Nurture love for reading

TEACHING your children to read is, perhaps, one of the most important contributions we as parents can make to our children’s lives.

Dr Corrin Varady, chief executive of Idea Digital Education, believes that by following these tips, parents can give their children an opportunity for a great quality of life.

Start early

The earlier our children are encouraged to read, the better. Early childhood development specialists say that a child’s cognitive function is most powerful in the first six years of their lives, so teaching them to read helps drive this development.

Increase their access

Surround your child with as many books and digital reading materials as possible. Children are naturally curious and increasing access to books is one of the first obstacles we need to overcome. Ease of access will increase interest, inspire exploration and browsing, and before you know it, a bookworm may soon develop.

Reading rewards

If your child is a reluctant reader, develop a reward system for reading by using the things they would rather do as rewards for completing reading tasks. Positive, constructive rewards can also make reading less of a task and more of an enjoyable life skill.

Problem-solving with reading

Engaging your children in word games and word problems is another way to get your children to continue their reading skills while increasing their vocabulary, improving their problem-solving skills and increasing their higher-order thinking. – Supplied