by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: November 14, 2008   Last Updated: March 11, 2009

Children live in a world of opportunity though often do not achieve simply because life skills such as reading and writing have been presented to them in a manner which alienates them from being enthusiastic. Forced to read text beyond their understanding or life skills, or to write things which they believe to serve no purpose, these are not the best ways to encourage a child.

This articles details ways in which teachers and parents can encourage the enjoyment of reading and writing, rather than the inner battle against authority, and is a tested method for achieving harmony for those children with little interest in the skills concerned, making them more relevant to their lives and interests.

*The child themselves.

*Finding the right reading material.

*Creating writing projects which are rewarding.

*Combing reading and writing in exercise form.

The child themselves.

When a teacher is confronted by a classroom of children, each of these kids comes from different backgrounds. Each will have different understandings of the teacher's expectations. A gifted and caring teacher will get to know her class. Of course, there is a curriculum to follow, though often this is made easier to follow if a recognition that each child is an individual is adopted.

Some children will be able to envisage the lives portrayed in specified reading material for the class, while others will not. It is vital to strike balance. If, at this stage, children are forced to read the same material in the same manner, what this does is alienate those factions of the class to whom that reading material means very little.

To make characters within a book real, having classes where the reading asks the children to take on a story telling mode, rather than a reading mode encourages children's understanding. A child who has a particular accent can be used to portray a character who has an accent, and by making the characters in the written material become more real, the enjoyment of the child is enhanced.

Before going in to read a book with the class, adopting a group talk about what to expect within the covers of that book opens up a better understanding. Asking and answering questions also helps and painting the backdrop of the story, so that children can not only imagine the setting of the story, but are informed about the way things were helps them relate to the work in question.

Finding the right reading material.

There will always be the inquisitive child. These are usually easy children to teach since

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