The main thing to keep in mind when assisting reading is that the reading material should be appropriate for the age of the child. It is not a good idea to give a thirteen year old child 'Little Red Riding Hood' to read. This would be demeaning and inappropriate. As far as possible age appropriate content should be the guiding factor.
The book should be interesting for the child and should involve some element of choice. This is the other guiding factor. It is important to realise that when adults read for pleasure they choose books that they are interested in.
Good quality books with good illustrations are more motivating than books with stilted text and uninspiring pictures (that are often supplied to reluctant readers). Sometimes the books that children choose to read are too difficult and cannot be read without adequate scaffolding. However, this problem can be overcome, to some degree, by discussing and reading the book to the child before he/she attempts to read it. Repeated reading is a very effective method used to familiarise the reader with the story and the flow of the language. Once the child can understand the story the decoding will be much easier to negotiate and the child's confidence will increase.
There is nothing that succeeds more than success itself!
In the next blog I will discuss reading difficulty levels.
The book should be interesting for the child and should involve some element of choice. This is the other guiding factor. It is important to realise that when adults read for pleasure they choose books that they are interested in.
Good quality books with good illustrations are more motivating than books with stilted text and uninspiring pictures (that are often supplied to reluctant readers). Sometimes the books that children choose to read are too difficult and cannot be read without adequate scaffolding. However, this problem can be overcome, to some degree, by discussing and reading the book to the child before he/she attempts to read it. Repeated reading is a very effective method used to familiarise the reader with the story and the flow of the language. Once the child can understand the story the decoding will be much easier to negotiate and the child's confidence will increase.
There is nothing that succeeds more than success itself!
In the next blog I will discuss reading difficulty levels.
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