Help Support Your Reader At Home

How can you support your child's reading at home?

• Read with your child:
  • Let them make mistakes! Once they’ve read to the end of the sentence go back and ask them about their error: Does that make sense? Does that look right? Does that sound right?
  • Encourage them to use “Beanie Baby” decoding strategies. (See "Literacy" Page.)
  • When your child looks to you for help before attempting a word, try:
    • “What would make sense there?”
    • “What do you think that word could be?”
    • “Use the picture to help you figure out what it could be.”
    • “Skip over it and read to the end of the sentence. Now what do you think it is?”
    • “You read that word before on another page. See if you can find it.”
    • Help your child sound it out.
• Have them point out sight words or words they may know in the text before reading to build confidence
• Encourage them to make predictions as they read.
• Ask them about what they are reading: What is the story about? Who are the characters? What is the setting? What is the problem and solution? Why did the character __________? Why do you think ________?
• Ask them to support their ideas: What makes you think that?
• Talk about the story. Did you like that story – why or why not? What was your favorite part and why?
• Practice sight words at home. Make it fun!
  • See "Sight Words" page for ideas!
• Play word games such as: Scrabble Jr, Boggle Jr, Word Concentration, What’s Gnu, Word or Sound Bingo.
• Use game boards to practice sight words or familiar words. If your child reads it correctly, let them roll the dice or spin the spinner.
• Point out words on signs, shops, and labels.
  • What is the first sound you hear in _____? What is the last sound?
• Re-read old favorite books to support fluency and confidence.