Reading Homework Tips For Parents
--Have your child read aloud to you every night.
--Choose a quiet place, free from distractions, for your child to do their nightly reading assignments.
--As your child reads, point out spelling and sound patterns such as mouse and house, or night and light.
--When your child reads aloud to you and makes a mistake, point out the words they missed and help them read the word correctly.
--After your child has stopped to correct a word they have read, have them go back and reread the entire sentence from the beginning to make sure they understand what the sentence is saying.
--Ask your child to tell you in their own words what happened in the story.
--To check your child's understanding of what they are reading, occasionally pause and ask your child about the characters and events in the story.
--Ask your child why they think a character acted in a certain way and ask your child to support their answer with information from the story.
--Before getting to the end of the story, ask your child what they think will happen next and why.
Consider this...
Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week;
Student B reads only 4 minutes a night...or not at all!
Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.
Student A reads 20 minutes x 5 times a week = 100 minutes/week
Student B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes/week
Step 2: Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month.
Student A reads 400 minutes a month.
Student B reads 80 minutes a month.
Step 3: Multiply minutes a month x 9 months/school year
Student A reads 3600 min. in a school year.
Student B reads 720 min. in a school year.
Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days a year. Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice.
By the end of 5th grade if Student A and Student B maintain these same reading habits, Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days. Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days.
One would expect the gap of information retained will have widened considerably and so, undoubtedly, will school performance. How do you think Student B will feel about him/herself as a student?
Some questions to ponder:
Which student would you expect to read better?
Which student would you expect to know more?
Which student would you expect to write better?
Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary?
Which student would you expect to be more successful in school....and in life?
Turn off the TV for 20 minutes a night and read together....it's worth it!