It’s hard to believe it, but summer is already in the final stretch. Parents in our Raising Skilled Readers community are beginning to wonder how they can support their children during the upcoming school year.

Many are worried that a mountain of homework and full slate of extracurricular activities will leave little time to build additional reading skills, and certainly no time to read books for pleasure.

Ironically, investing in developing core reading skills is exactly what will make work in every subject – even math! – more productive and efficient.

In today’s world of instantly available information, kids think they can just find the correct answer, write it down, and move on. It’s natural to want to finish homework as quickly as possible. But students won’t actually remember anything with this approach. It doesn’t lead to academic success.

The good news? There are age-specific reading techniques that kids can learn and practice to help them engage with new information, then retain it. Once they know how to use these techniques in the short term, they’ll save a ton of time in the long term. Whether an assignment involves fiction or nonfiction, they won’t have to re-read and study endlessly. They’ll go on to achieve more across all of their schoolwork.

TL;DR: Prioritizing reading skill development now saves study time later.

In the rest of this issue, we’ll give you a 'look ahead' at which reading skills can help your child get the new school year off to a great start.

In today’s issue:

• Learning to read builds executive function skills

• Treating math problems like ‘stories’ deepens comprehension

• Spacing out study sessions improves recall

Boss Babies

Your preschooler or early elementary schooler isn’t studying textbooks just yet, but he can begin developing “executive function skills” that will make this future task much, much easier.

Executive function skills are an array of cognitive skills that allow people to achieve goals by managing their thoughts, actions, and emotions. Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child wants parents to understand that these skills don’t come naturally. They have to be taught. The earlier the better. Once learned, these skills will serve as the “air traffic control system” of your child’s brain, for life.

The process of learning how to read actually hones many crucial executive function skills. For instance, young readers have to retain phonics knowledge, learn to apply that knowledge in different ways as they encounter new words, and simultaneously maintain their self-control and focus. Engaging with the stories and characters in books also teaches children how to handle big emotions, and talking about the plot can actually develop planning skills.

Math Stories

A couple of years ago, reading researcher Timothy Shanahan looked at existing studies on the relationship between reading ability and math ability. He found general consensus that building strong reading comprehension skills in elementary school directly contributed to kids’ achievement in math class.

Shanahan guessed that this is because students need to understand the structure and syntax of complex word problems in order to answer them correctly. Successfully answering a word problem goes beyond simple computation: it puts mathematics knowledge into practice. It demonstrates deeper understanding and mastery of math concepts.

In a just-published article in Education Week, Olina Banerji mirrors Shanahan’s thoughts. Reframing word problems as “math stories,” Banerji explains how some teachers are trying to break down challenging word problems for their students. To start, they ask students to identify the main character and the problem he’s facing, before considering any numbers or solutions. This simple process, based on core reading comprehension skills, slows students down and gives them the right context for their calculations the first time around.

Short Study Sessions

At the Institute of Reading Development, we know that students won’t get far with textbook and nonfiction reading until they can recognize how various types of information are organized, identify the main ideas, and step back periodically to summarize and confirm their understanding. But, after they have understood the text, then what?

Writing for Edutopia, Biology teacher Alison Stone laments that students come into her class “believing that studying doesn’t work” because they’ve never been taught to study effectively. To help students in her Advanced Placement courses change this assumption, she teaches the 6 study techniques that the Learning Scientists (a group of cognitive psychologists) have identified as “best,” not just for remembering information, but also for mastering complex concepts.

So, which is their most-researched, time-saving study technique? Spaced Practice. If your notes are solid, then studying a little at a time, rather than cramming, is best. That’s because cramming uses up your working memory, leaving no room in your brain for advanced thinking and problem solving. Busy teens should love this: 15 minutes of studying every other day can save you hours of unproductive stress later.

Learn from the Experts

Get peer support, helpful resources, and answers to your biggest questions about raising a stronger reader from our expert team here at the Institute of Reading Development. Join the free Raising Skilled Readers parent community today!