Parent Tips

How to Help Your Child on the Journey to Reading

You Are Your Children's First Teacher! You have the power to help your children lay the foundation for successful reading. Although it may seem like an overwhelming responsibility, there is no need for apprehension. Ushering children in the "world of reading" can and should be done joyfully in a stress-free environment. Your children will take their "cues" about reading from you!

HELPING PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTENERS LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR READING SUCCESS.

Sometimes parents worry about teaching their children "school-related" information. They are afraid of making mistakes--perhaps harming their children's learning in some way, or of doing so much that their children will be bored in school. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Laying the foundation for reading success can and should start at home. In fact, for many children-especially those who may have reading difficulties-an early start is essential for reading success.

Read Aloud to Your Children Every Day!
This is the single most important activity you can do to lay a foundation for your children's reading success. Here are some suggestions:

• Choose books on subjects you know your child is interested in. These may include nursery rhymes, books with patterned verses, or rhythmical text.
• Vary the types of books you read - (adventure, animal stories, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, familiar characters, etc).
• Talk about stories as you read them aloud. Ask your children, "What just happened?" and "What do you think will happen next?" (Then, check to see if prediction was accurate).
• Re-read the stories your children enjoy. They may "pretend" read them after several readings. Encourage this.
• Explain words or concepts in the story that your children may be unfamiliar with.
• Use expression as you read aloud to make the text come alive!

Play Games with the Sounds in Words You Say Out Loud.

• Rhyming - example: "What words rhyme with 'cat?'"
• Initial sound - example: "What sound do you hear at the beginning of 'paint?'"
• Syllable breaks - example: "Let's clap out the beats we hear in 'Pokemon!' Now let's try 'basement.' Now let's try 'marshmallow.'"

Help Your Children Learn to Name the Letters of the Alphabet (Upper AND Lower Case).
Learning the ABC song is a good place to start. From there you can use magnetic letters, wooden letter puzzles, games or other manipulatives to teach the names and sounds of individual letters.

One activity that preschool children enjoy and profit from requires only a puppet with a moving mouth, your refrigerator, and a set of magnetic letters. Put 2 dissimilar letters on the refrigerator (e.g., m and t; not b and d!). One should be a letter that your child knows and one should be a letter that is unknown or less familiar. Talk about the name of the unfamiliar letter. Ask your child to repeat the name several times. Then, have the puppet say, "My name is Charlie Chicken and I love to eat letters! Can you feed me an 'm?'" The puppet "gobbles" the letter and asks for another one. As the child feeds the puppet, the puppet asks, "What is the name of this letter? What sound does it make? Tell the name again!" Re-teach as needed. Over time (months!), work through the entire alphabet. This activity is often good for a solid 10 minutes of alphabet work with a preschooler or kindergartner.

Once Your Children Know Letter Names and Sounds-Start Writing!!
Encourage your children to use their knowledge of letter names and sounds to write notes, picture captions, lists, and stories. Help them stretch words out to hear the individual sounds.

For example, when your daughter asks, "How do you spell 'dog?'" tell her to stretch the word out to hear the first sound. When she responds, "duh, duh, duh," ask her, "What letter makes that sound?" When she responds, "d," say, "Good job! Write 'd,'" and so on. At this early stage of development, don't worry about correct spelling - as children engage in the simple exercise of "listening for the sounds" - as they write words, they develop important reading and spelling skills.

Other Helpful Activities Include:

• Outside the home, point out signs and labels to your children.
• Take your children to the library and bookstores. Sign up for their own library cards and use them often.
• Have a variety of books, magazines, and other reading materials at home.
• A child's own "library" in his or her room encourages a value for books.
• Tape labels on objects such as 'bed,' 'chair,' 'doll,' 'table.'
• Have your children help you make grocery lists.
• Have your child help you "read" a recipe as you make food.
• Read aloud from an easy, predictable book, being sure to point under each word. Then, ask your child "copycat" you by pointing and "reading" the same page. Eventually, children will be able to "fingerpoint read" their favorite predictable books. This ability to match voice to print while pointing is an important early reading skill that you can encourage at home.

HELPING PRIMARY GRADE, BEGINNING READERS SOLIDIFY THE FOUNDATION FOR READING SUCCESS

Listening to Your Children Read Aloud to You
Beginning readers profit from reading aloud to someone who can provide them with daily, gentle, constructive feedback, positive encouragement, and praise.

Most problems that parents and children encounter when children read aloud at home stem from a single source: books that are too difficult. When children try to slog through a text at frustration level, the result is often just that: frustration.

When you listen to your children read aloud at home, make sure that they read aloud from text on their independent or instructional levels. A good rule of thumb is at least 90% accuracy and a satisfactory rate of speed. This means that if a child is making more than 1-2 mistakes in every 10 words, and/or reading very, very slowly--the text is TOO HARD! Choose an easier text for both your sakes!

Check with your children's teachers to determine appropriate levels for home reading. Children's sections in many local libraries now have leveling systems that make it relatively easy to choose books that are appropriate for your children's reading levels. Leveled book lists are available at http://www.uurc.utah.edu/General/LeveledBooks.php.

Here are a few more tips to keep this experience upbeat and productive:

• When your children make errors as they read aloud, don't jump and point at the error right away! Wait until the end of the sentence or phrase to see if they self-correct on their own. If they do, a simple comment of "Nice fixing!" will encourage this important self-monitoring behavior.
• If the child fails to self-correct an error by the end of the phrase or sentence, say, "Something tricked you; try this part again" and point to the beginning of the phrase or sentence. Remember, if errors are plentiful, the text is too hard! Choose an easier text!
• When your beginning reader struggles with an unfamiliar word, look at the word and make a quick decision. Can the word be blended easily (e.g., sss - - - iii- - -ttt… 'sit')? If not, point your pencil under the first sound in the word and ask your child, "Sound?" Once the child responds with the correct beginning sound, you say the word to let the reading go on.
• Once your child reaches an end-of-first-grade reading ability, look at the unfamiliar word to see if it can be blended (see above) or "chunked" (e.g., If I know 'lake,' then this must be 'brake"). If so, ask your child, "Can you sound it out?" or "Do you see a chunk that you know?" Encourage the child to that information to identify the word. If the word is large or difficult, revert to easier strategy: point a pencil under the first sound in the word and ask your child, "Sound?" Once the child responds with the correct beginning sound, you say the word to let the reading go on.
• Remember, the goal is for your child to READ!! Don't get bogged down in teaching, giving advice, phonics lessons and so on.

Help Your Children Become Automatic on High Frequency Words
Words like 'the,' 'you,' 'could,' and 'come' are known as high frequency words. These words are the "glue" that holds text together. They make up a high proportion of written text, yet they are not easily "sounded out." Often, they need to be memorized by repetition. One way to help your children bring these words to "automatic" levels is to use flashcards. A list of high frequency words is available in the Word Study section of Services.

Build in Daily Time for Your Children to Read Silently from Text They Enjoy
Research suggests that the most effective way for children to build their vocabulary and knowledge about the world is to read, READ, READ!!! Be sure to build "time for reading" into your busy family lives. Once children are able to read silently-somewhere around mid-first to end-of-first-grade reading ability-they benefit enormously from a daily schedule that includes 10 minutes of oral and then 10 minutes of silent reading. Increase the amount of silent reading time for your older children, but be sure to keep some oral reading time for those who tend to struggle.