Reading is one of the most important academic skills you can teach your early elementary-age child. As the school year comes to a close, here are some helpful tips to help your child grow and develop over the summer.
Fluency
Let your child read easy books to you: Many people think that children develop fluency solely by reading things above their reading level. This is not so! In fact, fluency is the art of building automaticity, and is significantly aided when a child reads the same material over and over again.
“You read to me, I’ll read to you”: Alternating reading with your child is a great way for the child to learn from your expression and tone of voice, and can motivate him to read. A great strategy is for you to read one page and for your child to read the next. In listening to your child, you’ll learn a lot about the way he reads.
If your child makes a mistake, take note of it, and either ask your child in a gentle way to “try again,” or wait until she is finished reading to correct her. It is extremely important to be gentle when correcting your child and to choose when and how to correct carefully. Instead of correcting the child after each mistake, listen to see if there is a general rule that your child is missing that you can teach her.
In my reading practice, I have been contacted by many parents whose children were reluctant to read at all. In some cases, it became evident that the students were being corrected on almost every utterance. The anxiety of being constantly corrected, coupled with the difficulties the children were already experiencing with literacy, made trying to read aloud with an adult a task they wanted to avoid. As soon as we were able to create a gentle environment for students to practice their new skills, they were able to forge ahead.
Comprehension
Preview the book and set a purpose for reading: Before you begin reading, look through the book together and see if your child can predict what the book is about by glancing at the pictures and cover pages. If you can, ask a question that will help focus the child’s attention on finding out key information while reading. That will help the child comprehend the story more easily: for example, “What do you think will happen to…?”
Ask questions: Help your child develop her reading comprehension by asking questions about the story – either while reading or, if your child has read independently, after she has completed the selection. Questions like “Who were the main characters (people in the story)?” “What was the problem?” “How did they solve it?” and “What was your favorite part?” are great to check for understanding and deepen a child’s knowledge. Graphic organizers and story cubes are also helpful tools to promote comprehension. (See resources below.)
Pre-Reading Skills
Play sound games: Parents of preschool children who are beginning to read can expedite the process by helping them become aware of sounds and sound-symbol correspondence. Some sample activities: At the supermarket, ask your child to bring you something that begins with the /b/ sound. If your child is not yet able to, you can point out things that have the /b/ sound, like bananas, bread, and blueberries.
Introduce the ABCs: At home, manipulating abc letters is a great way to build alphabet recognition. Foam letters in the bathtub are fun. It’s especially helpful if you can connect the letter to the sound that it produces. For example, say, “B makes the /b/ sound.”
Name things: Speak to your child, and give everything you come in contact with a word. The exposure to language will build his vocabulary and help him learn about sounds.
Read Together: Everyone loves to be read to, especially young children. Visiting the library often, and choosing stories together will expose your child to the written word and help her learn the concepts of print at a very early age.
Rhyme: Rhyming is a great game, especially for preschoolers. Rhyming helps students learn to pay attention to sounds in words and identify other words that have the same sounds. It is a key skill in building phonemic awareness. Children are going to use those skills that when they isolate phonemes to put sounds together in reading words.
Remediation: The summer is a great time to solidify what students have learned in school and fill in necessary gaps. If you or your child’s teacher notices that she is in need of support, don’t wait! The sooner you help your child, the sooner she will catch up to peers and be able to forge ahead.
“The Matthew Effect” occurs when students develop learning gaps while their peers continue to move ahead; thus the gap continues to widen with the child falling further and further behind. This is something to avoid at all costs.
Summers Are for Success
Effective remediation not only helps students to succeed in reading; it carries over to all other academic subjects. Being able to read well also builds students’ self-esteem. Research tells us that a student’s reading level at the end of first grade most likely predicts his or her academic standing at the end of eighth grade.
You can begin now and use the warmer weather and longer days as a relaxed time to read with your child, move past reading challenges, and foster a true love of reading.
Chaya Tropper is a reading specialist in private practice with more than a decade of success helping struggling readers become successful and fluent readers. She holds masters degrees in Literacy and School Leadership and Administration. Chaya mentors beginning teachers via the CJE and presents professional development seminars. She can be reached at chayatropper@gmail.com or 347-768-4698.
