The Connection between Reading Fluency of Children & their Scholastic Performance

posted on Nov 25, 2019

Scholastic performance is a common challenge for students, parents, and schools. It is not a concern for only the non-performers, but even for the top scorers, who are always expected to get better and better. In such a scenario, would it not be extraordinary support if we find a way to elevate the academic performance of kids without goading into studies even more?

One such interesting yet effective tool which can indeed help boost the academic performance of children is working on their reading fluency. Yes, you read that right! Studies have revealed that children with strong reading fluency showcase higher scholastic achievements. Hence, today, let us take a deeper insight into the connection between reading fluency in children and their academic performance in this article below.  

The Basics of Reading Fluency

Reading is a cognitive process that involves the decoding of symbols such that it conveys meaning. It involves a complex interaction between the text and the reader. In addition to the reader’s prior knowledge, experiences, attitude, and the extent to which the language is used in their community, other factors that enhance reading fluency are continuous practice, development, and refinement. Creativity and critical analysis take one’s reading skills to yet another level. This ability of reading and comprehending promotes one’s personal interest in going deep into analysis beyond one or two interpretations of any given prose.

Reading Fluency vis-à-vis Scholastic Performance

Other than reading across the curriculum, a report from Renaissance Learning shows that the majority of children spend less than 15 minutes per day reading non-academic books. If they increase their daily reading time to 30 minutes, it can directly boost their scholastic performance.

It was also observed that by increasing the reading time by only 15 minutes daily, a child can get exposed to a comprehension of approximately 13.7 million words till he/she completes schooling of 12th grade, as compared to 1.5 million words for a student reading for less than 15 minutes a day.

Another observation of the report highlights that most high performers tend to show a lot of interest in reading. The students who develop their interest in reading and spend significant time exploring various reading sources develop a higher understanding of diverse topics, which helps to accelerate their learning and growth with clear raise in their scholastic numbers.

An Effective Action Plan for Parents to Imbibe the Habit of Reading in Kids

• Encouraging children to visit the library and go through books of different genres often helps to develop their interest in reading. This helps to tap the agility of their brain, and they may unveil some complex topics which hook their interest. This brain development also adds to their memory skills in other academic subjects. 
• Whenever a child asks you anything out of curiosity, make sure you ask them to do their bit of research on the topic. It won’t only help to elaborate on their understanding of the subject but will also help to plant the seeds of reading habit in them. 
• We, at Gurukul The School, believe that children should never be bound to learn academic topics alone. Rather it is important to give wings to their imagination and fuel their curiosity. Allow them to go deeper on topics they like to spend more time on. This way, they gradually start developing a stronger interest in learning. 
• Spend some time together in reading with your kids. While doing so, you may also quiz around new words learned. This will help them build a powerful vocabulary and will also strengthen their affinity for reading.

At Gurukul The School, one of the best school in Ghaziabad, India, we have seen how wonderfully the habit of everyday reading helps bring drastic improvement in the learning abilities of children. Hence, besides encouraging our students to indulge in the habit of reading, we also always ask parents to give their children the freedom to read whatever piques their interest. When it comes to reading, it’s not only the curriculum books that help children but any book, belonging to any genre, can do them equally well. Academics surely have their own place, but true development happens only when the kids are allowed ample space to pursue their interests, and the same applies to boost their reading fluency as well.