Reading Strategies

Skimming Encourages Struggling Readers:

When young readers struggle to understand, it’s often due to lack of familiarity with the text. Always remember the importance of reading out loud to them, repeating the same story many times.

In a story with predictable rhyme and rhythm, your child can guess the words that follow. She may not actually be reading, but she is filling in the correct words.

This “read-guess” skill is actually a form of skimming. The easy-to-guess words are included, but not actually read. Your child gains confidence, the story goes quickly, and she is experiencing success with books at an early age!

Encouraging Writing Helps With Reading:

Reading and writing go hand in hand. If your child gets into the habit of writing regularly he’ll be building his reading skills, too. Here are some things you can do to help your child develop the habit:

* Encourage him to keep a diary or journal.

* Display what he writes. Put it on the refrigerator.

* Give him a box of personal writing supplies. Include pens and special paper in his favorite colors.

Make Connections By Thinking Aloud:

Fluent readers think about what they are reading. They make connections to the story in ways a struggling reader may not. Help your child become a more knowledgeable reader with “think-aloud” strategies:

* Discuss the book. Connect it to an experience your child understands. “This story reminds me of the time when . . .”

* Discuss books with similar settings, characters or themes. “Does this story remind you of . . .?”

* Help your child see the connection between the story and something similar that may be happening the real world.