Category Archives: Improve Reading Skill

Improve Reading Comprehension, Improve Reading Skill, Improve Spelling

Tips To Improve Reading Skills

Good reading skills encompass other aspects of life and also impact the ability to communicate effectively via spoken or written language. Reading skills refer to one’s ability to read written language, comprehend, interpret and decode the same. They also include decoding, vocabulary, inference, retention and fluency.

Following are some tips to improve reading skills:

  • Set Goals: Start with setting reading goals i.e. learning new words, reading about a specific topic, time goals, page goals and more. Setting achievable goals for reading provides a reader with an aim to strive to accomplish. Goals provide a direction for one’s efforts while lending a sense of achievement on their completion.
  • Create An Ideal Environment: Create a comfortable and distraction-free environment for reading. Ensure that the place is well-lit and well-ventilated. Also invest in a comfortable chair or couch that provides support to the back and facilitates longer reading spells.
  • Allocate Time For Reading: To form a consistent habit of reading, it is essential to set aside a specific time of the day for reading. Choose a time of the day when your mind is fresh and active. On the contrary, you can also set aside time before retiring to bed at night.
  • Read In Portions: Avoid long reading sessions by breaking up the sessions into digestible portions. When we read for shorter duration intervals, it is easier to assimilate and retain information. The process of reading in portions also minimizes eye fatigue.
  • Preview & Scan: To get a gist of the content you are planning to read, preview and scan it prior to reading the entire portion. This can be done by previewing the title, headlines, captions and so on. The process provides a general idea about the topic to be read which facilitates a better reading experience in terms of speed and understanding.
  • Increase Comprehension: You can improve the comprehension of what you read by making connections of what you read with real-life experiences. Write down these connections on the page you are reading for quick reference when going through the content later.
  • Take Notes: The process of taking notes while reading provides a deeper understanding of the material being read. It helps in making connections and forming inferences from the reading. Note-taking also helps in organizing ideas from text, staying focused, thinking critically, drawing conclusions, etc.
  • Summarize: You can improve your reading skills by summarizing what you have read. The process of summarizing helps in processing the information in your own words. It is also beneficial for comprehending and retaining information.

See-N-Read Reading Tools offers offline and online reading tools that help in developing reading skills. The tools help in improving memory, focus, comprehension and vocabulary. For more details on tips to improve reading skills, visit 2533 Sutton Lane, Aurora, IL – 60502, or call at (630) 236 – 5592. 

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Importance of Reading in Life

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free”- Frederick Douglass.

Reading is a habit that expands the mind’s horizons and gives the reader a broader and deeper perspective of life. It is a great exercise for the brain and a productive habit that enhances knowledge, increases confidence, boosts concentration and makes the reader wiser. A well-read person is a treasure-house of knowledge required for personal development.

Listed below are some benefits that reading has to offer:

  • Better Vocabulary: Reading is one of the best ways to learn new words for people of all age groups. There are books of different reading levels with vocabulary deemed fit for the age group of the reader. A reader not only learns new words while reading but also gets a better understanding of how to use the words in a sentence.
  • Mental Stimulation: Reading helps to build new brain connections and strengthen existing ones. The brain perceives it as a complex task for which it has to fire more neurons in order to understand and assimilate new information. Those who read exhibit a lower rate of mental decline related to memory and other mental facilities.
  • Stress Reduction: For many, reading is a relaxing activity that they can indulge in at any time of the day. Some even prefer reading before going to bed as it induces sleep by calming the nervous system. It has a soothing effect on the brain as it does not over stimulate it.
  • Knowledge: Reading is one of the best ways of gaining knowledge on any subject and getting to know the world around us better. There are millions of books that a reader can choose from related to his genre of interest. Books are one of the most authentic sources of research-based knowledge on any topic.
  • Improved Concentration: The process of reading requires the reader to sit still and focus on what is being read. Over time, it improves concentration levels and extends the reader’s focus as it is impossible to multi-task while reading. In fact, the process of reading is akin to meditation as one has to sit still and do nothing but read and breathe.
  • Better Academic Performance: Students who read more are likely to perform better at academics as they develop better verbal and writing abilities. Students who read books on current affairs have more general knowledge and cultural awareness which also boosts academic performance. However, for this, it is important to expose students to books that are relevant and interesting
  • Better Memory: Books comprise of different characters, plots, sub-plots, lessons, historical events, backgrounds, etc. In order to understand a book, the reader has to memorize the book as he reads and weaves through it. This forges new brain pathways that improve short-term memory recall and improves brain power.

See-n-Read Reading Tools offers a variety of tools to improve reading skills among kids. For more details on importance of reading in life, visit 2533 Sutton Lane, Aurora, IL – 60502, or call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Components Of Effective Reading

For reading to be effective, it is important for it to be a motivating experience. So, in order to ensure effective reading among students, it is important for teachers to use instructional materials with decodable texts and rich literature. They should use reading assessment tools, practice timely intervention with struggling readers and create an enthusiasm and appreciation for books among students at an early age.

Let us take a look at each of the components of effective reading in detail:

  • Phonemic Awareness: The smallest unit of a sound is called a phoneme; phonemic awareness refers to the knowledge of how combinations of sounds make up words. It is the ability to differentiate each sound and blend the sounds into a word. Exposure to print is one of the most effective ways of increasing phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness improves printed word recognition and helps children to identify and manipulate sounds while speaking.
  • Fluent Reading: To be a fluent reader, one should be able to read, write and speak smoothly and accurately. Higher word recognition skills are needed for a child to be a fluent speaker. The child progresses from decoding individual words to sight-reading. The best way to increase fluency is to practice reading in the form of oral reading for beginners, listening to fluent readers, and so on.
  • Vocabulary: As children read, interact with others or are read to by someone, they begin discovering, understanding and using new words in their daily lives. The knowledge of new words is essential to their reading comprehension and writing abilities. To improve vocabulary, children should be helped with processing word meanings and understanding their usage. This can be done by encouraging them to learn high frequency words by reading both fiction and non-fiction.
  • Text Comprehension: The whole purpose of reading is to be able to understand/comprehend what is being read. The level of reading comprehension depends on a child’s vocabulary and quality of instruction that the child receives. Comprehension can be improved through activities such as answering questions about what has been read, making mental images, learning to recognize clues in the text, using graphic organizers, drawing on previous knowledge or retelling a story.
  • Written Expression: Writing and reading are like two sides of the same coin; the components of each offer strength and support to one another to create an effective literacy program. Writing improves phonemic awareness, reinforces phonics instruction, helps in understanding different text styles and also improves comprehension skills.

See-n-Read Reading Tools help in developing effective reading skills. The tools aim at improving varied reading components including vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, etc. For more details on components of effective reading, visit 2533 Sutton Lane, Aurora, IL – 60502, or call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Importance Of Reading In Life

Reading is a workout for the mind; it keeps the mind fresh, sharp and calm. It impacts every area of an individual’s life right from school to one’s career and beyond. Reading teaches, inspires, nudges and helps us in becoming the best version of ourselves. It is never too early or too late to start reading and reap its benefits.

Following are some of the ways with which reading enriches the lives of readers:

  • Improves Communication Skills: Good communication skills rely on the choice of words. Reading not only broadens one’s choice of words, but also refines the way a person communicates with others orally or by written mode. It inspires to learn from the way different writers portray their messages, the theme they use, their expressions and choice/use of words.
  • Builds Self Image: Ardent readers have a higher self image owing to their high confidence levels. They carry themselves confidently in any type of gathering and are at ease with expressing their ideas and thoughts eloquently.
  • Academic Benefits: Those who read get smarter with time and perform better at academics. Reading boosts knowledge and intellectual capabilities of students by exposing them to various sources of written information from all over the world.
  • Boosts Vocabulary: Reading is one of the best ways to boost one’s vocabulary as it exposes the reader to innumerable new words through every book. It is believed that if one reads a book daily, it will amount to approximately 4 million words in a year.
  • Improves Comprehension: School going kids who read extensively experience immense improvement in their overall comprehension abilities. As a result, they have a better understanding of what they read at school.
  • Mental Well-Being: Reading enriches internal dialogue and the interpretation of what goes on around an individual. The ability to look at events and happenings from a broader perspective makes a person more empathetic, calm and adjusting.
  • Boosts Imagination And Creativity: Visual imagination is an intrinsic part of reading. The more one reads, the better his imaginative and creative skills get as reading stimulates the mind to create images.
  • Aids In Sleep: For many people, reading is the perfect remedy for a sound night’s sleep. It calms the senses by encouraging the reader to sit at one place and concentrate on reading only. Around 6 minutes of reading are enough to reduce stress levels and calm down the mind and body.

See-n-Read Reading Tools help in improving reading skills. Reading has immense benefits including better vocabulary, improved imagination skills, higher comprehension skills, etc. For more details on importance of reading in life, visit 2533 Sutton Lane, Aurora, IL – 60502, or call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Strategies to Improve Learning Capabilities Of Dyslexic Children

Children with dyslexia can have difficulty in learning and building concepts, mostly due to the challenge posed by reading with dyslexia. When helping a dyslexic child build their reading skills, and in turn be better learners, it is important to have a clear understanding of the condition and work with empathy as well as patience. Working with a dyslexic student helps them know that they are cared for, and that help is available, which builds a strong foundation for better learning. This becomes important considering the stigma associated with the condition, and mental trauma that these children have to undergo when trying to learn in a formal classroom.

The following strategies can help you understand some effective ways to help children with dyslexia:

  • Start by providing a concise lesson plan of what will be taught in class, and finish with a recapitulation of the lesson. This reiteration and pre-planning can help to compartmentalize different parts of the lesson in the child’s mind, making it easy for them to keep up with what is being taught. It also helps in better retention and memory.
  • Dyslexic children might get confused with a large number of options of textbooks and workbooks. It helps to limit the amount of books that are worked with. If that is not possible, then take out some time to go over the work assigned to the child with them, and ensure that they have the correct material to work with.
  • Check-lists and planners are a dyslexic child’s best friend, as they can help them have a clear view of what is expected from them and work on items one thing at a time. Color-coded planners are a great idea, as they help to create a visual map in the child’s mind, minimizing the effort that they would have to put to read blocks of text.
  • Multisensory learning is a highly effective strategy to help dyslexic children to improve their learning abilities. This could include the use of music, felt boards, bottle tops, marbles etc. to develop key skills in children. The goal is to keep the child engaged, while also ensuring that the purpose of learning is being achieved.
  • Since reading is a major part of learning, this is one skill that requires special emphasis when helping a dyslexic child. The use of specific reading tools designed for dyslexic children can go a long way in assisting the child to tackle this challenge. It is also a good idea to start with books that have larger print and colorful illustrations, and work one-on-one with the child to ensure that they are not struggling with reading.

We, at See-N-Read Reading Tools offer a variety of reading tools. For more information, call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Improve Reading Skill

Ways to Improve Concentration Among Children With Dyslexia

Children with dyslexia experience issues with their attention span and concentration levels. They find it difficult to focus on something and get distracted easily. However there are some cognitive exercises and strategies which can be immensely helpful in helping them develop concentration. Let’s take a look at some of them:

  • Reduce Distractions: Create a conducive environment for the child in which he/she can thrive and retain information. Ensure that the child gets enough sleep and rest. Keep away distracting factors such as video game, radio, television etc. to improve concentration & focus while reading.
  • Engage As Many Senses As Possible: Concentration level of kids with dyslexia can be improved by encouraging them to learn by using all their senses. Learning by listening, writing and reading aloud all at once helps in improving concentration levels.
  • Contextualize New Information: Encourage children to focus on a particular topic by relating it to something that they already know. When kids can relate to something like this, they tend to stick to the subject with more interest.
  • Subheadings And Visualization: Categorizing information improves concentration levels and retention power. When information is structured and presented in an understandable format, it is easier for the child to focus. The child sees the information as limited and easy to comprehend.
  • Summarizing And Rehearsing Information: Kids can be helped to understand and concentrate on information by teaching them summarizing skills and helping them reorganize the information in an easy to understand format. They should be encouraged to review the information learnt at regular intervals.
  • Mental Exercises: Kids with disorders such as dyslexia should be exposed to mental challenges that promote the formation of new neural connections in the brain. Such mental exercises make their brains more effective at retaining information and focusing. Examples of such activities are reading novels, music classes, learning a foreign language, playing games like scrabble, Sudoku, chess and so on.
  • A Healthy Lifestyle: A healthy lifestyle goes a long way in improving concentration levels in kids with dyslexia. It ensures the brain is exposed to generous amounts of blood and oxygen. Children should be educated on the importance of a balanced diet, exercising on a regular basis and staying away from substance abuse. A healthy lifestyle wards off depression which is notorious for aggravating concentration problems.
  • Learning Tools: To boost your child’s concentration when reading, you can make use of learning tools like reading strips to help them stay focused and apply the knowledge at their own pace. Such tools are life changing for kids with dyslexia.

See-N-Read Reading Tools offer a variety of tools which can help in improving concentration of a dyslexic child. For more information, call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Reading Issues Children Face

Learning to read is a major milestone in every child’s life, and when it is delayed, it becomes a cause of concern. If your child is lagging behind at any stage of the reading curve, it is important to first understand cause of the problem, and then work on finding its solution to help your child overcome it. Here is a look at some of the common reading issues faced by children:

  • Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD): Attention Deficit Disorder is a common cause of reading problem in kids. Children who are diagnosed with ADD, face reading comprehension challenges and have trouble focusing on a reading task for sufficient time. These children also experience memory deficit, which refers to inability to recall what they have read previously. This poses a challenge in maintaining the flow and interest in the reading material.
  • Dyslexia: Dyslexia is a learning disability that is linked to problems with reading. Children diagnosed with dyslexia have trouble identifying letters, which makes it difficult for them to spell and read words. Dyslexia often has symptoms that overlap with ADD, since children have trouble with their attention span. In dyslexia, the inability to read for a prolonged period is caused due to reading requiring an unusual amount of effort.
  • Genetic Factors: Research shows that reading disability can be a hereditary, with certain changes in the womb during fetus development. Certain genes have been linked to reading proficiency and changes in these genes can make it difficult for a child to develop reading skills.
  • Visual And Auditory Processing Disorders: In some cases, reading issues could be caused by blurred vision or auditory processing disorders, which can be corrected with the use of glasses or hearing aids.
  • Disinterest: The underlying reason for their reading issues in a lot of children is that they fail to develop a genuine interest in reading. This often happens when the habit of reading is not inculcated from a young age and when children are not offered enough reading material that interests them. The good news is that it is never too late to help a child develop love for reading. Take out time to read with your child and identify subjects of their interest. Once you find reading material that they love, this will help them overcome their barriers, and as in any other skill, the more they practice reading, the better they will become.

Do not lose hope if your child is not ahead on the reading curve. Instead, identify the cause of their reading challenges, and gradually work on overcoming them.

We, at See-N-Read Reading Tools offer a variety of reading tools. For more information, call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Reading Tips For Dyslexic Children

When it comes to dyslexia, it is always better to focus on polishing the reading skills as early as possible. It is important to consult a paediatrician on suspecting signs of dyslexia. Intervention at an early stage and the right form of treatment go a long way in helping your child overcome any obstacles in his reading. Be proactive and immediately start incorporating baby steps towards your child’s development and confidence.

There are screening tests available like the Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen that can be conducted by a teacher in kindergarten or first class. It helps parents detect Dyslexia at an early stage and act accordingly. Dyslexic children do learn to read, but they take some time. So, parents and teachers should not give up on them. The support and patience of an adult is something that helps them throughout.

Here are some tips to help a dyslexic child become an avid reader one day:

Practice

Make your child read every day. Make it a bed time ritual. The more they practice, the stronger the brain neural circuits related to reading become. Encourage your child to read a simple book aloud to you. This will improve their accuracy and confidence in speaking. With time, it will be easier for your child to read easy words from their memory and they would try to decode new words. It takes time and patience, but it is all worth the effort in the long term.

New Words

Find opportunities to introduce your child to as many new words as possible. The higher the number of words in your child’s memory, the better he will get at reading. Here are some things that can help you in adding words to your child’s vocabulary:

  • Listening to children’s audio books
  • Watching documentaries together
  • Reading to your child
  • Keeping a word journal
  • Playing word games like Pictionary.

Point out new words to your child and encourage them to speak it aloud.

Syllabication

Syllabication refers to breaking big words into smaller chunks called syllables while reading. Consult your child’s teacher for relevant teaching material. You can also do some research on the internet regarding syllabication rules. With time, your child will become better at tackling long words and sentences by breaking them down into readable portions.

Plan B

Encourage your child to have a backup plan just in case he cannot remember a word. If he can’t remember a long word, he should confidently replace it with a smaller word. Encourage him to use web-based dictionaries to work on pronunciation skills and learn a variety of words that he can use as replacements in case of occasional memory loss.

Extra Care And Attention

 Dyslexic kids should be given headphones in the class so that they can read without distractions. During tests, they should be given extra time. They should be encouraged to write journals, send emails, have a study buddy to sit with in class etc. These extra gestures and activities will have a phenomenal effect on making them better at both reading and writing.

See-N-Read Reading Tools can help to increase your child’s reading skills and combat dyslexia. To know more about the reading tools and their benefits, call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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What Happens to the Brain When You Have Reading Difficulties

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According to the experts at Reading Rockets, it is estimated that about 10 million children worldwide experience some degree of difficulty when learning to read. However, roughly 90 percent of those kids eventually overcome their struggles altogether – provided they receive the appropriate type of training at an early age.

This tells us a number of fascinating things. For starters, there is no “one size fits all” approach to reading. Different kids always learn in different ways. Beyond that, it also suggests that whether or not a person has reading difficulties – along with how they will eventually overcome them – has less to do with the technique itself and is more about how the human brain was designed to visually process information in the first place.

Reading Difficulties and the Brain: What You Need to Know

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, studies have shown that a person’s ability to read is actually tied to certain areas of their brain in a number of fascinating and important ways. As readers become more active when they get older, the automatic recognition center of their brains becomes more active.

This suggests that the ability to read is essentially cyclical – as reading frequency increases, a person gets better at it, which ultimately supports the ability to do it even more.

Brain scans have suggested that people who have difficulty reading also have trouble accessing this automatic recognition center in their brain. Instead, they rely more closely on the phoneme center and the mapping center of their brains to process the words they see on a page.

This naturally takes a longer amount of time to do, which is why poor readers are typically also slow readers. This can be incredibly frustrating to such readers in a way that is not entirely their fault. It also explains why many students begin to exhibit signs and symptoms of reading disabilities at an early age.

The Benefits of Learning Tools

The See-N-Read® MemoryMark™ tool is just one example of a learning tool that supports a person’s ability to read by supporting the natural way their brain is trying to work. This tool’s design is rooted in the fact that, for someone with reading difficulties, staying on the proper line and recognizing words do not happen automatically.

The See-N-Read® MemoryMark™ tool helps readers maintain focus on the proper line of text and enables them to easily re-read text without losing their place. It has a cut out clear window that allows highlighting or underlining of key words or phrases without moving the tool off of the page. This, in turn, supports readers as they rely more heavily on the phoneme center of their brains, enabling them to process meaning and context at their own pace.  Mental energy is spent on comprehending meaning instead of on keeping the place or deciphering individual words.

Additional research has suggested that, over time, this type of support (along with other techniques like phonemic awareness) actually leads to an increase in a person’s ability to automatically recognize words as they see them. A tool like MemoryMark™ will actually support those with reading difficulties by using the way the human brain works to strengthen the recognition center, slowly reducing the effects of those reading difficulties over time.

The Department of Health and Human Services also reported that after undergoing additional training, the brain images of people who once had significant reading difficulties slowly began to resemble scans of people who have always been good readers.

To that end, these types of learning tools don’t just make it easier for a person to mitigate the issues associated with their reading problems – they make it possible to slowly overcome those problems altogether.

Improve Reading Skill

Signs Of A Reading Problem

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As a parent, you need to be very observant to realize if your child has a reading problem at an early age. If your child finds it difficult to join the sounds in words or struggles with word games or rhyming words; chances are that he has a reading problem. It is essential to monitor him at an early stage and improve his reading skills so that such difficulties don’t get stuck with him throughout his life.

Some of the most common signs of a reading problem include:

  • Trying to pronounce the same word repeatedly
  • Skipping words in sentences and not stopping to rectify
  • Inability to differentiate between unfamiliar words
  • Not paying attention to punctuation marks while reading
  • Recognizing a particular word on one page but forgetting it on the next page
  • Adding extra letters in a word while reading
  • Difficulty in reading single words on flashcards
  • Re-reading or skipping lines while reading
  • Poor reading comprehension
  • Avoiding reading small words such as the, and, or etc.
  • Replacing words with similar meaning words while reading

Reading problems can be triggered by the following factors:

  • Repeated ear infections during early years
  • Speech delays while growing up
  • Dyslexia
  • Vision disorders
  • Autism
  • Poor memory
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

How Can You Help?

Parents can really help by observing and identifying areas of reading difficulty. Although it takes time and effort, reading issues can be tackled with time and consistent effort. You can help in the following ways:

  • Focus on the positive: Do not point out the reading disability of your child in front of his peers and family members. Instead, focus on his positive attributes and highlight his strengths to emphasize the desirability and interest in reading. For instance, if your child is artistic, draw pictures to help him understand a particular story.
  • Use reading tools: You can improve your child’s reading skills with the help of reading tools that provide training for steady eye control and visual processing, rapid letter naming and phonics. Use these tools to enhance cognitive processes that enable reading, spelling and writing.
  • Set realistic goals: Design short-term goals that lead your child toward improved reading. Patiently practice reading everyday with your child, using frequent praise and gentle correction. Each day, have your child read a page or chapter from an interesting book to help him to productively climb the ladder of success. Setting a series of achievable goals will lead to incremental improvement (“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” right?).
  • Don’t Let Your Child Be Negatively Affected: Don’t let spelling difficulty stop your child from expressing himself. The first priority is to understand the ideas and concepts being communicated on the page. Children with reading deficiencies often have difficulty with memorizing and spelling words or grasping the “main idea”. Build success by trying various coping strategies to help with fluency and comprehension and encourage her to try different ideas to express herself. Teach her to think through the problem and, when necessary, to seek help from a dictionary or spell-check (without such tools being the ‘first choice’).

If your child is suffering from reading problems such as word or line skipping or pattern glare (words seem to move on the page), consider See-N-Read Reading Tools. For more information, see www.see-n-read.com or call (630) 236 – 5592.