Author: Annie NG
Speech and Language Therapist
Reading is one of the things we all know are beneficial for a child to do. So today, let’s talk about some of the ways we can best facilitate this at home. The goal is to make it a well-rounded, interactive learning experience that is fun for your child!
Structuring Reading Time into Three Parts
One way to facilitate reading time is to break it up into three parts:
- Before reading
- While reading
- After reading
Before Reading: Preparing for Reading
- Choose the right book
- Opt for books that are age-appropriate and match your child’s interests.
- Try to have a variety of books on rotation, e.g. fiction, non-fiction, themed books, etc.
- Discuss the book cover together
- Give a brief overview of the book and provide some context for the story. You can also take turns guessing what the book might be about.
- Introduce key and/ or new vocabulary
- Explain tricky words or unfamiliar concepts in the book before starting, e.g. This story is about a fireman. A fireman is someone who puts out fires and rescues people from unsafe situations.
While Reading: Making Reading Interactive
- Ask open-ended questions
- Open-ended questions encourage your child to think, respond, and use language.
- For example:
- ‘What do you think will happen next?’
- ‘Why do you think the boy is sad?’
- ‘How does this picture make you feel?’
- Create opportunities for your child to make comments
- Pause after reading a page or asking a question. Don’t rush—let them process and share their thoughts. Giving your child enough time to respond and comment encourages their active participation.
- Relate the story to your child’s life
- Making personal connections reinforces comprehension and language use.
- For example:
- ‘We saw a dog like this at the park, didn’t we?’
- ‘Remember when we baked cookies like the character in the book?’
- Encourage predictions
- Predicting helps your child think critically and anticipate what comes next.
- Pause and ask, ‘What do you think will happen next?’ or ‘What would you do if you were in this story?’ If you have a young child who is not ready to answer these questions, answer them by ‘thinking out loud’ with them.
After Reading: Reinforcing Comprehension and Language Skills
- Revisit the story
- Discussing the book again helps your child recall details and practice storytelling.
- For example:
- ‘What was your favourite part of the story?’
- ‘My favourite character was… because… Who was your favourite character?’
- ‘Remember the big problem they faced in the story?’
- Act it out
- Re-enact parts of the story using toys, props, or your voices. Let your child take the lead as much as possible. This form of ‘pretend’ builds their language skills and creativity.
- For example:
- ‘Let’s pretend to be the hungry caterpillar! What should we eat first?’
- Expand on vocabulary
- Pick one or two new words from the book and use them in sentences throughout the day. Reviewing new words helps your child remember and use them.
- For example:
- ‘Remember the word “enormous”’? That means really big. Look at that enormous tree outside our window!’
Going Beyond the Story
We can further children’s learning by helping them make different connections with the story. As adults, we do this quite naturally as we read, but it is a process that happens internally and children can’t observe this learning behaviour unless we make it explicit.
There are three main types of connections we can help children make so they can better relate to the story.
- Text-to-self connections relate the story to the child’s personal experiences. For example, if a character is scared of the dark, you might ask your child, ‘Have you ever been scared of the dark? What did you do?’ This helps children see the relevance of the story to their own lives.
- Text-to-text connections relate the story to other books or media. For example, ‘This story reminds me of the book we read last week. Do you remember how that character solved a problem like this one?’ This builds their ability to compare and contrast ideas across stories.
- Text-word-world connections relate the story to their broader knowledge of the world. For example, if the story is about planting a garden, you could say, ‘This reminds me of the gardens we saw at the park. What do you think plants need to grow?’ These connections expand their understanding of the world and foster curiosity.
It is also important for you to model making connections yourself by saying things like, ‘This part reminds me of when we went to the beach last summer!’. Over time, your child will begin to make their own connections.
Making it Work for You and Your Family’s Schedule
As important as reading together is, it doesn’t necessarily have to be an unchanging daily routine. Some days, you might find that it is possible to have an extended reading time together with your child; other days, you might only have time to talk about the cover of the book. Either is okay! Engage your child in the different aspects of reading as much as you have the capacity for.
Here are some other strategies to consider as part of creating a love for reading at home:
- Reading in front of your child. Children learn from what they observe. Let your child see you read. If you are excited about reading, they are more likely to feel the same way about reading also.
- Finding reading moments on the go. Reading isn’t limited to reading a physical book. Reading happens wherever there are words. You can read the shopping list with your child, the signs around you or the instructions to build Lego.
- Going to the library not only introduces your child to a great variety of books, but it also allows them to see how other children enjoy books.
- Let your child re-read favourite books. Children do not get tired of reading the same material! In fact, they often pick up on new things each time they read.
- Making reading fun and stress-free. Don’t focus on testing your child’s knowledge of the book. Keep it fun and engaging so your child actually enjoys reading time!
