The key is not simply reading for five minutes. It is active reading.

Choose a short passage from a book, article or age-appropriate non-fiction text. Read it carefully, then spend the remaining time asking questions.

For example:

What is the main idea?

What does the author want the reader to understand?

What can I infer?

Which words are unfamiliar?

What evidence supports my interpretation?

You can make the activity even more effective by asking your child to summarise the passage in one sentence.

This forces them to distinguish the central idea from supporting details.

For younger students, parents can discuss the passage aloud. Older students can write a short summary or identify the author's purpose.

Rotate the type of material. Fiction develops narrative understanding, while non-fiction exposes students to informational structures and subject-specific vocabulary.

Over time, this five-minute habit can strengthen:

• Vocabulary

• Comprehension

• Inference

• Summarisation

• Critical thinking

• Reading stamina

Consistency matters more than intensity.

One five-minute session every day creates far more cumulative exposure than an occasional hour-long reading exercise.

The objective is to make active reading a normal daily behaviour, so that comprehension becomes a skill students practise naturally rather than something they only encounter in exam preparation.