Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting- Aldous Huxley

Reading simply means attainment of language, sharing of information, communicating and comprehending it the right way. Reading is an individual activity and has to be done on his own for better comprehension. Literacy, in the true sense, is the ability to read and absorb what is read, which forms the backbone of learning, and learning is the way of life. Such is the importance of reading in one’s life. With the invasion of technology in our lives, reading today is more of electronic display, such as computers, television, mobile phones or eReaders. But thankfully, it prevails and technology has not completely discarded it. Reading is a habit that has to be imbibed in kids at a tender age for them to like and live by it. Now, if you find reading boring, difficult or simply tough to imbibe in your kids, here are a few teaching strategies to improve reading skills.

Effective Teaching Strategies for Reading

To start with, one must know the language relatively well. Phonics are very important as they help you connect with the sounds of every letter or group of letters, hence, clubbing them together to produce the correct pronunciation of the unknown words. The reading instruction begins with phonics, and kids learn to read simple text even before they complete the phonological knowledge. Composition of sentences, phrases, pronunciation of words, spelling and punctuation follows the phonological study. Prefixes, suffixes, compound words, and other parts of speech come in next. You need not master the language (if done nothing like it) but at least get the basic crux of the language to make reading interesting. The comprehending part is the most tough, because you cannot expect anyone to comprehend certain things in the way you comprehend them. Some people or kids for that matter, read for the heck of it, without proper comprehension. Now, at a very early age, if students are given instructions, understanding it becomes helpful for the students to monitor their comprehension. The last being summarizing, that is, remembering what is read and being able to connect to the main ideas and central plan. Listed below are a few reading strategies for struggling readers or for kids taking their first step towards reading. Read the rest of this entry »