The Preschooler

Reading Can Be a Challenge

Students often feel as though they should understand everything they read.  Think back to your own school days.  As the material became more intense, did you always understand everything you read?  This overwhelming feeling of complete success can be intimidating to many children, and it often begins as very young children are learning to read.

So how can you, as a parent or guardian, combat this feeling?  By presenting reading material that is challenging for children, kids can begin to see and understand that it is OK not to understand every concept the first time it is read. The next time you are selecting books for your child, do your best to pick a topic of which your child is not already an expert.

This does not mean the topic is not interesting, but rather that the information is presented in a more complex manner.  For example, if your child loves dinosaurs, try not to pick all cartoon fictional stories about made up dinosaurs.  Instead, read a factual book with names, numbers, and historical information.  When your child gets that confused look on his face, let him know it is perfectly fine not to understand all of the information.  In fact, this is how we learn.  Then, choose some of the information to investigate together.

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Written by BRWI Staff on June 30, 2010