Some children will find reading easy, however for many it is a chore to be endured rather than enjoyed.

Most parents I come across want to help their child with reading and spend one to one time listening to them.

I once heard the parent and child reading time referred to as “Golden Time”; a fantastic image that we may need to remind ourselves of from time to time, because, in many families this idyllic image falls short.

A scenario typical to many households:

A parent and child sit down to share a book.

The child is full of enthusiasm and starts to read.

The parent stops them and points out they have made a mistake.

What should the word say?

The child tries to sound out the word, and then tries again to read it.

The parent corrects their efforts.

The child continues to read and possibly makes the same mistake again.

Is the child not concentrating?

You have just corrected this mistake!

The reading continues and more mistakes are made.

The child’s enthusiasm dwindles, and the parent is slowly becoming agitated.

The child skips a line.

The parent points it out and they return to the correct place.

The scenario is going from bad to worse as the child becomes more demoralised and the parent becomes more frustrated at this apparent lack of effort.

Ultimately this “Golden Time” ends with the child in tears and the parent in a bad mood….

Some children will find reading easy, however for many it is a chore to be endured rather than enjoyed.

Yet a confidence and enjoyment of reading has so many benefits in life and not just during one’s time in education. It assists us with spelling, a wider vocabulary, improved grammar and for many provides an enjoyable source of relaxation.

Please remember when you are reading with your child, it is reading time. It is supposed to be an enjoyable experience for both of you and keep this separate to learning new words and learning phonics. Only dwell over a word when necessary, as otherwise you will lose the flow of the story, standing the risk of the enjoyment leaving the activity as it becomes a long passage of linked words without any meaning as the attention is passed from the story to deciphering what each individual word says.

Outlined below are some simple techniques I use when reading with a child which, removes some of the pressure of reading from the child and allows the parent to participate as well.

• Reading together is supposed to be a shared experience, so share it.

Start by reading a sentence each, then maybe a paragraph or a chapter. Don’t hurry this though, let the child dictate. By doing this it will take some of the pressure off the child and give you the opportunity to get through some of the story without, perhaps, such frequent mistakes. This will also help the story flow better, thus giving it more meaning.

• Initially start with a book that involves little or no writing and create your own stories.

This gives you the opportunity to introduce a love of books without the fear of getting involved in an activity which is not going to be pleasurable for anyone involved, as the struggling and the stress begins.

• If a child struggles over a word that cannot be sounded out, tell them what it says.

You may have to repeat it several times on different occasions before they remember it, but this will also keep the story flowing.

• Occasionally, if it is a word you feel the child may be able to sound out if supported; help them to break the word down, look at familiar sounds. Use the other words in the sentence to help, or the pictures. Don’t spend too long on this though; remember this is a reading task!

• Choose stories/books based upon themes that the child enjoys and that are within their capabilities.

This will enhance their enthusiasm and desire to take part. The level of difficulty can always increase over time, but it is better to take it slow and steady. A general rule of thumb is open the book to a random page and if there are more than five words that a child will struggle with on that page, it’s going to be too hard, so find something less challenging. There are an increasing number of books on the market for older children who struggle, these provide a more grown -up storyline but the language used is at a level which is easier to read; shorter, easier words to sound out.

• If you feel the stress is starting to build up, have a break before things start to deteriorate. This is supposed to be an enjoyable activity, so again please be positive and at least pretend to be enjoying your-self.

Positive and negative attitudes will rub off onto those around you.

If they realise you are finding it a chore, they will do likewise. If you can convince them you’re enjoying the time together, sharing the book, they are more likely to do so as well.

• I often read along quietly with the child so that they can parrot what I say, whilst following the words as we go and hopefully starting to spot similarities in letters and words, so next time they come across it, they may be more confident with the letters or words.

• Most importantly offer praise! As adults we respond well to a pat on the back or a comment that someone has acknowledged the effort we have put in. Children are no different, give them praise when they recognise a word they were previously unsure of, they get through a sentence, without stumbling and sounding out every word, when they were not distracted and desperate to be doing something else.

What may seem like a small milestone compared to some could be huge for others, so don’t let these efforts go un-noticed. In order to make reading a slightly less laborious task and to help shed the burden of the reading, I’ve created several simple games that I often use in my lessons to help share the reading:

• A) Create a pack of cards.

Some will be blank, some will have a photo of your or the child’s face on or a picture that is relevant to each of you (if you like ladybirds and they like snails, use pictures of these).

You take it in turns to turn the cards.

If a card is turned with a photo/picture on, the person that picture is relevant to reads the next sentence, paragraph, chapter (as appropriate), if a blank card is turned, you’re safe so turn another card.

It’s simple but by making the activity into a game it takes out some of the stress making the child more relaxed and more likely to succeed with the task.

• B) Another game I use is: Think of a subject that is of interest to your child, for example it could be a pet that you own. For example, dogs. Around the outside of a sheet of paper put pictures of 2 different dogs and some coloured circles.

Choose which picture relates to which person, for example you may be the Labrador puppy your child might be the St. Bernard. You throw the dice and move the specified number of spaces. You can move in any direction around the board, but: if anyone lands on the picture of the Labrador you will have to read a sentence, paragraph, etc. If anyone lands on the Saint Bernard, your child reads.

A coloured circle means you are safe, and no one has to read, alternatively you could create a set of forfeits; such as miss a turn, have another go or describe one thing you have learned about one of the characters, read another page etc. By moving in any direction, it means you can manipulate the game so that an even amount of reading is done, lightening the load from the child and incorporating that element of fun.

Keep reading times short, unless the child wants to keep reading. It is far better to have short successes than to have a long drawn-out sufferance on both sides

A quick game that I love I call “silly sentences”. I write down six openers such as; A, The, This, An, adjectives (small, big, smelly, old) nouns (I normally use animals such as cat, pig, dog) verbs (runs, sings, hops) adverbs (slowly, shyly, quickly, loudly).

We then cut them up and put them into piles of each category. Take it in turns to take one word from each pile put them in the order given above and read the sentence.

It could be something along the lines of: The smelly dog sang loudly.

These short bursts of reading can be set at a level suitable to the child and seem to be less challenging as it is presented as a game rather than as book.

They also support recognising what goes into a sentence and using descriptive words to make a sentence more interesting. I’ve found that even the most averse to reading will be willing to, and often enjoy participating in this game.

Finally, and most importantly: I want to reiterate, give lots of justified PRAISE, this will have the biggest impact of all.

Share the praise with other family members. We all like to hear we have done well and for success to be acknowledged. It gives us the strength and the motivation to keep trying. Don’t forget unjustified praise won’t be taken seriously, even if what you can praise is only small, be specific and praise that one thing. If you say something went well when you both know it didn’t, the child will never know when you’re being sincere. If the child has done really well, you could even offer a small reward such as a sticker or an extra five minutes of tv time.

If you have a child who enjoys learning through games and being more creative, and you enjoy spending time with them, you might be interested in the Clara James Approach, the membership group we have put together to support you in supporting your primary school aged child with their maths and English.

Interested?

Click here to learn more: The Clara James Approach