How Can I Support my Child's Reading Skills?


Literacy is communication. It is the ability to read, view, write, design, speak, and listen in a way that allows us to share ideas and understand the ideas of others. This process is complex. It involves many skills that an individual needs to assimilate. Along with reading skills, literacy entails the application of existing knowledge to new information. Combining skills with experience, the reader-communicator develops a deeper, broader understanding of the world. This is the ultimate goal of literacy.

Every child is capable of learning to read with the right guidance, assistance, and motivation. The role of the reading instructor plays a large part in this, but parents and guardians can also help to improve their child's reading achievement. Research has shown, for example, that reading aloud to children develops literacy skills and vocabulary that form the basis for learning how to read. What other ways can you, as a parent or guardian, help your child succeed in literacy? 

  • Share your knowledge and explain how literacy is used in your everyday life.
  • Encourage your child to read a wide variety of texts such as newspapers, books, magazines, websites, comics, and environmental print (signs, labels, and packaging).
  • Encourage your child to for a variety of purposes using different mediums. 
  • Discuss how texts look different depending on the purpose and audience; for example, text messaging uses different spelling from school and business projects.
  • Talk about things that you have read that were amusing, interesting, or useful.
  • Discuss favorite authors or illustrators and what you like about them.
  • Discuss new and unusual words or phrases and explore these through print and electronic dictionaries. Etymologies (word histories) are especially interesting to some readers.
  • Participate in games that develop a knowledge and enjoyment of words.
  • Make use of community resources for information such as local libraries and book fairs.

Do you need literacy teaching resources? We have them!