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4 Signs that Readers are Frustrated and Offered Solutions

Brought to you by Tanya Grambower

Research confirms that early reading boosts literacy

It’s undeniable that a child’s reading skills are important to their success in school, work, and life in general. And it is very possible to help ensure your child’s success by reading to them starting at a very early age.

A recent report released by the Victorian Government examines the effect of parental reading to children early in life on the child’s own reading and other cognitive skills. We’ve listed 5 key findings from the report.

1) Reading can have direct causal effect on achievement – by almost 12 months!

Reading to children at age 4-5 every day has a significant positive effect on their reading
skills and cognitive skills (i.e., language and literacy, numeracy and cognition) later in life.

Reading to them 6-7 days per week has the same effect as being almost 12 months
older.

2) Early Reading has a direct impact on vocabulary and comprehension

Children who are read to more frequently at an early age enter school with larger vocabularies and more advanced comprehension skills. (Mol & Bus)

The role of parental involvement cannot be underestimated! Studies have found a positive association between parents reading to their children and the child’s subsequent reading skills, language skills and cognitive development.

3) Frequency of reading, not family background, boosts cognitive skills

The study revealed that differences in reading and cognitive skills are not related to the child’s family
background or home environment but are the direct result of how frequently they have been read to prior to starting school.

4) Kids do better on tests such as NAPLAN

Fig 1: NAPLAN reading skill by intensity with which the child is being read to at age 4-5 – BOYS at age 8-9

Figure 1 shows the results of boys at age 8-9, as measured by NAPLAN reading tests. Boys who are read to more frequently are also more likely to score high on the NAPLAN reading test.

5) Storybooks are valuable and linked to reading success

Research has found that reading storybooks to children is one of the most important activities for
developing the knowledge required for eventual success in reading. Reading to pre-schoolers has been found to be related to language growth, emergent literacy and reading achievement. (Bus et al., 1995). In addition, reading to children also stimulates them to read books themselves and further develop their cognitive skills (Canoy et al.,2006).

Reading storybooks spark your child’s imagination and stimulates their curiosity. They help to develop your child’s brain, ability to focus, concentration and communication skills.

Access the full report here: Reading to Young Children: A Head Start in Life by Victorian Department of Education

Overall Message ~

The most effective period for cognitive skill investment by parents is early on in the life of their children (Cunha et al). Developing early literacy skills makes it easier for children to learn to read. Children who enter school with these skills have an advantage that carries with them throughout their school years. Reading is an essential skill for success in school and later in life.

Literacy for Boys and Literacy for Kids recognizes the many benefits of early reading. Our resources and programs are helping kids all over Australia learn to improve their literacy skills!

Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.

Helping Boys Find their own Masculinity

4 Common Misunderstandings about Comprehension

Brought to you by Tanya Grambower

4 Signs that Students are Frustrated Readers and Solutions

Recognising Frustration in Young Readers

While struggling readers and frustrated readers may face similar challenges, the key difference lies in their response to difficulty. Struggling readers typically have gaps in foundational skills such as decoding, fluency, or comprehension, making reading an ongoing challenge for them. They may require explicit instruction, guided practice, and targeted interventions to build their reading abilities. In contrast, frustrated readers may have the necessary skills but struggle with motivation, engagement, or confidence. They might become easily distracted, fixate on one aspect of the text, or resist reading altogether due to past negative experiences. While struggling readers need structured skill-building support, frustrated readers benefit from encouragement, book selection strategies, and techniques to help them stay engaged and overcome reading-related anxiety. Recognising the distinction allows educators to tailor their approach and provide the right kind of support for each student.

Here are addressing four common signs that a student may be frustrated with reading, along with practical strategies to help them overcome these challenges.

1. Struggling with Vocabulary and Language

When students encounter too many unfamiliar words or complex sentence structures, they can lose track of meaning and become frustrated.

Signs of frustration:

Skipping over difficult words without trying to decode or understand them
Reading in a monotone voice, indicating a lack of comprehension
Frequently stopping or giving up on challenging texts

Solutions:

Pre-teach key vocabulary: Introduce difficult words before reading and provide definitions, examples, or visuals.
Encourage context clue strategies: Teach students to look for hints in the surrounding text to determine word meaning.
Use audiobooks and read-alouds: Hearing fluent reading can help students develop a better grasp of language patterns.
Break down complex sentences: Guide students in rephrasing long or tricky sentences into simpler language.
Provide a glossary or word bank: Having access to word meanings can boost confidence and comprehension.

2. Focusing on One Detail from the Book

When a text is too complex or a student is unsure about what they’ve read, they may fixate on a single detail and keep bringing it up in discussions. While making connections to prior knowledge is a valuable skill, true reading comprehension requires understanding the full text. Reading is a lifelong skill—students will need to comprehend contracts, medical reports, and other important documents in the future. If they consistently talk about what they know (and not details from the text), it’s a sign that they need support.

Solutions:

Acknowledge the behaviour: Say something like, “I see that you have a lot of knowledge on this topic, but let’s focus on what the text is saying.”
Guide them back to the text: Ask, “Is that something you already knew, or can you find it in the text?” Encourage them to locate information within the reading. If they can’t, suggest re-reading for better understanding.
Model active reading: As an adult reader, show how you connect what you already know to what you’re reading. Read aloud and think aloud, saying things like, “What this book is telling me is…”
Encourage re-reading: Many students believe re-reading is only for struggling readers, but it’s actually a powerful strategy to deepen comprehension.

3. Getting Distracted

This can come from a lack of understanding so students will turn to devices, distractions or fidgeting if the reading is challenging. What can we do about this?

What to do:

Normalise the challenge: Acknowledge that reading can be difficult but emphasise the importance of sticking with it.
Address distractions in the moment: If a student starts fidgeting or avoiding the task, ask, “What’s challenging for you right now?” This allows you to offer immediate support. This works best when working with small groups.
Provide scaffolding: If they’re struggling with decoding, try reading the text together and pausing to discuss difficult parts.

4. Saying, “I Don’t Have Anything to Read”

Matching books to student interests is crucial. Some students struggle to find engaging material and need guidance in selecting books.

Solutions:

Try the ‘Book Introducing’ strategy with a variety of recommended reads. Share that when you choose a book, you do the following: you look at the front cover, read the blurb on the back, read a paragraph in the first 3 chapters.
Taking the time to find their interests and also help them how to find a good book.
Try a book scavenger hunt – this encourages learners to look for features, titles, phrases or illustrations in books to gain a better overview of a book.
Foster excitement around reading by making book selection a fun and engaging process. We want them to get excited about reading.

Frustrated readers are not necessarily lacking in skill but often struggle with confidence, engagement, or comprehension. By fostering a positive reading environment, teaching effective strategies, and encouraging persistence, we can help students move past frustration and develop a lifelong love for reading.

Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.

Our Founder Speaking at Oxofrd, UK, at the World Literacy Summit

Comprehende? Helping Kids “get it” with 6 Reading Strategies

Brought to you by Tanya Grambower

Helping Boys Find Their Own Masculinity

Today’s students are exposed to a world where a man found liable for sexual abuse has become the President of the United States, and a social media founder who reaches three billion users globally has updated the platform to allow women to be referred to as “household objects or property”.

It may seem like these examples are too far from Australian shores to worry about, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

In today’s digital era, young men and boys are searching for answers to their curiosities from a broad range of online sources and across their communities.

‘Himfluencers’’ or ‘manfluences’’ are having a significant impact on young people’s views of what it means to be a man, leading to a rise in harmful versions of masculinity being played out in our schools and classrooms.

When experiencing or seeing harmful behaviours among young people, it can be difficult to know how to react without further antagonising those involved.

Yet, if we as leaders in our community, do not proactively call out these actions as inappropriate, harmful, or even dangerous, young people will have no alternative role models or ideas to turn to when trying to understand how to become a man.

So where do we start?

Calling it out while inviting young people in

A big part of being an active bystander is calling out harmful behaviour when it happens.

This might include things like challenging misogynistic comments that may degrade or objectify women and others, or questioning a reliance on stereotypical ideas about masculinity that are known to harm men and others.

Although this is an important part of driving change, on its own it often makes young men and boys feel judged, shamed, or confused.

Instead we need to simultaneously pull young men and boys into conversations around masculinity and what it means to be a man.

Research shows – and we hear every day from male students – that they are receiving conflicting messages about what they should or should not do as men.

That is on top of what is already an overwhelming time in boys’ lives, as they navigate the complexities and sensitivities involved with puberty, starting their first relationships, exploring their sexualities, and meeting new people from outside their communities.

More than ever, it’s imperative that educators proactively approach their opportunity to role model healthy alternative versions of masculinity, while also creating safe spaces where their students can ask questions, share experiences, and explore their curiosities without fearing a negative response.

The more we can have open discussions with young people about masculinity, the easier it will be to identify and discuss harmful behaviours and their ramifications on the school community as a whole.

Keep the conversation going

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and toxic masculinity will not be dismantled overnight.

Educators need to sustain a consistent approach to starting and welcoming conversations about masculinity with their students.

While it can be uncomfortable to talk about masculinity with young people, particularly in regard to issues like consent and respectful relationships, these conversations will never get easier if they are only had on a one-off or inconsistent basis.

Continuing the conversation over months and years with students is critical to ensuring they understand the concepts and feel empowered to live their own healthy version of masculinity.

Looking at the year ahead, it’s clear young men and boys will be exposed to a broad range of messages about what it means to be a man in their home, school, and community.

Educators have a huge opportunity to help students differentiate fact from fiction, interrogate misinformation and disinformation, and embrace their own definitions of manhood and what makes them unique.

Most importantly, while international and local figures of influence share their opinions and preferences, there is a responsibility among all educators and community leaders to take an evidence-based approach to supporting and teaching the next generation.

This includes recognising the research highlighting the benefits of a long-term, consistent approach to respectful relationships education, while inviting young men and boys into conversations about masculinity rather than shutting them out for following the directions of harmful influencers.

Written by Noah Bloch for Education Review.

Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.

Our Founder Speaking at Oxofrd, UK, at the World Literacy Summit

Comprehende? Helping Kids “get it” with 6 Reading Strategies

Brought to you by Tanya Grambower

4 Common Misunderstandings about Comprehension

How often do you feel like your students struggle with understanding what they read? At the end of last year, we conducted a survey with teachers in our community, and over 60% shared that comprehension was their students’ greatest challenge.

Reflecting on my teaching practices and delving into research, I realised there are several misunderstandings about comprehension—what it is and how it should be taught. These beliefs influenced my development of an online literacy program committed to improving literacy instruction through evidence-based strategies.

Let’s take a look at some strategies to kickstart the new year with fresh ideas to teach comprehension.

Misunderstanding 1: Comprehension can be taught in isolation

Comprehension relies on a number of interconnected factors:

a) Strong decoding skills: If students can’t read the words on a page, how can they understand the text?

b) Solid vocabulary: Research suggests that students need to know 90 to 95% of the words in a text — not just recognise them but have a strong understanding of them.

c) Background knowledge to connect new information to what they already know. (Dr Marilyn Adams developed the analogy “mental Velcro“. It’s the idea that background knowledge serves as mental Velcro. If we have a little bit of background knowledge about what we’re reading, we can take the new information and attach it to this mental Velcro that we have in the “filing cabinet” inside our brains. This ultimately helps students anchor new ideas and build true understanding.)

Teaching comprehension in isolation — like focusing on making a summary or identifying the main idea — ignores these critical elements. Instead, we should ask:

What background knowledge might students lack?
What vocabulary could confuse them?
Which sentence structures might pose challenges?

This broader perspective helps students become competent readers capable of true comprehension.

Misunderstanding 2: Comprehension is a skill

Comprehension is an outcome — the ultimate goal of reading instruction. It represents what we want students to achieve every time they engage with a text. Comprehension isn’t an isolated strand we can teach on its own. It’s the result of students mastering both language comprehension and word recognition and applying them in harmony. Shifting our perspective from teaching comprehension as a skill to building the components that lead to comprehension can transform our literacy instruction.

Misunderstanding 3: Comprehension skills and strategies should be the main focus

This might surprise you, but as we increasingly align our teaching practices with the science of reading, it becomes clear that focusing on a single strategy for an entire week may not be the most effective approach. While skills are important, we should try to look at the bigger picture of literacy instruction: our students come to school to acquire knowledge and to build knowledge. And we can combine these with comprehension strategies. Research shows that students with a strong foundation in background knowledge and a robust vocabulary are far better equipped to understand complex texts than those who rely solely on strategies. When students have knowledge about a topic and the vocabulary to match, comprehension becomes much easier.

Misunderstanding 4: Answering questions is enough to gauge comprehension

Comprehension is incredibly complex, which makes it really hard to assess. This is tricky as we rely on multiple choice tests to measure student understanding.

I recommend using a variety of assessment methods, as well as put structures and opportunities in place, that allow us to continuously get snapshots of our students’ understanding. This might include open ended questions or written responses, or have our students explain why they selected a specific answer. If you are going to do multiple choice, have your students explain, why they chose “Option A”, or even have a conversation with them.

Even consider having students do projects or creative tasks that allow them to demonstrate their comprehension and understanding in other ways. The more diverse your approach to assessment, the clearer picture you can get of your students’ true abilities.

As mentioned earlier, comprehension is influenced by so many elements—background knowledge, vocabulary, syntax, and more. Remember, comprehension is complex. It’s not straightforward or clear-cut. However, when we shift our mindset and approach, we can help our students grow into skilled, competent readers.

Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.

Our Founder Speaking at Oxofrd, UK, at the World Literacy Summit

Comprehende? Helping Kids “get it” with 6 Reading Strategies

Brought to you by Tanya Grambower

A guide to using EdTech in the classroom and at home

The world of ed tech offers countless opportunities for schools and homeschooling parents. Here’s a quick look at how you and your students/children can benefit, along with expert tips to help you overcome potential challenges.

There’s no denying that technology has revolutionized the way education operates. Class work is more interactive, data can be reported in real-time and so tech has become such an integral part of learning that it’s hard to imagine functioning without it!

Australia’s ed-tech sector is thriving. According to industry group EduGrowth, it now comprises 700 companies and is valued at $3.6 billion.

This article examines the challenges that ed-tech can address, along with the potential concerns to evaluate before implementing new technology in your school, classroom or as a learning tool at home.

Defining Ed-tech

EduGrowth Managing Director David Link supports the development of products and services and says ed-tech “either improves efficiency within an organisation or it improves learning outcomes for students.”

What is an LMS (Learning Management System) & why is it important?

According to Mr Linke, an LMS is central to a modern school and the benefits can be seen across all areas of learning.

“They streamline delivery of learning content, they track student achievement, they align assessment back to the standards and facilitate that communication across the ecosystem,” he said.

Both Literacy for Boys and Literacy for Kids have joined some of the big names in the industry. Founder Tanya Grambower was frustrated at finding resources that engaged her learners in the classroom. So she made her own! Within weeks, her students were improving their reading, comprehension and spelling results. She decided to take her formula for literacy success online, via an LMS platform..

“Teaching is very different now to before Covid-19. Today, schools want programs that offer real-time reporting that not only encourages students to monitor their learning, but offers insights for parents too. Students respond to technology and it forms a core part of their learning landscape,” says Ms Grambower.

“My goal is to save teachers’ time in finding engaging literacy tasks that cater to the whole class. I also want kids to get excited about literacy and reading – they will read if the content is appealing and of a high-quality, yet delivers the core skills that they need to learn from the curriculum.“

Managing the right amount of screen time

Screen-based tech does need to be relevant to the learning task – otherwise learners can become distracted. The key is to ensure it’s integrated thoughtfully and intentionally as part of a well-structured lesson.

“Teachers love using our programs as a springboard for group and individual writing tasks. This is a great blend of using tech as a stimulus, then progressing to pen and paper for the writing task,” says Ms Grambower.

Supporting Teacher Well-being and Parent Educators

Technology can also help support teacher mental health by reducing workloads, allowing them to focus on the aspects of teaching they truly enjoy.

“My highlight in visiting classrooms is to see engaged learners interacting with our programs and teachers who tell us that their teacher-student interactions are more positive when their students want to share their learning and are excited about their literacy progress. Literacy overarches every subject,” says Ms Grambower.

With the rapid rise in homeschooling, parents can feel a little overwhelmed about teaching content. What is an adverbial phrase? How do I ‘teach’ literacy? Where can I find Australian-aligned resources? How much time do I need to plan lessons? Ed-tech can be a valuable resource for parents who are on the homeschooling journey.

“Our team has a wonderful relationship with our parent educators. Often parents will contact us with concerns about their child’s literacy. We offer with assessments to ensure that their child is placed correctly in a literacy level. We have parents who have been using our Literacy for Boys program for 4 consecutive years!”

Data security and student privacy

“This is a high priority for our company, which is why we do not store entire student names, email addresses or personal details. Student progress data is stored on a data base in Melbourne – not offshore like other online companies. Our data security is very strict in order to abide by government and private school sector regulations,” stresses Ms Grambower.

Leading the Way in Learning

With persistent teacher shortages, an increasing number of educators are teaching outside their areas of expertise.

Ed-Tech can help address this challenge by providing teachers with access to abundant resources and high-quality instructional materials, enabling them to teach more effectively.

Differentiation is a juggle everyday for teachers – how do they ensure that every learner is supported? How do you cater for students in a Year 7 class whose reading abilities may range from 8 years right up to 15 years?

“This has been a definite upside of creating a learning platform that caters for literacy levels from Yr 3 (reading ability of 7 years) through to Year 9 (reading ability of 16 years),” says Ms Grambower. “This is why the growth in our secondary school market has been incredible over the last 3 years. Teachers are able to meet these varying abilities and also use our content to explicity teach core literacy skills.”

What’s next for Ed-Tech?

The emphasis must remain on the learner. Effective Ed-Tech programs can provide schools and parents with a comprehensive snapshot of student ability and lead to more informed, data-driven decision making.

Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.

Our Founder Speaking at Oxofrd, UK, at the World Literacy Summit

Comprehende? Helping Kids “get it” with 6 Reading Strategies

Brought to you by Tanya Grambower

On the same page: the perks of reading together

The joys and benfits of burying yourself in a book can be doubled when you do it as a duo! Getting kids off screens is a battle so consider this option to encouraging reading more books. What are the perks of reading together?

United State

Reading with others, especially people you feel comfortable being around, is great for well-being. Even though you are sharing a space, there is no pressure to hold a conversation. As you enter the same relaxed state together, your blood pressure will go down, muscle tension will ease and so will the worries playing on your mind. You can read with a friend anywhere: a quiet part of the playground, a park seat, on a blanket in the garden, the beach or any calm space.

Building Bonds

Spending time together reading can strengthen friendships. As you work your way through the pages, you might find interesting facts to share or funny bits to giggle over. Alternatively, you might come across more serious themes, for example losing a pet or loved one, moving away, standing up to discrimminations, recovering from an illness or dealing with any of life’s obstacles.

Reading together about any of these subjects can encourage you to think about them more deeply and see if there is a parallel with your own life. Discussing these themes can enhance friendships because it opens up conversations that may not have occurred without the book as a prompt.

Encourages Empathy

Reading fiction has shown to improve empathy. This is the ability to understand others, or to illustrate the saying, ‘to walk in aother person’s shoes‘. Reading has much insight to offer – because novels and biographies allow us to live a myriad of experiences through their characters.

Four Ways to Enhance the Co-Reading Experience

1. Start a Discussion

Whether you loved a story or didn’t love it, you’ll have loads to say about it. Comparing notes about characters. plot and style can give you a deeper appreciation of a book.

2. Ask Questions

Listening to a friend chat about a novel that they really enjoyed might encourage you to try a genre that you hadn’t considered. If you’re a sci-fi fan, but a friend is loving an historical fiction mystery that they couldn’t put down, then maybe you should take a break from alien-invasion exploits and take trip to ancient Rome instead.

3. Make Suggestions

After learning what keeps your reading buddy engrossed in a book, suggest a few titles you think they would enjoy.

4. Host a Reading Catchup

The next time you want to catchup with friends, suggest they bring a book along. Parents: this is a great chance for you to champion reading! Organise pizzas, popcorn, snacks and if the book has been produced into a movie, maybe they could watch that version.

Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.

Our Founder Speaking at Oxofrd, UK, at the World Literacy Summit

Comprehende? Helping Kids “get it” with 6 Reading Strategies

Brought to you by Tanya Grambower

8 Benefits of Reading Print Books: Backed by Science

Following on from my ABC interview this week about getting adults to read more books, I wanted to explain how diving into a page-turner can enrich your health and happiness. Here, we share science-backed reasons to read a print book and ideas for continuing the habit as an adult.

1. Increases Your Intelligence

To qoute Dr Seuss, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Diving into a great book opens up a whole world of knowledge starting from a very young age.

Exposure to vocabulary through reading not only improves children’s performance on reading tests but also enhances their scores on general intelligence tests. Additionally, developing strong reading skills early in life may contribute to higher intelligence in the long term.

2. Makes Us More Empathetic

I think the world could do with an empathy revolution right now. “The ability to connect empathically with others—to feel with them, to care about their well-being, and to act with compassion—is critical to our lives, helping us to get along, work more effectively, and thrive as a society,” says author Helen Reiss, of the book The Empathy Effect.

Immersing yourself in a good book can enhance your ability to connect with others. Literary fiction, in particular, helps readers better understand others’ thoughts and emotions. Research shows this effect is more pronounced in readers of literary fiction compared to nonfiction.

3. E-book or Print Book: which helps us to remember content?

When it comes to actually remembering what you’re reading, you’re better off going with a printed book than an e-book. The feel of paper pages under your fingertips provides your brain with some context, which can lead to a deeper understanding and better comprehension of the subject you’re reading.

In order to reap the benefits of a good read, opt for the kind with physical pages.

4. Boost Your Brainpower!

Regular reading not only enhances intelligence but also boosts brainpower. Much like jogging strengthens your cardiovascular system, consistent reading exercises your brain, improving memory function. While aging naturally leads to a decline in memory and cognitive abilities, reading may help slow this process, keeping the mind sharper for longer.

5. Helps you to Relax

Reading can be a great stress-buster for both adults and kids alike. Research tells us that reading can reduce stress by up to 65%. A great book can help you to escape the stresses of everyday life and spend some time in a different domain.

6. Read for Improved Sleep

Reading a print book before bed helps you relax more than zoning out in front of a screen. Screens like e-readers, tv and tablets can keep you awake longer and even impair sleep.

That applies to our kids too! Fifty-four percent of children sleep near a small screen, and clock 20 minutes to 2 hours of less quality sleep on average because of it. Instead of a tablet, select a literal page-turner before switching off the light.

7. Live Longer with Books!

Did you know that reearch shows reading printed books can help you to live longer? So reaching for a book has extra advantages to your health.

8. Encourages Life-long Reading

Eighty-two percent of parents wish their children would read more for fun, and those who want to encourage their children to become bookworms can start by modeling reading at home. Scholastic’s biennial survey of families shows that having adults in their lives who read inspires children to become frequent readers (reading five to seven days per week). While most children say they have someone in their life who enjoys reading (95 percent), those with a lot of reading role models have a higher chance of becoming frequent readers themselves.

This is what I spoke about with Steve and stressed to his listeners: seeing adults read and having adults read to them can help children gain a love for reading that lasts a lifetime.

So, how can you read more and enjoy it?

To enjoy the benefits of reading, you simply need to make time for it. However, as adults, our busy schedules can make it challenging to fit in. Here are some tips to help you incorporate more reading into your daily or weekly routine.

Choose shorter books

Picking up a hefty book may cause you to feel overwhelmed. Instead, try books with short chapters or books of moderate length. It may encourage you to read more often and you’ll feel accomplished as you finish.

Set a timer

I mentioned this with Steve. Devote an amount of time each day to reading. It doesn’t have to be a marathon session—even five minutes of reading is beneficial. Set a timer for the desired amount of time and sit down to enjoy your book. This helps to build a daily habit.

Set Some Goals

Decide on reading goals that work with your daily schedule and responsibilities. Perhaps you wish to read a chapter every day, or 20 pages or watch 30 minutes less tv in order to read. Maybe your goal is to finish a book once a month. Be realistic so they match your routine and you can more easily achieve them.

Incidental Reading

Waiting for a friend to meet for coffee? In the car waiting for kids to finish training? Waiting for an appointment? On public transport travelling to work? Undoubtedly, there are moments when you find yourself waiting. If you have some extra time, having a book accessible can help you pass the time. Pack a book in your bag!

Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.

Our Founder Speaking at Oxofrd, UK, at the World Literacy Summit

Comprehende? Helping Kids “get it” with 6 Reading Strategies

Brought to you by Tanya Grambower

5 Secrets to Surviving Term 4

We’re almost there everyone… just hang in a little longer. As any parent (or teacher) knows, the last weeks of school can often be the most challenging. There’s the mixture of excitement for the summer holidays and exhaustion from a school year that’s proved different from other years! To help get you through the school term without the burnout, we’ve compiled some top survival tips.

Here’s how to make your home life easier in the final run-up to the holidays:

1) Stick to routines

Do not get out of routine yet. As best you can, stick to morning and afternoon schedules and sport/extracurricular pickups. This also includes sticking to a bedtime routine.

2) Continue reading/homework

Academic learning continues and final assessments occur throughout the term so it’s important to keep focussed. If you feel that your child needs a literacy boost – it’s not too late to engage them in some extra support. Homework still needs to be completed so allow time for this each afternoon. Continue to read each night. Pick summer holiday books or Christmas themed books to keep the kids engaged.

3) Keep the crew hydrated

It’s hot, very hot. As the temperature often climbs past 30+ degrees, ensure that everyone has chilled water close by at all times. Dehydration makes you feel sick, tired and cranky.

4) Try to be extra patient

Most likely your children will be showing signs of tiredness. Assignments and exams are looming. Remember to spend time talking and listening to your kids about how their day was. Supporting them through any issues they may be experiencing and showing patience will show you’ve got their backs and help to boost their confidence.

5) Itemising anxieties

Many of our worries are caused by a lack of readiness. Your child may be feeling anxious about next year – a new teacher, a new classroom. Those transitioning into high school might be feeling emotional about leaving old friends. Feelings of frustration might result in anger, tantrums or meltdowns. Recognising and naming any worries can be calming and help your child to find solutions (it’s hard to think clearly when we are emotional). Read our recent blog about Beating the Study Stress and Helping your Child to be More Organised.

Lastly, parents and teachers – take the time to consider (and be thankful for) the people who helped you throughout the school year. Always value the combined team effort that it takes in teaching children. Maintain perspective and keep your sanity intact in these last few weeks!

Check out our blogs for more ideas and tips.

Our Founder Speaking at Oxofrd, UK, at the World Literacy Summit

Comprehende? Helping Kids “get it” with 6 Reading Strategies