is important for a child to be able to read grade level materials independently, she says. But between sports, work and daily life tasks, squeezing reading in can feel impossible which is another reason kids get behind. Kids’ sports can get demanding, leaving no time for reading before bed. It’s head home; eat, shower and sleep; and the cycle continues. Getting behind in reading can suddenly lead to a snowball effect as it continues to get harder and harder every year, becoming more demanding as the school year progresses.
From year to year, reading materials will increase in difficulty across subject areas, so it is very impor-
LOVING TO READ
So, how can you realistically help your kids enjoy reading day-to-day? You’ve heard it all: read to them every night; set an alarm for 30 minutes of reading per day; read before breakfast; etc., etc. Unfortunately, this isn’t always realistic for every family, but there are ways you can win. If you put forth all of your effort, it can be done. Start with bedtime. “Make sure the atmosphere is soothing and not rushed,” says Russo. “And choose some of the many books that end, strategically, with a peaceful goingto-bed scene (though friskier books about sleep-avoiding children are fun, too). Read with your toddler during the day, as well. Offering to read books with toddlers is one of the best ways — some days, it can seem like the only way — to get them to slow down and focus. Sit close, and enjoy these moments of connection while it’s still light outside.”
Reading comes in many shapes and sizes. Reading the back of the cereal box, pointing out signs on the drive to school or reading the menu together at your favorite restaurant are some creative ways to squeeze in extra literacy in a busy schedule. If you have a beginner reader, this is a great way to begin and help them to love reading from the get-go. It not only shows them reading is everywhere, it shows how reading is a necessity in everyday life. And when you can, blocking out that time to read together is good not only for learning, but for bonding time, too. Blocking out time to read with your child is always great. You can take turns reading to each other or even read out loud together, for example. It really, really matters.
The landmark “Becoming a Nation of Readers” report from 1985 concluded that “the single most important activity for building knowledge for their eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”
ASSESSING YOUR KIDS
So, are they behind and how do you know? It’s important to note that next year, state lawmakers passed a bill saying school districts in Tennessee can hold back third graders who aren’t reading on grade level by the time they take the TNReady tests at the end of the 2023 school year. Today’s first graders have almost two years before taking the TCAP as third graders. If your child is in kindergarten or first grade now, and you are worried about his reading progress, communicate with his teacher to learn what is expected at school, and from there, you can work with them at home without having to have any special materials on-hand. Most materials you need are already in your home.
Embedding learning into the home as early as age 3 or 4 can help your child become a good reader. Spend a little time each day with your kids and work with their letters and sounds, and keep it light or they eventually won’t want to do it. This “simple” task may seem daunting at first, but if you think about it as a “To Do” on your weekly calendar and embed it into your routine, it will become something that doesn’t feel like an extra thing to do. The more you can find time to read with your child or encourage your child to read at home, the faster those pandemic gaps (or any gaps) will close. Right now, many local schools are assessing kids in order to make up for reading losses with additional courses, specific materials and accelerated learning. It’s important for you to stay informed with what is going on in your kids’ school and whether or not they are meeting their benchmarks. Check with your district and communicate with your kids’ teacher as often as possible to see where your kid is, Russo suggests.
RAISING A READER
Even with all good intentions and utmost efforts, expect there to be wins and loses with your reading challenges at home. The good news is, it CAN be done. One way you can normalize reading is by modeling it yourself, but how can a busy parent have the time to pick up a book? “Make reading a priority,” says Russo. Start when your child is a newborn and keep going to the point where you’re reading out loud, every day, any book. This is where creativity comes into play. Have a book on-hand at all times —anytime you have that “in between” time during your kids’ practice, for example, squeeze in some reading. Once you model that to your children, they will see that you too have time to read. Even swapping out TV time for reading time is another trick which also models a balance between tech (social media) and reading. Time spent on tech can easily take away independent reading time for you and for you to be reading to your kids. However, if you must, there are great reading apps that can work to your kids’ benefit. Keeping the balance is key. It’s hard to overestimate how important reading is to babies, toddlers, kids and adults, too. Respect everyone’s preferences for what they want to read, expand your talks together about what each of you are reading and make it as pleasurable as possible. Amanda Hayward is an avid reader, a mom of three, a writer and an editor.
