5 Reasons Why Your Middle School Student Should Get Into Reading

5 Reasons Why Your Middle School Student Should Get Into Reading

The middle school years can be a difficult time. Students are adjusting to a higher level of academic expectations while all the while going through a major life transition. Emotions run high, and the stress of school can become overwhelming. As a result, middle school students begin to view learning as something negative and can take this feeling with them into their high school years. One of the best ways to keep a student interested in learning as well as to help them be successful academically is to encourage them to read. They don’t need to read anything in particular; they just need to be working on reading comprehension in some form or another – our private Orange County reading tutoring will help your child learn to love to read.

1.  Keep confidence high

Middle school can be especially difficult if a student lacks the confidence to do well in their core subjects, one of which is reading and writing. Students will often be asked to read in front of the class or will need to comprehend something their teachers read to them quickly. When students read for fun, they have a chance to sound out difficult words or learn how to determine a word’s meeting in context in a low-pressure environment. When students complete all of this practice at home, it makes classroom reading much easier and keeps self-esteem high during this important part of life (READ: 5 Tips to Encourage Your Child to Read).

2.  Maintain reading as a skill

Elementary school kids learn a ton of different skills, one of the most important of which is reading. However, students often start to backtrack on these important skills once they reach the stresses of middle school. Students who read at home for fun are a lot more likely to maintain the skills they’ve already learned and been able to build upon them when new and challenging assignments come along.

3.  Learn how to speed read and look for keywords

Middle school is also a time when students will need to be able to read fast and still understand information in the text or be able to skim for information and keywords in textbooks that are upwards of 1,000 pages long. This can be overwhelming in conjunction with all the other assignments students get from their classroom teacher, so it’s something that’s better supplemented in a low-pressure home environment. If students need specific help learning how to search for keywords or terms, they can ask their tutor or parents to help them figure out what they’re doing right and what they need to work on.

4.  Learn about an exciting new subject

Kids at this age often feel stifled because they focus primarily on core subjects in the classroom. As important as core subjects may be, kids need more intellectual and creative stimulation to maintain interest in their education. When students read at home, they can explore any exciting new subject that peaks their interest. In this case, kids can enjoy reading about whatever they’re into at the moment so that their love of reading, and learning in general, stays intact.

5.  Use the imagination

Perhaps the most important reason for middle school students to get into reading is to use their imagination. Younger kids have great imaginations, but they often lose this way of thinking once they get into high school. The longer a kid reads about fantasy and fiction the more likely they’ll be to keep their all-important ability to imagine new things. Having an imagination can help older students think outside the box, find solutions to difficult problems, and just enjoy all the creative aspects of art and literature as part of a well-balanced academic life.

Is your child struggling with reading? Our Orange County reading tutors are here to help. Call TutorNerds today for more information.

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