How to help your child with reading

How can I help my child with reading?

Before your child reads a book, he/she should:

• Do a picture walk, make connections with the pictures (What does this story remind him/her of? What is happening in the pictures?).
• Make predictions about the story. This sets a purpose for reading - to confirm or revise predictions.
• Have your child get into the practice of stating who/what each page or paragraph is about after it is read.

To vary your child's reading experiences at home:

• Try echo reading. The parent reads a page or paragraph aloud, and the child immediately reads it back.
• Try choral reading. The parent and child reads text aloud at the same time.
• Try partner reading. The parent and child each takes a turn reading a page or paragraph aloud.

Comprehension is even more important than decoding (or reading) the words.  Have your child follow along to books on tape or CD.

If your child is stuck on a word, he/she should work to figure out the word on his/her own before you jump in to help. Have your child say the beginning letter sound, look for chunks he/she may know, sound it out, skip it, read on, go back, ask: what would look right, sound right, make sense?

KEEP READING. Children learn to read by reading.