Carol Taylor, NIACE Director for Development and Research, with ideas to help you with your reading and writing
Reading and writing can be an emotional subject if you are worried about your skills. It can help to talk about it with someone you trust and there is lots of help available for you.
- You can find a class near you by calling Next Step free on 0800 100 900 or by visiting https://nextstep.direct.gov.uk/Pages/home.aspx
- Quick Reads (www.quickreads.org.uk ) are short books specially written by well-known authors and famous people, to boost your confidence in reading. They use short sentences and clear language. They are available in shops and libraries.
One way to improve your reading is ‘repeated reading’. Choose a text – it can be from a book or a magazine. Practise reading it out loud until you are confident. You can then practice your ‘performance reading’ on your friends or family. You can also become more confident about reading to your children, by practising with their books on your own first.
To improve your spelling you can write a list of 10 words that you regularly use, but are unsure of how to spell. Check the spellings in a dictionary or online to make sure they are correct. Then look at each word and think of a way to remember it.
- Look for words within words: flavoured , library
- Break words up into chunks: yoghurt = yog – hurt
- Exaggerate how you say a word to remember silent letters - Feb RU ary, Wed NES day
- Spend 5 minutes every day writing out your list. Look at the word, cover it, say it, write it, then check it.
Don’t avoid reading and writing. The more you practise, the better you will get!