How to Help ESL Students Build Strong Reading Skills
Reading is a skill that people should acquire from early childhood. A book is a treasure that produces inspiration, strong knowledge, morality, and pleasure. This activity stimulates people to shape their personality, nurture their character, and create a particular set of precious values and principles to guide them in life. Reading books continually determines people to discover themselves better, perceive the environment appropriately they live in, and understand the people and events around them. It makes people rich spiritually and contributes to the formation of a healthy and solid personality. Once they comprehend the circumstances of their living medium, people can construct their appreciation concerning society's different issues, taking attitude in various challenging situations that they experience day by day. Children have to be stimulated, motivated, and educated to read from early childhood so that it becomes a regular pleasant custom.
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eliza Cononov. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Family and Home Environment
The first consideration is that parents should start reading to their children as much as possible from the very beginning of their life. How parents initiate this activity is decisive because they might confront other specific difficulties with their children at particular ages. It is essential to set a regular time to be devoted to reading every day to become a family tradition. For example, in the evening, before going to bed, parents may read to their infants different stories and fairy tales being accompanied by many pictures, which is an immense advantage. This activity represents an excellent recreation for the children's mind, especially if they enjoy it and at the same time, it is very educational and productive. While listening, they start to think about what they hear at that very moment and attempt to absorb the content unconsciously. Moreover, children imagine what they hear from their point of view, and also, based on that, specific ideas arise in their conscience.
The other element that contributes significantly for the things mentioned above to take place is to create a "reading" environment in the house or their rooms. Persons, who love reading, usually transform some parts of their home into small libraries by collecting them one by one on different occasions. Either they purchase books, or they receive them as a gift from someone. It is essential to "decorate" the house with colorful books to be attractive and exciting enough to children, to make them want to open a particular book. Furthermore, children who love reading make good progress and have high results at school as well. Considering this aspect, both parents and teachers have to be encouraged occasionally to attend the school library and spend their time efficiently being surrounded by plenty of inspirational books.
Role Model
Successful readers frequently grow gradually as readers and inspire other people to practice this form of education. In this respect, parents serve and should serve as models worth following for their offsprings. In considerable measure, children imitate their parents' manners, behavior, ideas, and even words because they believe these are adequate. If parents pay attention and offer importance to reading frequency and delight, children will value it progressively. They will appreciate its benefits later, even if they do not comprehend this aspect so profoundly at an early age. Caring parents spend time reading with their children, listening to them also discussing the read content. It is relevant to verify the ideas, messages subtly, thoughts the children reproduce from the reading session. Parents have to prioritize this fact, whereas, at times, children prove to be surprised when they interpret the essence of reading.
When children read more by themselves, it helps them choose what they would like to read. When there is a compatibility between their preferences and what they read, children start to do it independently and of pleasure. This phase ensures the continuous reading process in a child's life, and they even can fall in love with this activity. Instilling a love of reading in children is one of the best gifts parents can offer to them. It demonstrates they care about their children's future, success, and educational prospects. Reading is an adventure in knowledge, various emotions, enjoyment, and art.The teacher's role is also substantial in instilling the love for reading in children because, at school, pupils have to become motivated in a particular manner to read what is required to. The teacher has to select the reading materials and topics for children appropriately to be interesting, attractive, and relevant to their interests, needs, preferences, and age. Therefore, the activities based on them have to be suitable and imply many discussions, expressing opinions and interpretation of the reading essence.
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Reading helps people in every sphere of their lives. It supports them to succeed in school and later in their careers as well. This activity also contributes to the growth and evolution of persons as individuals and distinct personalities. Through discovering new information all the time, people perceive their feelings better and more than that. They could be able to imagine the feelings of others too. Parents should read to their children, listen to them while reading, and certainly discuss with them what they read because reading remains to be the key to wisdom and success in life.
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