Kids who enjoy reading often read 2-3 books a week, the same as some children read in months. So the advantage they have is increasing all the time.

But here are some tips for making reading more fun for your child, which will soon turn it into a pleasure. We use all of them in our Easyread System, which gets extremely fast results:

TIP 1 - Don't Read Books

I know that most children learn to read with books, but most also never become good readers, let alone excellent readers. Almost any child can become a good reader and there are simple reasons why they don't.

You see, a clever kid will look at an early reader book and memorise the words that keep being repeated, and guess the others from the context. That gives the impression of progress. But the child is driven to more and more guessing as the books get more complicated.

This leads down a blind alley of despair, as your child gets more and more confused. And you will see a strong resistance to reading practice appear.

TIP 2 - "Dimensionalise" the Phonemes

Phonemes are the little sounds that make up words. And there are 43 of them in English. You can find them at the beginning of your dictionary. We need to make sure your child is familiar with them.

Because they are just sounds, the phonemes are hard for a child to remember. So we create a visual image for each one. That gives them physical dimensions and makes them much easier to remember. For instance, for the letter E we use the eggs with little legs, the eagle looking regal and the earth full of mirth. Do you see how easily those get locked into your memory?

Our memories work mainly with visual images.

TIP 3 - Play These Games

You don't want to start with a book. So where do you start?

Well, in Easyread we use games like these:

Build-A-Word. Take 6 plastic letters including 2 vowels. Revise the main sound of each one. Then say a simple 3 letter word that your child can built with these letters, like bed, dog, fat or mop.

Selec-A-Word. This is a simple reading exercise. Write three similar words on a piece of paper, like ten, pen, pin. Then read one of them out and ask your child to select it.

Nonsense Words. Using your plastic letters again, write a nonsense word, like leb, kib, teg, vod. Ask your child to try to read it.

Easyread-I-Spy. If you know the classic "I Spy..." game, play it using the first sound of the object, rather than the first letter.

TIP 4 - Less is More

Never do more than 15 minutes of reading practise at a go. Any more and your child's concentration level will begin to dip.

TIP 5 - Try Easyread TrainerText

TrainerText is how we let a child read unaided, while learning. The visual image for each phoneme in a word is floating above the text, so that the child can check if a word is unfamiliar. You can do the same with the images you have created in tip 2.

The great thing with TrainerText is that your child can work through the text without getting stuck and needing help. That is marvellous for developing confidence and self-esteem.

We see a new level of enthusiasm from day 1 and a leap in confidence over the first 3 weeks using these techniques. If you employ them, I am sure you will quickly see the difference.