Speed Reading

No one really knows when speed reading was first used, but it might have been a long while in the past. For hundreds of years, reading was the privilege of a minority of the most highly-educated people in the world, the overwhelming majority of whom were monks and priests. This small, select group of men protected their privilege and were loathe to coach the general populace to read. Furthermore, during those hundreds of years there were relatively few books to read compared with today. Books were also very costly as they all had to be copied out by hand. Possibly the only fact that has not altered is that the Bible was the most common book in existence and even now the Bible is the most prevalent book.

The world is fast evolving into a place where individuals are slowly but surely turning their backs on books and becoming stuck in front of monitors or television screens. In such a world, parents should not fail to notice the importance of developing a zeal for reading in themselves and their children. Reading is a habit that should be established when the child is fairly young, so what can you do to encourage this habit?

Well, there are a number of strategies you can employ, although one of the best to lead by example. Read with your child every day, even if its only for 10-15 minutes. Permit your child to see you reading. By this I mean, don’t only read in bed before you go to sleep, but in place of watching television from time to time and read your children a bed-time story. Encourage them to read too. You could also:

Register your child for reading classes, if you really don’t have much time or your child is a little slow at reading. There are many well-structured after school reading classes that aim to make books more attractive to children. They help children with articulation, sayings and metaphors. These classes can be fun with animated characters and pictures, especially for young children,. They often make use of picture books, nursery rhymes, comical songs and short stories to fire up the imagination of younger children.

You will have to learn how to arouse your child’s interest. If your child has a favorite character, pick a series of books that include this character. Endeavor to encourage your children to read proper books not comics. The style in comics frequently leaves a great deal to be desired with its sloppy English and street slang. As an alternative, go for series of books like Harry Potter or Tarzan.

You should build yourself a library of your own books. This may sound a little impressive, but after all, a library is only a collection of books. Start with a good-looking bookshelf that you can easily add to. A talent like reading cannot be learned in only one place, so you cannot afford to leave all the hard work to the day-school or even the after school programs. You have to pick up books that you think your child will enjoy too. Use the Internet as a source for learning about the contemporary reading games that will attract young children to the superior and ancient art of reading,

Once you child is engrossed in reading for its own sake, you could buff up on speed reading. Speed reading is best suited for educational schoolwork and background reading. It’s immensely suited to cramming or studying for examinations. It is perfect for school and university. Nevertheless, the first task, before you can think about speed reading, is to get your child reading in the first place.

Are you interested in speed reading for yourself or a loved one? If so, please go along to our website focusing on Speed Reading.