Capturing the attention of a young learner requires great skill and patience. While a few children display a passion for reading from a tender age, most see it as a chore. But reading is an important life skill. Research has shown that kids who read regularly perform better in school. 

Reading is a habit that needs cultivating. You have to do something every day for your students to help them become better readers. Here are several ways you can engage young learners and improve their reading skills.

1. Read Aloud to Them 

When you leave young kids to read on their own, they'll take a long time to understand vocabulary. Reading out loud to them helps them connect sounds with letters. It stimulates their imagination and enhances their understanding of the world. It also helps them to develop language and listening skills. 

2. Play Word Games

Take advantage of outdoor activities and introduce your students to fun word games that develop their language skills. You can go to the school playground or take a bus ride. Teach them a word game like “I spy” and say something like “I spy something that begins with letter b...”

Children enjoy playing such games. When they find a particular word on a billboard, a road sign, or a banner, they feel happy. If learning is fun, kids will enjoy it more. Before you know it, they will have learned and cultivated a passion for reading.

Additionally, create opportunities for your students to read. Write small notes and leave them on their desks and give detailed explanations in their exercise books. As they interact with the same words and phrases time and again, they’ll start using them in sentences.

3. Provide Interesting Books

Choosing age-appropriate reading material is crucial when you want to engage children. When you give a child a book they find interesting, they’ll want to read it. Many young learners are fascinated by picture books. They go through the content seeking to know what happened next. This process gradually awakens a passion for reading in them and helps build their vocabulary

4. Try a Reading App or a Reading Program

When used as a complement to physical books, reading apps can help kids practice reading and learn to read. Many have reading sessions, fun games, and activities for kids to play, allowing them to reinforce their learning as they play. Learners who have difficulty mastering reading can join online reading programs to enhance their skills. You may have to talk to their parents and explain the benefits of these programs. 

Reading programs use immersive features to capture young learners’ attention. They use engaging stories and interactive learning activities to help students become better readers. They develop and support the five components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

In the United States, 1 in 5 children has a learning disorder mainly caused by dyslexia. And while a pediatrician can assess developmental delays, research has also shown that reading programs can work for such learners, and that the disability is isolated from intelligence. A good reading program can meet the specific needs of a young learner.