Do This One Thing to Help Raise a Child Who Is Both Kind and Successful

by | Mar 2, 2017 | Children, Education, Family, Parenting, Reading, School, Students, Study Skills | 0 comments

Do This One Thing to Help Raise a Child Who Is Both Kind and Successful

reading, reading month, book, books, march, read

March is National Reading Month and Thursday March 2nd is Read Across America Day; A great time to reexamine how you are reading with your children!

 

Do you want to raise a child who is both kind and successful?  I think we all do. Well there is one thing you can do with your kids that has been proven to not only make them more emotionally intelligent; it also makes them more likely to succeed in school and career. It is something that American adults are doing less and less of these days– reading. We are also reading less with our children and our children are reading fewer books as they get older, probably because of the lure of new technology like smart phones with Instagram and Snapchat.

But let us not forget that reading has been connected to not only success in school, but success in life and career. Reading proficiency by third grade is the best predictor of high school graduation and career success, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, but two-thirds of U.S. third graders lack adequate reading skills. Reading has also been proven to make people more intellectually empathetic, and empathetic people have better relationships due to the fact that they are more successful at reading others and understanding their thoughts and motivations. For this reason, people who are empathetic are better leaders, bosses, and coworkers.

So, it is important to make reading a part of your regular routine each school night. But how you approach reading with your child is equally important because they must be interested and engaged in order for this reading time to be rewarding instead of a constant struggle.  Here are three tips to make reading with your child (of any age) a successful and rewarding experience:

  1. Model the Joy of Reading

If you want to create kids who are readers, they need to see you read. I think when we read on smartphones and tablets, children don’t always connect this to reading. Let your children see you reading a book. Have time where you are reading silently and aloud together. Read the same book as your child so that you can discuss it. Choose a book where there is an opportunity to meet the author or see the movie together afterwards. Look around at your local attractions, historical events, and museums. Choose a book that relates to one of these and then take a family trip to visit. In other words, find ways to incorporate books into the family time that you spend together. This allows kids to see first-hand the connection between books and the world around them.

  1. Know Your Child’s Reading Level and then Let Them Select Their Own Books

If reading is too challenging and a constant struggle, children do not like to read. Very few people enjoy doing something that is an extremely difficult for an extended period of time. This is why finding your child’s reading level is so important. Consult with their teacher to find out what reading level is appropriate for your child when reading independently or with an adult. Usually a child will need to read slightly easier books independently than they are capable of reading aloud with adult guidance. Once you know their reading level, let them choose their own reading material based on their interests: books, magazines, graphic novels, or e-books. Encourage your child to keep a list of questions they have about things they are learning and the world around them, and then help them find reading material on these topics. This teaches them that reading is a way to find information and sets them up to be able to learn on their own in the future.

  1. Read With Your Children Not Just to Them

Sometimes we get into a routine of reading for a certain amount of time each night before bed and simply read the words of a book aloud to our children. This doesn’t really accomplish much especially for older children who are beyond the decoding phase of reading. Instead, try to involve and engage children in reading.

Before reading, have them flip through the text and make predictions based on the title, headings, or pictures. See if they have any questions about this particular book or topic.  During reading, stop to discuss what is going on and ask them questions to assess their understanding. Have them revise their predictions or tell whether their questions were answered. Discuss what the characters’ actions and words mean about how they are thinking and feeling. Ask them to put themselves in the place of the characters; what would they do? Encourage them to imagine what they are reading as if it were a movie in their head.

Making reading something you do with your child as a way for them to explore and answer questions they have about the world will help them to understand the purpose and application of reading to their life. It will support what they are learning in school by helping them to ask their own questions and find their own answers. This curiosity coupled with a mechanism for finding answers is the key to lifelong learning– one that may benefit them personally as well as professionally.

-Nina Parrish, M.Ed.
Owner | Parrish Learning Zone, LLC

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                                       ~Nina

Nina Parrish, M. Ed.

Nina Parrish, M. Ed.

Co-Owner and Director of Education

Proud mom of two adorable girls. Teacher who has developed an education business that started at a kitchen table and has grown into a thriving small business... Click here to Learn more about Nina.

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Ms Brown was wonderful with tutoring my child in Algebra ll.
Pam Cantrell Burton
Pam Cantrell Burton
2020-10-14T16:15:51+0000
Parrish Learning Zone helped my daughter with on-line SAT and college essay preparation. She not only scored in the top 90 percentile on the SAT after working with Lauren Cannavo, she especially benefited from the tutoring she received for her admission essays. My daughter was accepted at Notre Dame, UVA, William and Mary, and received scholarships to George Washington University and the University of Alabama. She was initially deferred at the University of Chicago and waitlisted at University of Michigan and Emory University. She eventually chose not to remain on the waitlists and committed to UVA.Lauren also advised our daughter regarding her submission of a 20 page essay on community service for DECA, a high school business club. Our daughter, along with her partner, won second place in her category at the DECA state competitions in 2019 and 2020, and received second place at the DECA international competition in 2019.Lauren was not only a top-notch professional, she really cared about our daughter and was so pleased about her accomplishments. We are so very grateful to her and Parrish Learning Zone.
Marijayne Kruus
Marijayne Kruus
2020-05-11T21:51:37+0000
Mr. Chaves is an extremely gifted chemistry teacher. It's such a difficult subject--my son was drowning by the time we found PLZ. This was truly a last ditch effort on our part. Mr. Chaves was able to turn that ship around after only 4 lessons and my son passed the SOL! He was able to distill difficult concepts in a way that made them comprehensible and he was patient and kind and gave my son the confidence to succeed. His actual eacher expressed surprise and made a point of telling him he didn't know how he did it but he was impressed. It takes a gifted teacher to get results like that.I only wish we'd found PLZ and Mr. Chaves in the beginning of the school year.
Wendy Zelazny
Wendy Zelazny
2018-06-08T02:05:15+0000
Highly Recommend
Anne Kater Reeves
Anne Kater Reeves
2018-06-07T22:46:05+0000
I highly recommend Parrish Learning Zone. My daughter was able to achieve the SAT score she was aiming for with the help of her Math (Mr. James Slane) and English (Mrs. Lauren Cannavo) tutors. Not only did they help her with practice tests but they also boosted her confidence in taking the SAT. The owners (Nina and Jay) were always prompt in answering my emails. They are very accommodating and worked around my daughter’s schedule (thank you Shiela for all your help in finding available dates for my daughter to meet with her tutors). Thank you Parrish Learning Zone for helping my daughter achieve her goal!
Beth Yankovich
Beth Yankovich
2018-03-23T20:29:18+0000
I can't say enough good things about Parrish Learning Zone. My son has historically suffered from low reading comprehension. I felt he needed a little extra help so I contacted Parrish Learning Zone. The owners at Parrish matched my son with the perfect tutor for him, they developed a rapport almost immediately. He is now in 8th grade and doing well in all his classes. My son is very active in school sports and the staff at Parrish are always very accommodating. They always reschedule with no problems. My son even likes to go early to chat with Sheila.
Beth Kent
Beth Kent
2017-11-08T18:59:11+0000
Awesome! Very structured and student focused - they identified the areas of weakness and turned those into areas of strength in a very short amount of time. I loved the communication from the tutor and the company. I received a specific report of my child's tutoring session including improvements and areas that needed continued work. I received reminders of upcoming tutor sessions - which I needed!! I felt the individual attention and service was worth every penny AND found the prices to be much more reasonable that other tutors in the area. I would HIGHLY recommend Parrish Learning Zone to any parent that needs to find highly competent tutoring help for their child. Parrish is simply the best!
Michele Hiltbrunner Freemyers
Michele Hiltbrunner Freemyers
2017-03-14T15:53:50+0000
An excellent place to take your kids for any tutoring needs! PLZ is a very personalized and hands on service! Both of my teenage boys have been through here for various reasons and I know we will continue to make use of them!
Tammy Elms Mosco
Tammy Elms Mosco
2016-06-02T12:20:59+0000
I am extremely thankful to Parrish Learning Zone. I have a son that is a freshman in college majoring in mechanical engineering. I am so glad that we found out about the Parrish Learning Zone because they were very caring and really worked hard around my sons high school football schedule to ensure that he received all of the needed instruction in order to do well on the SAT testing. It was a great investment for his future. I believe this experience prepared my son for the transition to college life. He was able to attend a top engineering college and to play football there. My daughter is a senior in high school now and was admitted into two of the top ranked public schools in Virginia. She will be a freshman at one of these schools next year. She also was enrolled in the Parrish Learning Zone for preparation for the SAT. I am again thankful to the Parrish Learning Zone and feel that this was a great long term investment into their futures. I would strongly recommend the Parrish Learning Zone to anyone looking for an environment that offers a caring and knowledgeable approach to educating students. They are the best.
Angela Jackson
Angela Jackson
2014-05-15T00:39:39+0000
Andrew Powers
Andrew Powers
2014-02-09T12:32:29+0000

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