Remedial Reading Exercises

Getting To Know Each Other

• Every child needing remedial reading exercises will approach the tutor with trepidation and fear. Much of this may be due to past teasing from peers or family, and a definite lack of self-confidence. The child may even show signs of aggression as a form of defense. The tutor needs to work on earning the trust of the child to be able to help him improve his reading skills. As such, there should be minimum stress and demand from the tutor on the first couple of lessons. After which, there should be a gradual increase in expectations and drills so as not to waste too much time dealing with personalities.

Choose Skill Appropriate Exercises, Not Necessarily Age Appropriate

• Frustration can set in when a tutor begins to demand that the child "catch up" with the reading skills of children of the same age. This is setting the stage for failure and will not bode well for a successful working relationship.

Label Everything

• Children with reading disabilities or problems need to be able to vocalize and identify orally every object they see. This helps them to understand concepts better and create better interest in learning. Help them do this by labeling objects in the room.

How To Encourage Self Study

• Learning should not stop when the lesson is over, so a tutor should find ways to get the family to help with practical lessons throughout the day. For instance, trips to the supermarket or church can be used to help a child read signs or leaflets. Bedtime stories can be repeated so much so that the child begins to recognize how a certain work looks.

  The key to improving reading skills is comprehension. If the child is unreceptive to the paper exercises, try doing drills on the computer, or use other reading aids such as the TV, books, comic books, or even doing some eyerobic exercises. Instilling some amount of fun without losing the essence and objective of the lesson will help sustain a child's interest. Focus on teaching a child to look for context clues and develop a skill for summarizing reading material. The fun part can come from predicting outcomes and talking about story characters.

  On the other hand, there must also be that delicate balance of discipline in order to move forward. Remedial reading exercises should be presented to a child in such a way that it does not make them feel slow and below average. Older kids who have to work on exercises meant for younger kids can feel offended, if exercises are not presented with finesse.