6 Ways to Improve Reading at Home (2023)

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Reading begins at home; here are some tips parents can use to help their kids improve their reading problems at home.

Reading is a fundamental skill that is crucial to success in life. As parents, it’s important to cultivate a love of reading in our children, especially if they are struggling readers. But where do we start? Are you tired of searching for different reading programs?

I’m here to help. In this blog post, I’ll share six tips parents can use to help their kids improve their reading skills at home. I’ll cover everything from creating a reading culture to finding a dedicated space for reading. With these tips, you can help your child become a confident and capable reader who loves to curl up with a good book. Let’s dive in!

Create a Reading Culture at Home 

Treat reading like a religion. I’m from the South, and religion intertwines almost everything I do. My parents ensured it was embedded into my identity through daily reminders and conversations.

Reading should be treated with the same level of importance. Have an ongoing conversation about what your kids are reading or have read. Celebrate their small successes in reading (seriously, any success, even if it is just a page). Praise them for the reading they do instead of scolding them for the reading they haven’t done.

Encourage them to compare daily things to books you’ve read together. Talk to them about books you are reading. Avid readers are created at home, so try to be that example (even if you have to fake it).

When kids see that you think reading is essential, they will start to realize that reading isn’t something that only happens at school, but a gift that they can bond over with others. 

Dedicate a Space for reading

We tend to dedicate different areas of our house to certain things: eating, sleeping, getting dressed, and even cleaning ourselves. We know it’s time to do those things when we enter that space. Yet so many parents don’t have a dedicated reading space.

Research shows that creating a space, even if it’s just a chair with a nice blanket, can create a mental shift for kids, so their bodies will know that place is for reading. The trick to it is consistency. If your child watches TV in their reading chair, it will be hard for them to concentrate on reading in that same chair.

Find a space where they can put on their noise-canceling headphones, cuddle up with their “squish mellow” (or favorite stuffed animal) throw in some mood lighting, and watch how much they start to enjoy their reading time.

Make reading personal

What do Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, and even hair products have in common? They are all customized for their consumer. Adults love products because they feel like they were made just for them. That same marketing tactic should be applied to reading, especially when a child picks out a book. 

Allow them to pick out their books or help them select a book based on their interest. “I know you love Paw Patrol, so here is a book about a little boy and his friends who save the world just like them!”

If you have older kids, find culturally reflective and relevant books. Search for a graphic novel (or a comic) that embodies a situation they are going through. This takes research, but the payoff is worth it. 

Have children connect their books to the world

The biggest skill students struggle with is comprehension. You can improve your child’s comprehension without forcing them to read more or throwing a worksheet in their face. You can start by building their text-to-world application. This builds comprehension and critical thinking by encouraging your child to apply what they’ve read to their lives or something happening in the world. 

Children who can connect texts build a cognitive ability of association, which will reinforce the text’s central idea or theme. You can do this by asking your students to put themselves in the character’s shoes (“Would you have done that?”) or try to relate to the characters (“Have you ever felt this way?”). 

Reinforce that main idea by asking why or how they come up with these conclusions. Eventually, they will reference the text just like that! You’ve taught them how to support their inferences with evidence from the book. 

Associate reading with positive things

This is the MOST important tip I remind all my parents to do. Please do not use reading as a punishment. I have seen this happen with parents and teachers, and it sends a message to a child that reading is bad. 

Always associate reading with positive things (e.g., praise, stickers, or snack time), but never associate it with negativity. We want to ensure our kids read for pleasure, not punishment. 

Reading is a culture, not a task, starting at home.

Consider Online Reading Programs

There is nothing like the help from an expertly trained reading tutor, who can give you help in the comforts of your own home. There are many different programs out there, but the best online reading programs consist of real teachers (not college kids) who have dedicated their careers to teaching students. Parents have ranked The Innovative Learners as one of the best online reading programs out there because we cater to each child’s needs with our customized curriculum that is updated daily. (Nothing outdated here).

Those are my top tips for parents who are looking to improve their child’s reading at home. Which one of these will you start doing today?