How Long Can You Spend Teaching Your Child To Read

I recommend 15 to 30 minutes a day minimum. If that is all you can do, then it will be a great help. What I do is: if the kid is interested I will keep reading until the kid starts to show signs of restlessness, then I will

It all depends on the kid and how interested the kid is. 

If you can do two 15-minute blocks a day that is even better, but in today’s world can you do it. On the weekends and holidays you could give reading in the morning a go. Most kids have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, so why not stay there and read for a bit.

There are a lot of distractions out there. And learning how to read is very easy to get distracted from. So to make it harder for the distractions to set in, you need to get your kids interested in some very interesting books. And they are usually about things the kid is already interested in. If they like dinosaurs, get dinosaur books. And if they like cars get them car books.

One thing I ask the students is. “What cartoon or movie do you like?” Then I would recommend reading the book that usually comes with the movie. One kid liked the “Ice Age” movie so I said get the book, but she didn’t like the book. It was a bit of a drag reading it so I changed to something else.

The golden rule “If the kid doesn’t like, it forget it and get something they like.” We are up against the latest games and cartoons, so whatever you are reading must be as interesting or more so than the competition. And the competition nowadays is quite exciting.

When reading always POINT your finger under or over the word you are saying, so the kid can figure out what word sounds matches what written word. I think it is a waste of time just reading. The kid must associate the sound with the word. And the easiest way to do that is to underline the word with your finger or a pencil as you say it.

For more information about the reading courses I recommend see our teach reading page.