Becoming a reader is one of the most exciting learning adventures your
child will ever experience. Many children need little more than exposure to
books and they’re off on their own. But others need guided support as they
struggle with sounds, fluency and reading unfamiliar words.
Reading is a complex process, but it’s vitally important to all learning.
You’ll want to help your child build skills step by step and maintain a
high degree of enthusiasm and confidence all along the way. When a child is
overwhelmed by the pace of new vocabulary or the expectation to “read
faster,” there is a higher likelihood of discouragement.
Reading together regularly is the best way parents can help their children
learn to read. Here are some tried and true methods to use when you read
side by side with your young learner:
-
First, be sure your child is ready to read. Have you read many and
varied stories, poems, nursery rhymes and a variety of nonfiction
books to him? Does she know how to hold a book, turn the pages and
follow from left to right? Does he know the letters of the alphabet
and does she know the sounds they make? Can he recognize a few
words such as his name, mom and dad, stop, go, etc.? Does she know
how to write some letters on her own? If the answer is no to most
of these questions, take some time to get ready for reading, making
sure the entire process is positive and enjoyable. -
Keep a reading/writing center in your home filled with supplies.
You might include all kinds of paper, pens, markers, crayons,
scissors, tape and glue, pipe cleaners, envelopes, stamps and stamp
pads, etc. Children love to make their own books and write their
own stories. -
Read favorite books over and over again. Stop and let your child
fill in the words. Allow them to memorize the book and “read” it
themselves. This kind of practice is confidence-building and sets
the stage for independent reading lessons. -
Once you’re working on early reading material, remember good
readers use a variety of strategies to solve problems. As adults,
we do this without giving the process much thought. Here are some
of the strategies we use when we come upon a new or difficult word.
Your child should use these, too. -
Go back and reread to make sense.
-
Break the word into chunks and read the parts we already know.
-
Read past the word to see what might make sense in that place.
-
Read carefully all the way through the word, part by part.
-
Use picture clues and other prompts from the text.
-
Ask ourselves questions such as “Does that make sense?” “Would that
work?” “Does that sound right?” -
Choose the right reading level for your child. Children need some
books to practice on their own that are familiar and easy. They
also need books at their “instructional level,” which means books
with a few challenges. When they are working on these more
difficult books, you need to be with them asking questions,
prompting with correct strategies and available to prevent reading
frustrations. Allowing a wait time of 8 to 10 seconds before
stepping in with a prompt gives the reader time to try some
strategies on his or her own. -
Avoid labeling your reader with words that compare. They’re on the
road to reading and it’s not important if they’re learning as
quickly as another person. -
Be sure the culture of your home is pro-reading. Use your local
library to enrich your home with good reading material. Newspapers,
magazines, baseball cards and maps are all reading material too.
Your children should see you reading for enjoyment and there should
be read-aloud times every day. Family read-alouds with time for
discussion are a wonderful incentive for young readers to work hard
to become fluent themselves. -
Retelling a story out loud is a great way for children to gain the
meaning of the story. They’ll become familiar with characters,
settings and the action line with a beginning, middle and end. -
Make reading fun with extensions and activities related to the
stories they love. Let them draw, act out the story, make mobiles,
puppets and all manner of art projects related to the characters
and action of a favorite book. Make charts and graphs to depict the
characters, setting and storyline. Compare and contrast, chart the
action, decide to change the ending or write new characters into
the book. -
Choose quality materials. Become familiar with great authors and
illustrators. You can find lists of classic children’s literature
at ala.org. This is the national organization for libraries. Look
for books that have earned awards, such as the Caldecott Award for
illustrations and Newbery Award for excellence in literature.
It’s a joy to watch children become fluent readers, but it can be a
challenge to work daily with those children who struggle to learn. In most
cases, lots of practice at the appropriate reading levels will provide
growth over time. You may want to write a few books about your own family
members and make that the reading practice of the day. Familiar names,
places and activities will make the story much more engaging. Your child
will pick up on your enthusiasm for reading.
Your reward? You will have happy successful learners.
