My college age daughter was doing some research on literacy and found out that boys weren't doing as well in reading. It was reported that the problem was that the reading materials that were presented to them in school wasn't that interesting to them.
Yes, I know that reading materials in the schools may not be all that interesting to anyone. The key is that we want to keep our kids learning and reading; it will help them to become literate adults.
If the school isn't providing interesting reading materials, find out what your kids are interested in, and provide them with some books that are appealing to them. If they aren't really interested in "books", check out comic books and/or song lyrics. Perhaps they'll want to sing along to their favorite artists. A karaoke machine can be used for learning activities and birthdays too!
Have them dictate a story to you, write their words down, and then read it back to them. Then have them read their story back to you.
If they are also writing, reverse the roles, and dictate a story to them and have them write it down and then read it back to you. It can be a made up story, and or an experience story, or about something that they would like to do have or do.
Change things up a bit by having them write with a paint brush. Get some poster board or larger paper so that they can write l a r g e.
You don't have to do all of the above; the idea is to provide some fun reading activities that are outside of the school environment that is just for fun.
If you have any other ideas, please share in a comment below.
Cheryl Paton
