How to Design Reading Programs for Kids That Work

Education, especially literacy, lays the foundation for human development and is critical to a country’s economic growth. Children who don’t build reading skills are likely to face challenges that hinder their economic and developmental growth.

Reading programs can help, but designing high-quality grade-specific programs can be difficult. Since reading is a skill that must be taught carefully and explicitly, educators must design reading programs for kids that work. Here’s how they can go about it.

Relearn Teaching Kids How to Read

For reading programs to work, teachers need to relearn how to teach reading. Before going to teach, they should practice on their own and use the actual routines and materials they will use in the classroom. This will help them understand how to teach the basics and even complex subjects.

Reading programs for schools allow teachers to train students using a carefully designed reading instruction curriculum. The program may explain how a teacher can effectively teach the lessons in their classroom.

Use High-Quality Text and Materials

Children who haven't attained reading fluency can’t just read any book. They need books designed specifically for them. A good reading program lists the books to be used for reading instruction—easy-to-read, age-specific books written in a simple language that children understand.

Pick books with engaging text and aim for a 1:1 ratio of books to learners. Children shouldn’t have to share books when practicing reading. Use both decodable and levelled reading systems.

Decodable books have text with symbols, sounds, and letter-sound combinations that learners have already learned and can practice reading out loud. The levelled text introduces new vocabulary, semantics, syntax, or grammar to children in a structured way--from easiest to hardest.

Assess Children Continuously

All children can learn to read, but some learn more slowly than others. To measure a student’s progress, you must have a curriculum or a printed program. You can have students read passages that fall within the annual curriculum every now and then. Examine how they match sounds to words, their ease of decoding, their reading fluency, and whether they comprehend what they are reading. Assessing children helps a teacher to understand their weak and strong points.

An effective reading program should monitor and evaluate how learners attain the 5 essential sub-skills of reading instruction: vocabulary, spelling, comprehension, phonemic awareness, and fluency. The educator must evaluate the key elements in their reading program to ensure they increase learners’ attainment of these sub-skills.

Encourage Regular Reading Outside of School

The more children practice reading, the better they become at it. Out-of-school reading strategies and programs can help students attain proficiency in reading. Teachers should encourage children to practice reading outside of school.

Reading at home with family enhances reading skills and fosters a culture of learning. Parents and guardians can read with children and tell them stories, building literacy skills like oral fluency and listening comprehension.

A child who can read well can excel academically and in life. Reading helps them to easily recall information, stabilizes their emotions, and strengthens their mental muscles. Designing a good reading program for kids can help them increase their reading fluency faster.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)