Helpful Hints

What Should You do When Your Child is Stuck on a Word?

When you are reading with your child and they come to a word they don’t know wait 5 to 10 seconds to see what they attempt to do, and then have them follow these steps….

• Look through the whole word, left to right.

• Hop to each sound from left to right and say each sound.

• Look for chunks:  is there a part of the word you know.  For example, you know the “ing” in “r-ing , now put the “r” on the “ing” to figure out the word.

• Blend the sounds together and read the word.

• Chop the word into syllables e.g. rab-bit.  

• Separate the base word from any prefixes or suffixes e.g. play-ing.

• Does it look & sound right and make sense?:  Make sure the word looks & sounds like what you said.  Mom sounds right for mother but it doesn’t look right.  Be sure what you are reading makes sense…are you reading “he” and the character is a girl?

Prompt: “What would make sense there?”  “Do the letters and sounds match?” 

If the mistake doesn’t make sense, wait and see if your child fixes it.  Learning to self-correct is a strategy young readers need to develop.  If your child still doesn’t know the word after trying several of the steps listed above then tell your child the word.

What Can I do to Help my Child?

Parents are the most important people in a child’s life.  Learning to read is a process that takes time and effort. Reading books with your children for just a few minutes each day can make a big difference in how easily and how well they learn to read.  By doing simple things like reading to your child, sharing your thinking about what you read, and telling your child stories, you can help him/her develop the foundation needed to become an avid reader.

Here are some ideas:

~ Read a good book to your child every night.  This can become a very special time shared with your child.  Try to choose a variety of genre to read, for example:  a fairy tale, fable, poem, toy catalog, map, recipe book, comic book, how-to book, I Spy book, etc.  Let your child see you reading too. Have lots of good reading material around the house. 

~ If your child is reading a book and he/she is reading word by word with a slow, deliberate pace, suggest that you will read a page and he will read a page.  This serves as a model for fluent reading and shows the child how to put his words together like he talks.

~ Beginning readers use their ‘pointer’ finger to help them match their voice to the print.  This will not last long, but you will want to encourage pointing when they are first learning to read. 

~ While reading with your child, stop and ask questions about the story or the illustrations.  Discuss what is happening in the story or what your child thinks might happen next. 

~ Read your child’s favorite books over and over again.  This is called Repeated Readings.  This helps children learn to identify words in print and can help increase fluency.

~ Help your child choose books he/she can read and wants to read.  The books should be based on your child’s current interest.  When choosing a “just-right” book, try the five-finger rule.  As your child reads, have him/her count on one hand any unknown words.  If there are five or more different unknown words on a full page, this book is too hard for your child to read alone.  You may want to read the book aloud to your child instead.

~ Build your child’s self-confidence as a reader by pointing out specific things that you notice he/she is doing well as a reader.