One of the easiest ways to get your child to practice English is by reading. Story reading for kids is engaging, and it effortlessly has your child practice grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. For young children who can not yet hold a conversation in English, there is no better way to improve their language skills.
For many people, it can be difficult to find appropriate stories for ESL students. Either their home country does not have a large selection, or they can’t find what they want online. To help make it easier for you, we have collected some resources you can use for free around the web to practice your child’s reading skills.
If you have any questions about our reading resources, feel free to send us a message by clicking here or on the image below.
1. American Literature
Americanliterature.com has collected a wide variety of short stories, poems, and other works of literature for free online for you to use. For young learners, you are going to want to look into their children’s sections.
Overall, americanliterature.com has a lot of great content that is worth looking through. One issue is that their content is designed for native speakers. So, don’t expect their stories to be very easy. As well, these stories tend to be written in a more classical style of English, which might be hard for ESL parents and kids.
Finally, since these stories are based on older fairy tales and short stories, some of their content might be more graphic than a lot of modern stories. Make sure to read any of these stories first before you have your child read them to make sure they are suitable.
2. Storyline Online
Storylineonline.net is a special site that is criminally under-used. Storyline Online has gotten famous actors and celebrities to read children’s stories in English. So you can hear famous people reading popular children’s books online for free.
You can turn on the closed captions to get the words written in English or Spanish at the bottom of the video. As well, you can see the illustrations of the book while they are reading.
Since you will be listening and watching, this isn’t a reading exercise for your child. However, it is great listening practice, and with the closed captions, you could practice sounding out important words.
Overall, I think this is a great resource that every parent should be aware of for their child.
3. Learn English Kids
Learn English Kids is a popular site made by the British Council, a public organization in the UK. They have many stories in their collection which vary from classic tales to explainers for kids. Each story is set to an animated video that your child will love to watch.
All of their stories are designed for children learning English. This means that each story is spoken clearly and slowly. They also use simple language that children are more likely to know. Each story also has included downloadable activities and worksheets to help your child learn. All of this is free, which makes this site a fantastic resource overall.
One thing to note. This site is British, so you can expect British spellings, pronunciation, and vocabulary.
4. News in Levels
News in Levels is one of my favorite English websites for English learners. It posts news stories every day. Each news story has three different versions: Level 1, 2, and 3. Level 1 is supposed to be incredibly basic, and ideal for beginners. Level 3 is intended for experts who can handle a higher level of English.
News in Levels is not really intended for kids. It will probably be difficult for younger children, but for older children and young teens, it could be an interesting resource. Also, due to its levels, you can see how good your child’s English reading skills really are.
5. The Learner’s Nook
We have recently started making our own English-learner versions of fairy tales. Our stories are designed specifically with children in mind. Our posts also include vocabulary lists, verb lists, and activity ideas that you can do with your child. To see what our stories look like, take a look at our version of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood.
We are also looking to start an online reading club for kids. This would mean live readings of our stories for free. If you want to learn more, you can sign up for our emails below.
Benefits of Story Reading For Kids
Reading can be one of the most accessible and effective ways to help your child learn English. Luckily, the internet has lots of great resources that you can use 100% free.
To learn more about effective ways to read with your child, click here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask us by commenting on this post. We always want to learn about new online reading resources. Are there any that you think should be on this list? Please leave a comment below, and we can add them to our list of online reading resources.