Parents Share: How We Build Reading Skills at Home
We asked our readers which approaches — high-tech or low-tech — they use at home to improve their child’s reading skills. Here are some of our favorite tips.
> Good old-fashioned practice and drill. We use high-tech apps to reinforce his reading skills.
—Cassy Jefferson, Chatham, Virginia
> He loves to read. To encourage him more, we turn reading time into one-on-one time with Mom or Dad.
—Andres Hunter, Fort Worth, Texas
> We use a healthy balance of low-tech and high-tech. We read together. I also involve him in cooking, building, driving, and any other task that involves reading and following instructions. Speakaboos is a great reading app for kids when you’re on the road, and you want your child to sit and focus.
—Darci Westmoreland, Beeville, Texas
> I ask my child to read a paragraph at a time and tell me what it is about. The reading takes longer, but his retention is much better.
—Stephanie, Aurora, Colorado
> I have my child highlight words in blue and underline key words in a sentence.
—An ADDitude Reader
> I read to him and then he reads to me, as we take turns reading pages. He seems more interested when we share it.
—Diane Martin, St. Louis, Missouri
> I use reading software, like Kurzweill and Natural Readers, to help him with this skill.
—Anita Dib, Volga, West Virginia
When my twins were learning to read, we had a lot of books on their Kindles, in audio and visual format. They read along and listened a couple of times, and then they read the book to me.
—Julia Christelle, Saint Joseph, Minnesota
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