Share:

"Parents often search for useful ways to aid their children through the learning process. You may ask yourself, "What can I do as a parent to help my child move along with learning something as challenging as reading at a young age, or with learning new things in general?

-It is actually easier than you may think!

At Reading In Preschool, I meet all different types of parents and children. In this way, I am able to see first hand how some struggle and others thrive during the process of learning how to read. Often times, the kids who learn at a faster speed than others and who are also more enthusiastic about learning to read, are the ones whose parents have a great understanding of how to challenge their child with the new techniques I show them. These parents also acknowledge their children's efforts with praise and show support whether they get it right or not, right off the bat.

The best way to encourage your child is to relax and try to challenge them without creating pressure or anxiety for them. Some parents have this anxiety about their kids learning at a slow or fast speed and sometimes without even realizing it, show this frustration and nervousness to their children. Some kids are naturals with learning letters and reading and others need to work at it. This is completely normal. Just because your child isn't reading within the first month of classes, doesn't at all mean that they won't be reading and impressing you by the 3rd or 4th month. Every child learns at a different pace. Let your children learn to truly enjoy reading and learning, but letting them go at their own pace!

Two kiddies are both 4 and a half years old. They live just ten blocks from each other, go to the same school and are both equally as excited about learning how to read. One already knew her alphabet when we started classes and her parents made sure that in addition to our classes, she also did her simple homework and they always praise her for her efforts. Her parents were thrilled that after just 2 weeks of classes, she was already picking up words and starting to read. Then there's the other little girl who has the same exact enthusiasm and desire to learn, but she hadn't been taught the alphabet and during the month of our classes, she wasn't encouraged by her parents to do any homework. Still, after a month of weekly classes, she'd learned how to write and read 10 new letters, read 10 words and write her entire name, but her parents cancelled the classes because she wasn't already reading fluently after the first month.

This story should clearly show you what you can be doing as a parent.

1) Always praise and challenge your kids to try.

2) Your school is most likely not going to teach your preschooler the alphabet, much less learn the basics of reading, so if you can't do it yourself, have your caregiver or whoever's with your child the most do it when they can. All you need is 5 minutes a day!

3) Don't give up if your child doesn't pick it up right off the bat. Learning how to read takes time, effort and patience. (Slow and steady wins the race.)

We all want a great future for our children, but showing anxiety and stressful behavioral patterns can easily rub off on them and have a negative effect. It teaches THEM to be nervous and anxious in challenging situations and can temporarily slow down their learning process. They can quickly go from being excited about learning and making progress, to being so worried about not getting a word right, that their brain puts everything on hold, almost as a defense mechanism. And they can't make progress until they feel safe and secure about being able to try and fail, until they get it right.

The key to nourishing their learning spirit is to give your children exposure to new things that they can try; give them opportunities and praise them for EVERY effort they make and let them know that you love them unconditionally.

Wanting your child to be the best is natural, but showing or creating anxiety is not going to encourage your child to be ok with trying, it's only going to create a fear of failure. If your preschooler is excited about learning to read and is begging to be taught, but you know you're the type of person who has this tendency to be anxious, pass on reading time to the person you know who'll be the biggest positive influence on your child. Praise efforts and challenge your child! This will instill a love for learning in him or her. If you don't have that extra somebody, try your best to be the example by showing that you love to read and are encouraging when your child tries.

Praise your child not only when they succeed, but most importantly, "WHEN THEY TRY!" After all, trying and not giving up, is key to success!"

-Elizabeth Alexander/Reading In Preschool

tracking