Juice Learning

During the Christmas holidays, school children across the country will be at home enjoying the season.  Holiday vacations also present an opportunity for families to embrace reading together.

Brendan Kells, a certified high school teacher and Vice President of Education at The Juice Learning (thejuicelearning.com) suggests the following five ways in which families can enjoy reading together.   “With the right text and the right approach, parents can turn up the volume on what their child is reading, build a cycle of rewarding experiences for them,” Kells said.

Kells offers the following 5 tips for families to enjoy reading together:

1. 1. Find texts that match your child’s reading level.  Reading is not just about being able to read words on a page; it’s about comprehending and analyzing what is read, connecting with the content on an emotional and intellectual level and making connections across content areas. For that reason, the first thing we must do for developing readers is provide them with reading material they can access.

0. 2. Find texts that interest your child.  To find the right materials, work to expose your child to the widest possible variety of topics to see what resonates. Present your child with a wide range of content that is matched to their reading ability and watch what they explore.

0. 3. Invite them into the conversation. Too often, we assume young people are uninterested in what’s happening in the world outside of their immediate circle of friends. But, when invited properly into the conversation that adults and world leaders are having, young people are extremely invested in current events. While most news content is written for adults, with proper scaffolding, adolescents are not only willing to engage in conversation, but they are also eager.

0. 4. Prioritize discussions of reading. A shared text can be a tremendous resource for families hoping to turn reading into a habit.  No matter when it happens, the most important thing is that a conversation takes place while reading together.

0. 5.  Be patient. Turning reading into a habit is a process. Seeing your child turn into an avid reader overnight doesn’t happen overnight.  As your child engages with reading new material, they will likely struggle. That is part of the process. Inevitably, there will be texts that resonate with your child, and it will appear easy.  Others will cause them to struggle – but with sustained reading practice, you will see your child’s reading improve.

Brendan Kells is the Vice President of Education at The Juice Learning (thejuicelearning.com) – an interactive learning platform that helps to instill a life-long love of reading in kids. The Juice produces daily professional-grade content, overlaid on a technology platform designed to enhance reading development and engagement. Each article on The Juice is written at different reading levels so that content can be tailored to meet students where they are, regardless of ability.  As the child’s reading skills progress, the Juice adjusts the reading level and grows with the child.