Category: reading with kids

How To Get Your Kids to Really Love Reading

Posted on | by KD Novelties

The best way to forge a positive relationship with reading for your child is to help encourage a love for reading. A love of reading is a love of learning, and it is not only linked to better academic success and performance, but it can also lead to a more fulfilling life, overall.

Make reading a part of your lives. Making something a habit is one thing, and it can certainly help. If you schedule in some nightly story time every day, you can certainly make reading a part of your child’s life. It can help reading feel like a normal part of the day instead of an extraneous activity that they may or may not feel like doing. Setting aside time to read can differ from family to family depending on their schedule and their preferences, so find a time that works for you and make it stick!

Let them see you read, too. Reading with your child is one thing, but it helps if they see you read on your own, too. Children learn a lot by seeing, therefore, you’ll notice that they will take after you by repeating certain mannerisms, using certain words, and wanting to do all of the things that you do. Making reading a part of your life can help you build your own positive habits but it can help send a positive message to your kids, as well.

Books, books, books! Populating your home with books and other sorts of reading material is also a good way to encourage reading. Having a variety of books, magazines, coffee table books, comics, etc. can help further drive the notion that reading is a part of life and it is more likely to become a part of your child’s life, too. Even if they simply peruse catalogs or look through classics, having books around can work wonders. In addition to books around the house, also try to give your child a little library of their own.

Personalize their books. Make them the star. When populating your child’s own personal library, consider getting personalized books as well. Personalized books include your child’s name, and sometimes other attributes, in order to create a unique story where they are at the center of all the action. Personalized books, like those we publish, can help make your child’s library feel more like their own, and  they can help make books and reading more of a personal experience, too. Personalized books are great for kids who may be reluctant readers, but once they hear that they are the hero, they will be much more inclined to want to find out more!

Personalized Books

Get graphic. Graphic novels and comics have come a long way, and nowadays there are plenty of critically acclaimed works that adults are scrambling to get their hands on. Comics and graphic novels can be a great gateway to reading for kids who may be reluctant to read, kids who may have issues with reading because of a reading disability like dyslexia, or even children who have difficulties imagining abstract concepts because of another learning disability. Images and dynamic scenes play out across the pages and can help instill interest in kids of all kinds.

Let them get the pick of the week. Kids may not always like what they’re reading in school, especially if it is for a project or an assignment. There may be a number of different reasons as to why this is, but many children might feel turned off because of the link to school and homework specifically. Remember to let your kids pick out what they want to read every once in awhile.  Give them some space and freedom to broaden their horizons and pique their own sense of curiosity whether they are looking for a book to read for fun or a book to share with you at story time.

Consider tablets and other formats. With apps and games becoming increasingly popular, as well as general mobile-device usage, kids may also have fun playing around with ebooks. Ebooks can sometimes be interactive as well, including game-like aspects and illustrations that can further help interest them in the story they’re reading.

Give them incentives. You might feel like bribing them, but after a while kids may begin to continue reading on their own without any idea of a reward. Let them stay up later to read, offer to buy them books or take them to parks and other places that are near the library, etc. You can try rewarding them for reading books, however, making it seem like more of an accomplishment when they do can help to instill a feeling of satisfaction on their own that can drive their interest and keep it going the more they read.

Make reading a special treat, too. Making reading an everyday thing is important, but it can be special, too. Try making a dedicated reading nook in your home or in your child’s room to help encourage them to use the space. You can also make family outings of going to the bookstore or to the library to get new books a special gift.

Let them work at their own pace. Whether your child wants to eat up books or take them in slowly, make sure that you still respect their wishes. Instilling an interest in books and encouraging them to do so is important, and it can work – as long as you don’t push them too hard and allow them to soak stories in at their own pace.

How to Learn Reading Using Sound Reading and Phonemic Awareness

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Reading is one of the most focused-upon areas of academia. It is the key to learning most anything else. The ability to read well, understand abstract concepts and to communicate effectively is essential not only in the academic world but in the world at large, so it is no wonder why reading skills are so heavily emphasized in school. So why aren’t more teachers and schools focusing on tactics that really help kids to read well?

Numerous studies have been conducted over the years testing the effectiveness of teaching methods and angles, and now there is software available that can help children to read better much more easily than ever before, the main problem being that many educators may simply not be aware that it exists.

Sound Reading Solutions is a revolutionary piece of software that focuses on phonemic awareness, something that many studies have shown other methods are lacking in. But what is phonemic awareness? Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. For instance, you can separate the spoken word “cat” into three distinct phonemes, /k/, /æ/, and /t/. In order to do this, you need an understanding of phonemic awareness.

This sort of skill can be especially helpful for children reading words they have never read before, and may not even know at all, allowing them to sound out the words and create a sense of meaning within their minds regardless of their knowledge or lack thereof. Vocabulary building is essential, and many children can continue to learn larger concepts on their own, including words that they may not be familiar with, by gathering and insinuating some sort of meaning from phonemic understanding.

According to studies conducted by Vickie Snider, phonemic awareness has a direct correlation with a student’s’ ability to read as they get older. Phonemic awareness builds a foundation for students to understand the rules of the English language, as well, which can be especially helpful with speaking, writing and communicating effectively. These sorts of skills also provide kids with skills that they can apply to increase their oral reading fluency and understanding of the text.

Sound Reading Solutions provides exercises and other helpful tools that allow children to build phonemic awareness at different grade levels, which can help them to become better readers overall. Sound Reading programs heighten speech and language abilities by teaching students the skills they need to read with ease and confidence.  We urge you to take a look at this software and see how it will help your child read easily and on their own.

Please be sure to check back here for reading tips and parenting resources on a weekly basis and KDNovelties.com for personalized books that promote literacy in a unique way.

Sound Reading Software from Sound Reading on Vimeo.

Are eBooks Good For Kids?

Posted on | by KD Novelties

E-books have become increasingly popular over the past few years. While it has not deterred people from buying physical books, it has instead increased the sale of books altogether. People who already purchased and read books regularly have stuck with their habits, but the presence of e-books has encouraged these same readers to look at a wider variety of books than they ever have before. It has also enticed non-readers into purchasing and trying out books for themselves. The great thing about e-books is that they take up less space and, for many; they tend to cost less than their print counterparts. These factors have helped to sell bestsellers to infrequent readers but it has also made lesser known titles and authors far more marketable as well.

Why e-books?
Now, what does any of this have to do with children, you ask? Well, a lot of the same logic applies. E-books can be great alternatives for children who already love to read. As a parent, you can introduce more titles to your child than ever before. Since you will also be buying your child these books or lending them from the library in limited numbers, knowing that you can purchase cheaper e-books or even find some free online, can certainly put you at ease.

For the reluctant reader, e-books can be exactly what may help a child get hooked. In this day and age, tablets, phones and computers are a part of our everyday lives. It has gotten to the point where even kids demand a significant amount of screen time to watch their shows and play their games. As a parent, you can make a child’s screen time valuable by making sure that they are at least using a majority of this time to ply educational games and watch interactive and imaginative shows. The same goes for e-books. If a child is reluctant to pick up a book and wants to use their tablet instead, there are plenty of interactive e-books out there that can pique their interest. Some of these e-books feel more like games, especially if they are on a screen. Since many reluctant readers feel as if reading is a chore for them, introducing them to e-books can show them just how fun it can be.

For these same nonreaders, there are not only plenty of fun e-books out there, but there are even personalized e-books that make the experience even more exciting. KD Novelties has several personalized e-books that can feature your child’s name and make them feel like they are a part of the story.

Personalized eBooks for Kids

e-books and Comprehension
E-books can be great learning tools for avid and nonreaders alike. The interactive interface can make the material more engaging and exciting for them, which can be extremely helpful if you are introducing them to reading material that is more educational than fantastical. Reading any kind of book will help boost their reading comprehension and even their writing skills, but if you want to introduce your child to a more difficult subject or want them to read a more informational book, then using an e-book format can make it feel more fun for them. This can be especially helpful to parents who homeschool their children or parents who want to play a bigger role in their child’s education outside of school.

Engagement
For many kids, looking at a screen is far more engaging than looking at a page. On a technical level, these two activities are identical, but to a child whose world is increasingly becoming more and more digital, it may be the thing that helps them interact with books and reading more in general. Even if your child is not reading an e-book per se, even encouraging them to use their tablet for educational games and other activities means that they are learning how to become more computer literate. In the fast-growing technological world, this sort of skill can be vital. So many children these days know how to better navigate the settings of an app than their parents do. Computer literacy also means that they are developing their general literacy as well. As kids learn how to go through the motions of menus and sidebars, they learn how to read some things on their own out of their own inherent interests.

As far as e-books go, some kids may feel more of a sense of engagement and accomplishment when reading in this format as it sometimes provides additional visual cues that physical books cannot offer. While reading does require visual skills, not all visual learners are good readers. Depending on what you use to read e-books, some devices provide in-system dictionaries to help with words that kids may not recognize. Some also allow for the reader to highlight sections and use the Internet to ask questions or find related sites to the books they read. Even the counter on the bottom of most books telling the reader just how far they’ve gotten can help keep kids motivated as it may feel a bit like a video game.

How to Read an e-Book with Your Child
Reading an e-book is a lot like reading a traditional book. If you are trying to get a reluctant reader to read, reading aloud and often with them can help encourage them to read on their own. If you are reading with an avid reader, then you can ask them to read to you instead.

As a parent, you will want to read e-books with your child before letting them read them on their own. This way you can help them learn how to operate the device and how to use everything they have available. Showing them how to read on their own will encourage them to be responsible when they do so alone.