Best learn to read systems
The 5 Best Programs to Teach Your Child to Read
Reading Program Reviews of The 5 Best Programs to Teach Your Child to Read: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Reading Eggs, Teach Your Monster to Read, and Hooked on Phonics
1) Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
2) Reading Eggs
If your child is between the ages of 3 and 6 (or even older if your child is struggling with reading), you might want to consider Teach Your Child to Read™. Our program was designed for short attention spans and busy parents (lessons are only 5 minutes), and the program guides you step-by-step through the process of teaching your child to read. It's so easy to use, all you need is a few minutes to review lesson one, and you'll be ready to get started.
| We particularly like the last one, only 6 STEPS. Many of the other programs are somewhat complicated to figure out what to do, what's been learned, and where to go next. It's pretty exciting to see how quickly your child learns to read! On the flip side, some parents are concerned about 'pushing' their children into learning too early or too fast. Even though our program works quickly for most children, we think it's important to be judicious about how quickly you introduce reading concepts to your child. Children learn best at their own pace, and some will naturally move faster than others. Our program is designed to offer a time of shared closeness between you and your child—just a few minutes a day—so your child never feels pushed into learning. If your child wants to buzz straight through in a few months, great! But if he or she needs to take more time, that's okay, too. By introducing reading concepts in 5-minute micro-lessons, you'll be able to tune in to how your child is progressing at all times. You'll easily be able to identify when you can keep up your pace or slow down—even take an extended break—so your child will never feel rushed. It's hard to grasp how a program works until you actually try it, which is why a free trial is so important. And I encourage you to try them all! Reading Eggs and Teach Your Child to Read™ have free trials, and Hooked on Phonics allows you to try the program for 30 days for $1. You can even 'test drive' Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by reviewing the sample pages on Amazon. And of course, Teach Your Monster to Read is completely free. | Since the ages 5-7 offer a sweet spot for teaching children to read, the programs reviewed here are reading programs for kindergartners, 1st graders, and struggling readers up to age 8 and beyond. Some of these reading programs can be used with preschool children as well, especially if it's clear your 3 or 4-year-old child is ready to learn. (Age ranges are simply suggestions; you know your child better than anyone else!) When working with a much older child (or even an adult), if your student is willing to engage with remedial tools, the programs in this review can be effective for anyone who wishes to learn to read or improve their reading skills. |
Please reach out to us and tell us how it goes!The 15 Best Reading Programs for Kids (2023 Rankings)
Are you looking for the best reading programs for kids so your child can become an avid reader?
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With so many options out there it can be difficult to know which one is right for your family.
Some reading programs are good for younger kids, while others are better for older children.
Others may be online, while some require physical materials.
The good news is that there’s a reading program out there to suit every child’s needs and interests.
To help you find the perfect program for your child, we have compiled our list of the 14 best reading programs for kids, ranking them based on a variety of factors like affordability, ease of use, and effectiveness.
This guide has been updated for 2023 to include the latest information on all of the top learning to read programs. Some new picks have been added as we’re always testing out new programs, so you can be sure you’re getting the most up-to-date information.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost for you, we might get a commission if you click the link and purchase.
What are the Best Reading Programs for Kids?
Here are our picks for the top kids reading programs worth trying…
1. Lou Adventures
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Price
Free
Recommended Age
7+
Have a kid who’s obsessed with playing games? Lou Adventures can become the perfect reading partner for you and your child!
Lou Adventures is an interactive story app designed to make children avid readers. It keeps the children engaged through interactive and immersive games, which helps maintain their attention span.
This reading game consists of 12 interactive chapters brimming with information on the Mystery at the Lakehouse. As your child reads through the story, the talking dog, Lou, will lead them through a series of exciting adventures.
Lou Adventures is integrated with speech recognition technology and provides children with prompts.
It works like a virtual tutor, helping kids improve their reading and pronunciation.
The challenging adventures bridge the gap between learning and fun, making Lou Adventures our top pick.
You also don’t have to worry about things getting too techy because the app is easy to navigate.
Key Features
- Teaches problem-solving skills
- Improves reading and comprehension abilities
- Identifies the pronunciation mistakes by making the child read aloud
- Makes the text easy to understand
- User-friendly interface
- Attractive graphics
Click here to try Lou Adventures for free!
2. Noggin
Price
Noggin offers a 30-day free trial to all new customers and is $7.99 a month thereafter.
Recommended Age
2-7
Noggin is one of the best overall educational apps out there, helping kids learn everything from reading to math to creative thinking and more.
With fun games, interactive lessons, and personalized lessons featuring kids’ favorite Nick Jr.
characters, Noggin helps kids ages 2 to 7 build critical reading skills.
In addition to hundreds of lessons and games to help children build essential reading skills, the online reading program also includes a ton of eBooks featuring Nick Jr. characters from shows like Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, and more.
The online reading program can help your kid learn the alphabet, sight words, basic phonics, letter sounds, and more through eBooks, interactive games, and personalized lessons.
New books and educational resources are added every month to encourage children to keep reading regularly.
Key Features
- Features your kids’ favorite Nick Jr. characters
- Personalized learning to your child’s reading level
- Tons of activities and games to improve your child’s reading ability
- Always-growing collection of eBooks
- Free trial period
3. Homer
Price
- Annually Plan: $59.
99 per year - Lifetime Plan: $99.99 one-time fee
Recommended Age
2-8
If your child hates learning, Homer will be his best reading partner.
This reading program takes a slightly different approach to attracting children towards reading. The app offers custom lesson plans and allows the children to choose what to study. It gives them confidence and eradicates the feeling of being bossed around.
Homer identifies your child’s interests and designs plans accordingly. From almost 20 topics, your child can choose what appeals to him and begin his journey right away. This helps motivate children and keep them engaged as they work through the online program.
The basic layout is game-like which means our kid will be excited to play and learn.
Children can either work their way through the lesson plan or choose the practice mode, where they can put their skills to the test.
Key Features
- Lifetime membership
- Covers a wide range of skills, including math, ESL, and creative thinking
- Identifying letters and numbers
- Highly economical
Click here to try Homer free for 7 days.
4. Hooked on Phonics
Price
- Online App: $7/mo
- Premium plan: $16/mo
Recommended Ages
3-8
Have an intuitive toddler who refuses to read? Choose Hooked On Phonics as your reading program, and watch him become a confident reader! This reading program is probably one of the oldest options.
It started as a father trying various ways to make his son read and became a well-known brand for worksheets, flashcards, and books. The company has been promoting successful reading methodologies way before apps were a thing, so you can be sure of its performance.
The app uses multiple concepts, such as prints, phonological awareness, and phonics word recognition. With more than 30 reading lessons, it has various engaging activities to keep the children engaged. Reading activities are seemingly just for fun but aim to teach the primary building blocks of reading, such as short vowels, simple plurals, simple compound words, etc.
Key Features
- Workbooks
- Available offline
- Explains concepts through videos and songs
- Built-in reward system
5. Reading Eggs
Price
- Monthly subscription: $9.99/month (4 children)
- Yearly subscription: $69.99/year (4 children)
- Schools: Custom quotes
Recommended Age
2-13
If you have a dyslexic kid, Reading Eggs will be a perfect choice. This reading program has won many awards and is known to inculcate reading skills efficiently. The lessons are specifically structured to cater to children with spelling difficulties.
It follows the five essential components of reading: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
The best part about this reading program is that you can monitor your child’s progress, which helps you immediately identify any deficiencies.
With over 2000 digital storybooks, Reading Eggs also has numerous guided reading lessons.
It uses an interactive methodology that keeps children engaged in the activity.
Key Features
- Option to choose between different types of English: British English, Australian English, or American English.
- Introduces new words to children, along with their varying contexts
- Pre-reading activities make the child keen on reading
6. Teach Your Monster To Read
Price
Free
Recommended Age
3-7
Have a hyperactive kid who just won’t sit in one place? Give this reading program a chance, and you’d find him finishing book after book! Teach Your Monster, as the name suggests, is a fun reading tool for the little monsters in your home. Sourced by The USBORNE Foundation, this reading program is a non-profit reading program that helps your child delve into the world of reading.
The layout is based on various games where children create their own monsters and get through different challenges. The most beneficial part of this program is the age range.
From teaching your kid letters and sounds to reading full-length sentences, Monsters has it all. The phonics game inculcates crucial reading skills while being a fun activity for your child.
Key Features
- Teaches tricky words and synonyms
- Three basic-level games which focus on letters and sounds
- Improves sound recognition in toddlers
- Complements the concepts taught in school
7. Starfall
Price
$35 per year
Recommended Age
3-10
Starfall is your answer if you’re looking for a reading program that does much more than reading. This program introduces educational concepts like color identification, counting basics, and reading skills all in one place. The basic version is free to use, so you can always test it thoroughly before investing.
Starfall features a shepherd who guides your child through the lesson. If reading lessons get a bit boring, there’s always a fun game to make your child stay attentive.
These games, although fun and immersive, aim to reinforce the concepts taught in the lessons. This way, the concepts become crystal clear in your child’s mind.
Starfall is a good option if you want a long-term solution. It nurtures your child from a preschool level up until he’s ten years old.
Key Features
- Basic interface
- Each lesson teaches different skills
- Introduces different genres of literature
8. ABCya!
Price
Premium plan
- $9.99 per month
- $69.99 per year
Recommended Age
4-10
ABCya! is another great reading program among many. It has games organized according to the child’s grade. It means your child can develop his reading skills gradually without getting too overwhelmed. The interactive and colorful website makes reading a fun activity for kids.
The games cover a range of concepts and subjects, including letters, numbers, holiday games, and much more. These are mostly arcade games that always end up attracting children.
The website has all the game tiles displayed so your kid can spot his favorite in seconds.
Moreover, this reading program provides a perfect opportunity for children to test their skills. All the things they learn at school come in handy when getting through the game.
Key Features
- More than 300 games
- Activities are designed by educators
- Simple navigation
- Wide range of subjects
9. Reading Doctor
Price
$63 per year
Recommended Age
K3+
If your child faces difficulty in reading, consider consulting a doctor. No, not the physician, head to the Reading Doctor’s website! This reading program can help your struggling child become an avid reader.
Using engaging methodologies, Reading Doctor aims to teach skills such as blending, segmentation, and sight word knowledge.
The patented system used by the Reading Doctor helps your child associate sounds and words. It increases proficiency and enables the child to read complex sentences without difficulty.
Reading Doctor also uses a systematic synthetic phonics sequence that helps your child construct words. The portal also gives you access to a parent dashboard where you can monitor your child’s progress.
Key Features
- Self-explanatory for children
- Concept of letter-sound relationships to identify unfamiliar words
- Phonemic awareness
- Developing spelling abilities
- Vocabulary skills and reading fluency
10. Reading Raven
Price
- Vol 1: $3
- Vol 2: $2
Recommended Age
3-7
Have a kid who doesn’t fall for flashy stuff? Reading Raven will be the right option for you!
Reading Raven aims to strengthen your kid’s reading skills with each passing day. The curriculum is based on phonics, giving your child an excellent start to the reading journey. In this way, children will have a strong foundation of pronunciation, helping them maintain their reading habits for a lifetime.
Reading Raven can also be customized according to your child’s needs. Toddlers can have a go at word matching and identifying sounds, while older kids can practice how to put together words.
It makes the program ever-evolving and a long-term investment. Reading Raven also uses multi-sensory features to improve hand-eye coordination, listening, and reading skills.
Key Features
- Focuses on building a fondness for reading
- Builds a strong foundation
- Improves comprehension skills
- Teaches how to recognize and trace letters
11. Skybrary
Price
- Monthly subscription: $5
- Yearly subscription: $40
Recommended Age
2-9
Want a reading program bursting with features? Skybrary is your best bet! Previously known as Reading Rainbow, this reading program is associated with a non-profit organization, Reading Is Fundamental, solely meant to facilitate young readers.
The curators have designed a digital library for your children.
The library includes tons of options to choose from and has numerous videos and read-along narrations to go along with the books. The vast choice available helps young readers to identify their areas of interest early on, so the rest of the path is based on interest.
Skybrary also has various features to keep the readers hooked, such as book-related stickers, matching games, and building their own story game.
Key Features
- Easy to navigate
- Parent dashboard helps track the child’s progress
- Interactive animations hold your child’s interests
- Real-world video explorations
12. Farfaria
Price
- Monthly subscription: $5
- Yearly subscription: $50
- Lifetime: $100
Recommended Age
4-8
Farfaria might sound like a magical land, which is exactly what it is! This reading tool allows children to read the story themselves or have an animated narration that makes the story come to life!
Taking a different approach from game-centric reading programs, Farfaria automatically becomes a child’s favorite reading option because of its magical graphics.
The animated narration improves a child’s imagination and helps him understand the story better.
New stories are added every week to the content available on Farfaria, meaning your child will never get bored! These stories are also available online, which helps your child tune in to another chapter regardless of where he is!
Key Features
- Numerous themes
- Expands imaginative capabilities
- Interactive maps help in choosing a story
- Stimulates an interest in reading
- Encourages family time
13. Epic
Price
Monthly subscription: $9.99
Yearly subscription: $79.99
Recommended Age
2-12
This reading program will be the right choice if you want an ‘epic’ solution to improve your child’s reading skills! With over 35000 books, Epic is a safe space for children to learn and explore.
The best part about this reading program is that it awards children with badges and recognition at every step! It keeps the children motivated throughout their reading journey.
Every book in Epic’s digital library is hand-picked by the curators to suit children of all ages. You can also play with your child’s profile settings so that he cannot access the content meant for older kids.
Epic aims to provide children with easy access to books, making reading an effortless activity for everyone.
Key Features
- High-quality books
- Allows up to four individual accounts
- Regular reports
- Affordably priced
14. Read Works
Price
Free
Recommended Age
2-12
If you need a reading program for classroom setups, Read Works is your one-stop solution. This tool allows you to work professionally on reading projects and present them in the form of worksheets or presentations. A perfect choice for teachers and home-schoolers, ReadWorks can help you inculcate effective reading methodologies.
Readworks can also integrate with Google Classroom, where teachers can track and track the student’s progress.
From demo videos to classroom tips, ReadWorks will help you excitingly nurture future readers.
This reading program also includes various fiction and non-fiction texts, activities, and assessments to help develop children’s reading skills.
Students also have access to various tools, such as research and annotations, which help them interact with their teachers.
Key Features
- Human-voiced narration
- High-interest passages
- Support via articles and videos
- Assessments can be graded automatically
15. Oxford Owl
Price
Free
Recommended Age
3-7
Powered by the Oxford University Press, this reading program has thousands of resources available to help your child improve his reading skills.
From reading for pleasure to learning how to get past challenging levels, the Oxford Owl is your all-rounding solution when it comes to reading. This reading program caters to children and teachers, making it a must-have for everyone.
If your child struggles with identifying words, Oxford Owl has a suitable game for you. The site will ask your child to identify a word from a few other options and guide him thoroughly until he can get it right without help or supervision. Children will also receive feedback on their performance, motivating them to do better!
Key Features
- Helps children recognize letters, sounds, and words.
- Helps children recognize letter patterns and sound combinations
- Improves reading proficiency and vocabulary
- Unmatched resource materials
Features To Look For When Choosing A Reading Program For Your Kids
To help you further, here’s what you need to look out for when choosing the best reading programs for kids.
1. Phonics
Starting with phonics is the best way to inculcate reading habits in a child. Make sure that your reading program has phonics and phonemic awareness as part of its curriculum.
2. Interactive And Fun
Remember to choose a reading program that is not boring.
Game-based programs and attractive graphics go a long way.
3. Reviews
Don’t forget to check out the program reviews you’re buying. Do your homework and analyze all the reviews left on other websites. The program’s official site often only hosts positive feedback, so surfing the internet might result in unearthing some cons.
4. Difficulty Level
Your child’s age primarily impacts the difficulty level of the reading program you’re buying. Look for options that go up to an advanced level so your child doesn’t outgrow the platform in just a few months.
A Final Word on Choosing the Best Kids Reading Program
Learning to read is incredibly important, regardless of the age of your child.
To ensure that they have a fighting chance when it comes to reading competency, make sure you invest in reputable and high-quality programs like the ones mentioned above. Not only do these help your child develop their reading skills but also show them how enjoyable learning can be!
Remember, every child is different, and what works well for someone may not always work the same way for your child.
So, keep experimenting until you find the right reading program! Good luck!
Have any questions about our guide to the best reading programs for kids? Let us know by commenting below.
- Author
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Fatima Mansoor
Fatima Mansoor is a freelance writer covering education technology. She has a Master of Arts (MA) in English Language Teaching.
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How to learn to read 3 times faster in 20 minutes
October 6, 2020 Education
Take the book and check the effect for yourself right now.
Iya Zorina
Lifehacker author, athlete, CCM
Background: "Project PX"
Back in 1998, Princeton University hosted a seminar called "Project PX" (Project PX), dedicated to high reading speed. This article is an excerpt from that seminar and personal experience of speeding up reading.
So, "Project PX" is a three-hour cognitive experiment that allows you to increase your reading speed by 386%. It was conducted on people who spoke five languages, and even dyslexics were trained to read up to 3,000 words of technical text per minute, 10 pages of text. Page in 6 seconds.
For comparison, the average reading speed in the US is between 200 and 300 words per minute. We have in connection with the peculiarities of the language - from 120 to 180. And you can easily increase your performance to 700-900 words per minute.
All that is needed is to understand the principles of human vision, what time is wasted in the process of reading and how to stop wasting it. When we analyze the mistakes and practice not making them, you will read several times faster and not mindlessly running your eyes, but perceiving and remembering all the information you read.
Preparation
For our experiment you will need:
- a book of at least 200 pages;
- pen or pencil;
- timer.
The book should lie in front of you without closing (press the pages if it tries to close without support).
Find a book that you don't have to hold so that it doesn't closeYou will need at least 20 minutes for one exercise session. Make sure that no one distracts you during this time.
Helpful Hints
Before jumping straight into the exercises, here are a few quick tips to help you speed up your reading.
1. Make as few stops as possible when reading a line of text
When we read, the eyes move through the text not smoothly, but in jumps. Each such jump ends with fixing your attention on a part of the text or stopping your gaze at areas of about a quarter of a page, as if you are taking a picture of this part of the sheet.
Each eye stop on the text lasts ¼ to ½ second.
To feel this, close one eye and lightly press the eyelid with the tip of your finger, and with the other eye try to slowly slide over the line of text.
Jumps become even more obvious if you slide not in letters, but simply in a straight horizontal line:
How do you feel?
2. Try to go back as little as possible through the text
A person who reads at an average pace quite often goes back to reread a missed moment. This can happen consciously or unconsciously. In the latter case, the subconscious itself returns its eyes to the place in the text where concentration was lost.
On average, conscious and unconscious returns take up to 30% of the time.
3. Improve concentration to increase coverage of words read in one stop
People with an average reading speed use a central focus rather than horizontal peripheral vision. Due to this, they perceive half as many words in one jump of vision.
4. Practice Skills Separately
The exercises are different and you don't have to try to combine them into one. For example, if you are practicing reading speed, don't worry about text comprehension.
You will progress through three stages in sequence: learning technique, applying technique to increase speed, and reading comprehension.
Rule of thumb: Practice your technique at three times your desired reading speed. For example, if your current reading speed is somewhere around 150 words per minute, and you want to read 300, you need to practice reading 900 words per minute.
Exercises
1. Determination of the initial reading speed
Now you have to count the number of words and lines in the book that you have chosen for training. We will calculate the approximate number of words, since calculating the exact value will be too dreary and time consuming.
First, we count how many words fit in five lines of text, divide this number by five and round it up. I counted 40 words in five lines: 40 : 5 = 8 - an average of eight words per line.
Next, we count the number of lines on five pages of the book and divide the resulting number by five.
I got 194 lines, I rounded up to 39 lines per page: 195 : 5 = 39.
And the last thing: we count how many words fit on the page. To do this, we multiply the average number of lines by the average number of words per line: 39× 8 = 312.
Now is the time to find out your reading speed. We set a timer for 1 minute and read the text, calmly and slowly, as you usually do.
How much did it turn out? I have a little more than a page - 328 words.
2. Landmark and speed
As I wrote above, going back through the text and stopping the gaze take a lot of time. But you can easily cut them down with a focus tracking tool. A pen, pencil or even your finger will serve as such a tool.
Technique (2 minutes)
Practice using a pen or pencil to maintain focus. Move the pencil smoothly under the line you are currently reading and concentrate on where the tip of the pencil is now.
Lead with the tip of the pencil along the lines Set the pace with the tip of the pencil and follow it with your eyes, keeping up with stops and returns through the text.
And don't worry about understanding, it's a speed exercise.
Try to go through each line in 1 second and increase the speed with each page.
Do not stay on one line for more than 1 second under any circumstances, even if you do not understand what the text is about.
With this technique, I was able to read 936 words in 2 minutes, so 460 words per minute. Interestingly, when you follow with a pen or pencil, it seems that your vision is ahead of the pencil and you read faster. And when you try to remove it, immediately your vision seems to spread out over the page, as if the focus was released and it began to float all over the page.
Speed (3 minutes)
Repeat the tracker technique, but allow no more than half a second to read each line (read two lines of text in the time it takes to say "twenty-two").
You probably won't understand anything you read, but that doesn't matter. Now you are training your perceptual reflexes, and these exercises help you adapt to the system.
Do not slow down for 3 minutes. Concentrate on the tip of your pen and the technique for increasing speed.
In the 3 minutes of this frenetic race, I read five pages and 14 lines, averaging 586 words per minute. The hardest part of this exercise is not to slow down the speed of the pencil. It's a real block: you've been reading all your life to understand what you're reading, and it's not easy to let go of that.
Thoughts cling to the lines in an effort to return to understand what it is about, and the pencil also begins to slow down. It is also difficult to maintain concentration on such useless reading, the brain gives up, and thoughts fly away to hell, which is also reflected in the speed of the pencil.
3. Expanding the area of perception
When you concentrate your eyes on the center of the monitor, you still see its outer areas. So it is with the text: you concentrate on one word, and you see several words surrounding it.
Now, the more words you learn to see in this way with your peripheral vision, the faster you can read.
The expanded area of perception allows you to increase the speed of reading by 300%.
Beginners with a normal reading speed spend their peripheral vision on the fields, that is, they run their eyes through the letters of absolutely all the words of the text, from the first to the last. At the same time, peripheral vision is spent on empty fields, and a person loses from 25 to 50% of the time.
A boosted reader will not "read the fields". He will run his eyes over only a few words from the sentence, and see the rest with peripheral vision. In the illustration below, you see an approximate picture of the concentration of vision of an experienced reader: words in the center are read, and foggy ones are marked by peripheral vision.
Focus on central wordsHere is an example. Read this sentence:
The students once enjoyed reading for four hours straight.
If you start reading with the word "students" and end with "reading," you save time reading as many as five words out of eight! And this reduces the time for reading this sentence by more than half.
Technique (1 minute)
Use a pencil to read as fast as possible: start with the first word of the line and end with the last. That is, no expansion of the area of perception yet - just repeat exercise No. 1, but spend no more than 1 second on each line. Under no circumstances should one line take more than 1 second.
Technique (1 minute)
Continue to pace the reading with a pen or pencil, but start reading from the second word of the line and end the line two words before the end.
Speed (3 minutes)
Start reading at the third word of the line and finish three words before the end, while moving your pencil at the speed of one line per half second (two lines in the time it takes to say "twenty-two" ).
If you don't understand anything you read, that's okay. Now you are training your reflexes of perception, and you should not worry about understanding. Concentrate on the exercise with all your might and don't let your mind drift away from an uninteresting activity.
4. Testing your new reading speed
Now it's time to test your new reading speed. Set a timer for 1 minute and read as fast as you can while still understanding the text. I got 720 words per minute - twice as fast as before I started using this technique.
These are great figures, but they are not surprising, because you yourself begin to notice how the scope of words has expanded. You don’t waste time on fields, you don’t go back through the text, and the speed increases significantly.
If you've tried this technique right now, share your success in the comments. How many words per minute did you get before and after?
Read also 📚🤓📖
- What prevents us from reading faster and how to deal with it
- How to read one book a day
- How to teach your child to read: important rules and effective techniques
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exercises and techniques for training speed reading
Victoria Ripa
knows how to read fast
You don't have to buy special courses to learn how to read fast.
We say "I devoured it in one sitting" when we talk about an interesting book that we quickly read. But boring, but necessary materials have to be studied for hours.
We look through such texts again and again, sorting through the lines in search of meaning. But what if you can't get into a very important report, scientific work or textbook? For such cases, short reading is used. I share how to master this skill.
What prevents you from reading quickly
On average, a person reads at a speed of about 200 words per minute. Speed reading - up to 600 words, and in some cases up to 1000. To achieve such results, you first need to eliminate the main causes of slow reading, and then master the techniques that will help you read quickly.
That's what prevents us from increasing the speed of reading.
Limited peripheral vision. When we look at one point, we see neighboring objects within 2-5 degrees, everything else is the result of “finishing” the picture by the brain. Because of this, we cannot read the whole page and are forced to move from word to word.
Limited field of viewRegression. If a person has not developed a reading system, most likely, his eyes move randomly through the text, constantly returning a few words or lines back. This applies to any text - not only legal documents that we carefully reread, but also fiction: we return to catch the details and recreate the picture of events.
An example of how regression works Subvocalization is the mental pronunciation of a text. It helps to better assimilate information, but it also takes a lot of time. Another thing is a quick reading of the meaning of a word by its visual image.
Low concentration. When we are distracted by extraneous stimuli, we cannot read quickly. On the way to "swallowing" the meanings, we will need the skill of superficial reading: when we quickly find key words to capture the essence, but at the same time we focus only on this and do not get distracted.
Here are some exercises that will teach you how to read effectively and dexterously.
Exercise 1
Suppress subvocalizationAt school, we were taught to read lines aloud, thereby laying down a certain pattern of reading. As a result, we assimilate information at the same speed with which we read aloud. It is not easy to get rid of such a habit.
The task during reading is to block the part of the brain that is responsible for pronunciation. Despite the fact that the text is seen by the eyes, it is the brain that processes the words, and the speed of assimilation of information depends on it.
There are several ways to get rid of subvocalization.
Zhinkin's rhythm. The method was developed by the Soviet linguist and psychologist Nikolai Ivanovich Zhinkin. The point is to tap out a certain rhythm while reading, which does not correspond to the rhythm of inner speech. Thus, a zone of inductive inhibition is formed in the cerebral cortex - the reflex does not work, and you learn to perceive the text without subvocalization. You can use a pencil, metronome, or other handy tool for tapping.
Turn on this video to try reading the text using Zhinkin's method Speaking aloud. Try saying ditties, poems or tongue twisters aloud while reading. This will take the speech apparatus, and it will not work to voice the words from the book. At first, it will be difficult to perceive information on paper. You may get the impression that you seem to be reading, but you do not understand anything.
This will pass with practice: with the help of training, you can double your reading speed.
Exercise 2
Read backwardsThe exercise develops the ability to concentrate on the text. It works like this: you select any text and start reading it from the end.
For example:
This sentence will increase your concentration.
becomes:
It looks like an ancient spell, but it's not magic. When you read backwards, you fully concentrate on the text - and if you get distracted, it will be noticeable immediately. Another advantage of the method is its accessibility: you can read backwards in transport, at lunch, and in any free minute. Read the text in normal format, and then vice versa. Watch how your reading speed, concentration and perception of words change. The main thing that this method teaches is not to get distracted and understand what you read.
Exercise 3
Train according to the Schulte table The German psychiatrist Walter Schulte used this table to investigate the properties of understanding.
It is needed in short reading to expand the boundaries of peripheral vision and capture more information from each page of the text.
For training, look at the number in the center of the table. Without taking your eyes off him, try to see the numbers on the right, side, top and bottom. The main thing is not to look for symbols, but to learn to see them with the help of peripheral vision.
This method will allow you to expand the boundaries of attention and teach you to perceive symbols in parallel to each other, as opposed to sequential, scanning reading.
/list/ni-be-ni-me/
Arguing beautifully and not screaming: 8 courses for developing speech Working with a table develops a parallel, three-dimensional perception. In normal mode, we read sequentially, word by word. Parallel assimilation helps to fix whole strings.
Exercise 4
Master PhotoReadingThe task of speed reading is not to teach you how to read quickly, but to easily isolate the essence, understand and assimilate information. PhotoReading is similar to scanning: this method teaches you to perceive texts superficially and pay attention to key details.
The method is not suitable for the study of scientific literature, where numbers and details are important. But with its help, you can familiarize yourself with the content of a press release or article.
The PhotoReading process has several stages.
Focus on the process. It is necessary to throw out all unnecessary thoughts from the head, abstract from extraneous noise, relax and get ready to assimilate the text.
Preview. It is necessary to find out the structure of the text: to study the content of the book in order to understand what will be discussed.
View subheadings and conclusion. Make a conditional plan of the text.
PhotoReading. Skim through small text blocks quickly. Take a few seconds for each page - literally scan what is written. Decide for yourself which parts of the material are most important to study and form a general idea of the text.
Quick reading. Go back to the most important parts of the text and reread them. At this stage, it is important to comprehend the material, form your opinion about the text and the author.
Exercise 5
Read diagonallyMany have heard about diagonal reading since school. This method is considered the pinnacle of mastery in speed reading: by reading "across", you simultaneously refuse regression and subvocalization, concentrate as much as possible on the text and quickly assimilate information. This is where peripheral vision comes in handy.
A diagonal reader sees in the text not a set of words, but semantic blocks along which the eye glides.
Skimming through these images, he returns to the lines, skimming them in search of keywords.
/body-and-mind/
Speech, movement and awareness: how I spent almost 75,000 R on self-development
Here are the basic rules:
- Focus on the entire text. Focus on the entire text, not on individual objects. A high level of concentration is our everything on the way to speed reading.
- Move your eyes diagonally. Let your eyes move at a speed that is comfortable for you. The only condition is that the gaze should move from the upper left corner to the lower right. Try to capture as much information as possible.
- Ignore water in the text. Isolate key information, ignoring verbal garbage and water. Having caught your eye on something important, read the fragment more carefully in the usual way, but do not return to what has already been read.
