5 Key Strategies for Reading Nonfiction

Children are reading more nonfiction at school than ever, and they start earlier than ever. Reading nonfiction sparks a lot of learning and discovery that’s really exciting for kids. It can also be challenging, so your child will need the right skills and strategies to succeed.

So, what can you expect from nonfiction as your child moves up through the grades, and what strategies will he or she need to learn? What are the personal benefits of reading nonfiction?

From the moment your child starts school, nonfiction will be part of his or her day-to-day learning. From kindergarten through high school, kids encounter a range of nonfiction, including books and textbooks, newspaper and magazine articles, and literary essays, biographies and memoirs.

In early elementary school, your child will read picture books and Easy Readers about all kinds of topics, like dinosaurs and bugs, inventors and sports heroes, and the bottom of the ocean and faraway planets. Young kids are curious, and they love asking questions and finding answers in books!

Once children get to 3rd or 4th grade, they make the important transition from learning to read to reading to learn — in other words, they start reading to learn information in subjects like science and social studies. At this point, your child will start to build skills specifically for reading nonfiction.

By the time your child gets to middle school and high school, nonfiction is at the center of his or her education. It’s the main way that students build knowledge and learn how to think critically. It opens up a lot of new doors, which is both exciting and challenging. That means your child will need new tools and strong skills to be successful.

Reading nonfiction is quite different from reading fiction. It’s denser and more complex, so students need a different kind of approach — one that’s active and analytical. Heading into reading with a clear sense of purpose makes all the difference. Here are five strategies that will help your child read nonfiction successfully:

It’s so important for your child to master these strategies. Being a skilled, confident reader of nonfiction is at the core of your child’s academic success. But there are some really big personal benefits, too!

Doing lots of reading in nonfiction will really expand your child’s horizons. He or she will grow up to be a thoughtful, knowledgeable adult with a wide range of interests. Your child will look to books for learning and inspiration, and have a lifelong love of reading.

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