A fun way to share some quality time and build reading fluency is to do shared readings with your children. Do this by you reading a page and the child reading the next page. Be sure to “ham it up” when you read dialogue. Children love funny voices and over-exaggerated expression. You will love it and your child will love not only the quality time but also the wonderful modeling you will be providing.
As a child’s first and most constant teacher, parents play an important role in building strong, effective readers. Here are some tips to help your children develop a strong love of reading that will stay with them a lifetime.
1. Children love to emulate what the adults in their lives do so, first and foremost, model reading yourself. It is important that both mom and dad are seen reading on a regular basis. Talk to your children about what you are reading and about the interesting things you have learned.
2. Take time on a daily basis to read to and with your children. Reading time should be an enjoyable, relaxing time when the whole family can laugh and enjoy one another’s company.
3. Provide plenty of books so that your child has easy access to good books that he or she enjoys. Encourage him or her to read the favorites over and over again. You can purchase books new or find plenty of inexpensive choices at used bookstores, garage sales or other thrift shops. You can even pick up high quality, children’s books as low as a penny each in Amazon’s used book area. Libraries, of course, are also great sources of appropriate level books for ongoing reading enjoyment.
4. Talk to your child often when you are with him or her. A strong and well-developed vocabulary is an important trait for becoming a strong and effective reader. Tell stories, sing funny songs and help your child learn new idioms and sayings whenever possible.
5. Finally, praise, praise, praise. Your child needs to know that his or her hard work at learning to read is important to you as well as valued. Be sure to compliment your child on each step of progress
If you want your children to grow up to be strong readers who love books, you have to find books that grab their interest and help them connect with topics they enjoy. Recently, my seven year old neighbor girl was having difficulty with learning to reading in the first grade. Her mother was worried because she was struggling and often told her mother that she did not like to read. In talking about the problem, we identified that the little girl loved to watch a television program called “Merlin” and seldom missed it. We connected the Merlin television show to the Magic Tree House series of books set in Camelot by author, Mary Pope Osborne. The star of these books is of course, none other than her favorite character – Merlin! The little girl is fascinated by these wonderful new books and begs to read every day in her new “special books.” Her mother says that her reading has dramatically improved and the Merlin stories are a regular part of their bedtime ritual. What a wonderful way to build strong fluency skills in a young reader.
When children are learning to read, most of their mental energy is on decoding the words on the page. While we often think that we can multi-task, the truth is that our brains can really only devote mental energy to one task at a time. For children learning to read, this means that while they are spending time focusing on identifying the words on the page, they have very little mental energy left for understanding what they are reading. The key to helping children move from beginning readers to fluent readers is practice. Reading is a participation sport – the more you do it, the better you become. It is as simple as that. So, how do we get children to read more? The answer is simple. We find books that children love to read. Take your child to the library where there are thousands of books just waiting to be explored. Seek the help of the children’s librarian to suggest books that appeal to children in the areas of your child’s interest. Once you have identified those books and the type of books that your child enjoys reading, find as many like that as you can and then have your child read the books to you. It can be a fun time and your child will be building skills that will last a lifetime.
While teens have a million excuses for not reading in the summer, a fun way to get your teenage child to read is to mutually choose a book to read together. When mom or dad reads the same book and can talk about the book with their teen, interest is often much greater in reading. Discuss the kinds of genre you both enjoy and then take a trip together to the book store to find a book that you both would enjoy reading and discussing. Develop a time line for reading the chapters and then set specific times to meet to discuss the book together over a cool summer beverage of choice. Take turns highlighting passages you liked or descriptions in the book that you found particularity interesting or vivid. Be sure to share your predictions and “I wonder” questions with your teen as well as you discuss the plot and action of the book. You both will enjoy the book a lot more and you just may learn more about one another in the process.
Wow – school will be ending soon! It’s hard to believe that another school year will soon be coming to a close. This is a great time to go to the library or find great online reading sites to help your child continue to grow and develop his or her reading skills. While summer is a time for fun and relaxation, it is also a time when children lose some of their skills or “regress” a bit due to not using those reading skills on a daily basis. While it is ok to give kid a break, be sure to plan some time to continue to read and share books together so that your child’s skills can remain sharp. Take your child to the library or book store and let him browse until he finds the books that interest him and that he will want to spend some quite time reading and enjoying. Our actions continue to speak louder than our words so your child should also see you take some well deserved “down time” with a good book in our hands. Be sure to ask your local children’s librarian for some suggestions based on your child’s interests. Summer can be filled with swimming, playing and above all, good books.
We all know we should read to our children every day but life is busy. Have you ever found yourself feeling guilty because you missed a day of reading to or with your child? It happens – so forgive yourself and move on. Tomorrow is another day to share that daily read and favorite book. While making reading a daily “habit” is beneficial and important, the earth won’t end if we miss a day every now and then. There are many other ways that children develop strong language and literacy skills. First of all, talk to your child about what is happening all around him. Don’t limit your vocabulary to “children’s language” but instead, use the same sophisticated words with your children as you normally do around other adults. Children need to hear language – LOTS of language – on a daily basis to expand their own understandings of how language works and is used in daily life. Young children like to “try out” the things they hear to see how new words work for them. Use language rich in idioms and explain those idioms when necessary to help your child understand how words work. Young children catch on quickly and will learn to process at higher levels if you do. So, while daily reading is certainly encouraged to develop good literacy skills, remember that you are also building vocabulary and literacy skills in your children on a daily basis each time you open your mouth.
Children love mystery stories and figuring out “whodunit” puzzles. The Library of Congress is currently publishing The Exquisite Corpse Adventure which is an ongoing mystery saga written by 18 different authors. The site also contains a Literacy Resource Treasure Chest of information for parents on reading with kids, helping children improve their reading and great books for children of all ages. The site also has some video discussions and interviews with authors and experts that are very informative and interesting. This is definitely a not to be missed website and one that can be fun for the whole family.
A fun way to help your preschooler build strong letter-sound recognition is by sharing what are called “ABC books.” An ABC book is a book where each letter of the alphabet appears on a separate page along with a colorful picture that begins with the letter being featured on the page. As the book progresses, children see each letter along with one or more words that being with the specific letter. By helping your child learn to recognize the letter, it’s shape and the primary sound it makes, you are helping your child become more aware of the sounds of our language. The stronger your child becomes in this skill, the better reader he or she will become so be sure to share lots of ABC books with your preschooler!
Many of us grew up reading the wonderful rhymes of Mother Goose and enjoying the sing-song rhymes and playful language in these fun rhymes. What our parents didn’t know though, was that playing with language and making rhymes were a great way to help small children learn the “lilt” of their language. Children who play with rhyme and listen to stories with a lot of rhyme are helpful to developing a child’s sense of phonemic awareness. When a child enters school with a well developed sense of language and rhyme, they learn to read much faster than do children who do not bring this same understanding of language to school. So, the next time you hear your child making rhymes out of the words s/he hears encourage him and share in the fun word play. You will be helping your child strengthen his or her reading potential.
