The new year’s celebrations are over and 2020 will slowly sink into our memories, not that we will ever forget it. Hopefully, you have entered 2021 with new hopes and dreams. By the looks of it, it will be another COVID-infected year, which means more Zoom calls, social distancing, and a lot of confusion regarding the schooling of our kids. There is nothing we can do about the first two, but we can try to help you with the latter one.

Let’s be honest. During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents had to become homeschoolers. The teachers want – and are often doing their best – to help, but there is simply no infrastructure in place to teach kids in such disconcerting times. 

This was especially evident in Kobi’s survey, where teachers said that children simply don’t read as well as in the past years. The survey included 84 teachers, reading specialists, and special education teachers. More than 85,71% of teachers were worried about their pupils’ reading progress, while more than 95% of teachers said that reading gets less attention compared to previous years. The results could mean we are leaving a generation of kids illiterate.

The solution is for parents to support their kids’ reading development at home with additional practice & explanation. To make that job a bit easier, we have gathered a few pointers that could help.

Get up to speed

If you want to teach your kid to read, first you need a bit of knowledge about how a kid learns to read. Learning to read is generally separated into four phases. The child has to first master the theory (the first three phases of reading), before putting that knowledge into practice in the fourth phase.

Phase 1: Pretend Reading (Kids aged 6 months – 6 years)
Phase 2: Learning Phonics (Kids aged 5 – 7)
Phase 3: Blending (Kids aged 5 – 7)
Phase 4: Reading (Kids aged 8+)

Learning to Read: A Comprehensive Guide for Parents

Although learning to read is a fairly complicated process, we have tried to simplify it in our Learning to Read: A Comprehensive Guide for Parents. The guide will give you insight into the kid’s learning process, as well as recommended exercises, possible issues, and an executable plan.

Practice Reading 15 Minutes a Day

To support your kid’s reading development, your goal should be to read 15 minutes a day. That might not sound like a lot, but when your kid is refusing to read it can be a real pain to get them to read without them throwing a tantrum.

Choose books wisely. Easier books will not help your kid as much, while difficult texts might discourage your kid from reading. Here are some popular choices to start the learning process with:

– The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
– Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
– The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
– Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
– Press Here by Hervé Tullet

The books are recommended as the font in the books is larger, the story is supported by illustrations, and based on reviews, other kids enjoyed these, so it’s highly possible that yours will too.

Ideally, you would also have a word list – a list of words that your kid is familiar with. The ideal book will have a mix of words your kid is familiar with, and new words of the same difficulty.

Use Dyslexia-Friendly Books

If your kid has reading difficulties, there are resources you can use to get them some help. Dyslexia-friendly books come in different varieties, but all have the same mission. To help a dyslexic child learn to read. 

Kobi has taken this a step further with Dyslexic Creativity Books™. Dyslexic Creativity Books have colored letters & bolded vowels to increase the reading speed and improve reading accuracy. Additionally, the books check your kid’s reading comprehension by asking them questions. Your kid replies to those questions with drawings.

When your kid finishes the story, you are left with a book, full of custom illustrations your kid made, along with a proud memory of a time your kid was learning to read.

You can read more about the Dyslexic Creativity Books on Kobi’s website.

Combine Reading With Fun Games

Sometimes children start seeing reading as a daunting task. That leads to them hating reading and makes your job of supporting their reading development that much harder.

Even if children don’t like reading, they certainly like to have fun. A smart way of getting children to read more is to combine reading with some fun activities. There are several games you can play when reading. Printable games are preferable for your kids when they are younger. Later you can try adding some digital games into the reading experience as well.

Go Digital

Digital resources became a vital part of our lives. Especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 era, digital tools are crucial in supporting your kid’s learning development.

If your kid is learning to read, but you are unsure how to support them, give Kobi’s mobile app a try. Kobi is a mobile app that helps children learn to read. It is carefully crafted for all children, including kids with dyslexia, ADHD, and others. Kobi combines different techniques that help speed up reading, increase reading accuracy, and improve reading comprehension, leading to reading fluency faster and with more ease. 

Download KOBI and give it a try. It’s FREE for the first 7 days.