Developing Confident Readers: 10 Things to Do

10 Must-do’s to Develop Confident Readers

Helping your child gain confidence in their own reading abilities won’t be resolved in one day, and you certainly can’t make it happen overnight.

It’s a gradual process that involves time, effort, patience, and a lot of encouragement.

You might feel disheartened when you see your child making next to no progress with their reading lessons, but with a couple of activities you can do as a parent, you’ll be contributing to their life-long journey of being a reader.

#1 Teach them growth mindset

Growth mindset is important, because it reminds kids (and us adults too) that good things happen, and all they need is time. Whenever you're doing this, make sure to use the word 'yet.'

Show that it may be true that they can't do it yet, they can learn how, and will know how. Always meet your children where they are.

#2 Avoid over-correction

Yes, it can be slightly irritating to hear them mispronounce a word for the nth time, but correcting them at every single turn is just a ground for discouragement if you're goal is to build confidence.

Sometimes, it's wiser to let them discover things on their own. They're more likely to even remember the corrections if they stumbled on it themselves. Point stands however. Confidence first, accuracy later.

#3 No pressure when reading at home

Stimulating a reading experience that's much too similar to a classroom setting can be off-putting when kids are at home. Being home, means being relaxed. It's your child's sanctuary where they are free to make mistakes and learn from them. In other words, a stress-free learning environment.

So get creative and think of ways to take the pressure off when you're reading at home with them. Try practice reading to a pet, to siblings or parents, or even to an audience of stuffed animals, if that's what they want to do.

And if they want to read alone, let them... Sometimes kids are just scared of being judged.

#4 Inject some fun

Play games and make reading fun!

Reading in traditional school settings already demand hard work off of children. There, they learn with others and work hard to improve their reading skills. And as mentioned in the last point, it needs to be different at home.

If you're going to reinforce your child's reading lessons at school, do it in the language that most kids speak: playtime.

From fun reading games on a smart device to creative ideas that you come up with on your own, there are plenty of possibilities for creating reading games that your child can get behind. The best part is that you know your child better than anyone. You know what tickles their interests and gets them going.

So don't hesitate to think outside the box. After all, reading comes in many forms and they all count.

#5 Make reading relevant

If your child is 5 years old, do you think they'd be interested in The Meaning of Relativity by Albert Einstein? Or maybe George Orwell's 1984?

Unless they were born as super geniuses, it's not going to be the case for the rest of the children. Read about things your child is interested in. Or even better, read about activities and places that you'll be doing or visiting soon.

You can experiment with a bunch of different kiddy genres and topics to find out what your child likes to read and learn about. There aren't a shortage of options, and you can find anything from poetry to graphic novels.

#6 Be your child's safe haven for reading practice

As a parent, you always want what's best for your child, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But sometimes this particular drive overshadows others and often leads to us pushing them harder, when we really ought not to. Yes, we want our children to reach their full potential, but we have to remember that cramming too many textbooks down their throat isn't going to help.

Be your child's safe haven. Make sure your child knows that they can come to you when they want to de-stress from school.

Let them read books they love and are comfortable with, even if you see them reading it everyday for two whole weeks.

#7 Give your child control

Don't hesitate to hand the reins over to your kids once in a while. Aside from you, they know themselves best.

So let them choose what, when, and where to read. Perhaps they want to read by the light of a flashlight, or maybe they want to read underneath their favorite backyard tree.

You never know what sort of imaginative worlds are cooking inside your child's head. Just always be vigilant, and as long as it's not harmful to them, let them indulge in it. There's nothing better than unlocking imagination while you're reading.

#8 Set reading goals

Nothing gathers confidence boost like accomplished goals and complete objectives. Like a long-term game.

Work with your child and create goals that will help them develop ownership of that goal. And if they complete it, they get a sense of pride at the accomplishment. This builds confidence and shows them that they can do it, and that nothing is unreachable if you're determined to have it.

#9 Try a reading incentive chart

Create a visual board for helping your child achieve their reading goals.

It's a quick and simple way to help your child see themselves as readers. Each time they add stickers or pins or buttons (or whatever you put in that incentive chart), they can see that they get closer and closer to an incentive that they've set for themselves.

#10 Be a role model

Apart from their teachers or tutors, your kids learn from you, their parents (or guardian). So if you want your child to become a reader, or develop a love for reading, show them that you value reading yourself.

Talk to them about books you've read. Read in front of your kids. And sit down with them if they ask you to read them a story. Sharing excitement and fondness for reading materials is what makes a confident reader.