ENGLISH STUDIES

Are you in grade 10 or have not completed your literacy requirement?  

Home Reading in High School

 During the elementary school years, many families develop home reading habits that sometimes slip away as part of the transition to high school. While daily home reading may not be assigned and monitored in an explicit way by high school teachers, maintaining a reading habit helps promote student success. Here are some ways to support your teen’s continued reading at home:

1.   Be a role model

As your child grows older you can start to read alongside him/her books that you actually enjoy reading. Visit the library together and choose a book that you’re both interested in reading. Take advantage of car rides or meal times to chat about what you’ve read. Questions about why you think something happened in the book, what you think might happen next, and how well the author has captured your interest will promote critical thinking skills.

2.   Use screen time

Adolescents can seem to disappear into their online world at times. Use your knowledge of your child’s interests to send articles / websites to him/her and follow-up with a discussion about the text. Challenge your child to demonstrate his/her understanding of the text with questions about what he/she felt was important in the text. Encourage the student to find articles for you to read and discuss.

3.   Introduce non-fiction

Some adolescents demonstrate a strong preference for non-fiction texts over novels. Consider visiting the library with your child and browsing for a topic that he/she finds interesting. Biographies, travelogues, and true life adventure stories are some of the genres that teens enjoy.

4.   Set goals

In elementary school many students adopt the habit of reading a specific number of pages each night. In high school homework often flows in waves. Students may have a week or two with little work in one class and then a rush of assignments or tests. Setting a reading goal on a weekly basis rather than daily basis and then planning how to achieve the goal taking into account all of the other activities your teen may be involved in is an excellent means to develop organizational skills.