Just Phonics

How about getting RC Helicopter or robot toy to reward your child reading efforts. For kids that find reading a difficult task a reward may do the trick. My daughter was not fond of reading but I knew I had to do something to make her read more until she was fluent reader. At the same time I did not want to develop negative associations with reading so I tried not to push her in to reading book.

Here is what I did:

1. Set specific bed time story time 30 min. every other day
2. Borrowed audio books from library or rental stores and let her listen to them just before she goes to sleep on the nights when I am not reading to her.
3. Bought or borrowed books that we already had in audio format and those that she liked the most. By the way Junnie B. was her 1^st favorite book.
4. Allowed to watch 30 min of TV only after reading 1 chapter which is about 6-10 pages.
5. Gave her RC Helicopter for reading 150 pages. Actually this idea came from my child. When she saw our neighbor was flying a remote controlled helicopter she said to me she would do anything to get it. I told her I would get this helicopter if she read 150 pages. It worked out very well.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get rewards for reading. I knew if I would go to a mall to get this RC helicopter I could easily spend over 100 dollars. But because reading takes time I used this time to research my options on Internet. You can get 3 RC Helicopters (Intelli Heli) for fewer than 80 dollars or one helicopter for 23 dollars.

I got her this package of three Radio Controlled Helicopters (it was buy 2 get one free) and she had so much fun with her friends. Earn reward first and then share it with others what can be better?

I was so thrilled to hear my daughter telling her friends that she was reading really thick books and she got this cool toy because of that and now she wanted them to come over and play together.

Reading becomes frustration and struggle when child finds reading too difficult. When you suspect your child has a developmental delay there are different ways to re-discover reading and gain your child’s interest for reading.

Here is what you can do

Introduce your children to talking books; find their favorite titles for them to listen to while looking at the book. There are different places you can go to get books on tape. First you can try your local library just to see if your child likes it, then you can also visit a store that has audio books for rent or for sale, and finally you can get them from book store or order them online.

My daughter’s obsession with audio books started with one Junnie B. Jones audio book that came for free with a kid’s meal from Wendy’s and now we own the full collection of CDs and books both in English and French. She liked it and I borrowed everything I could from the library. Too bad they did not have all of the Junnie B. audio books so I rented them from talking audio store.

I bought an inexpensive MP3 player for my daughter and she can listen to her stories whenever she wants. But what excites me the most she ask me for more books all the time.

What can you do to help your child enjoy reading? Here is a few ideas that you can use to encourage your kids to read.
1. Teach your child to read.
2. Let your child see you read.
3. Read aloud.
4. Encourage your kids to read aloud to you and to each other.
5. Ask your children to retell for you the stories they’ve read.
6. Have pre-readers “tell the story” from pictures.
7. Help your children evaluate stories.
8. Connect stories to children’s lives.
9. Encourage identification with characters.
10. Make connections between books.
11. Share with your family from your own reading.
12. Recommend beloved books.
13. Own books your child will want to read.
14. Go to the library regularly.
15. Take books with you when you travel.
16. Suggest practical reasons for reading.
17. Send kids to books for answers to their questions.
18. Help your children find books that encourage them in their interests.
19. Provide a home environment conducive to reading.
20. Use TV wisely if you must use it at all.
21. Increase your child’s real-life experiences.
22. Work with your child’s teacher.
23. Expect great things for and from your kids.
24. Recognize differences among your children.
25. Take delight in words and let that delight show.

Try to reward your child with something he or she really wants. Read our recent post to get some ideas: RC Helicopter: Reading for Rewards