Every child deserves a chance to be introduced to the wealth of knowledge gained through the written language. It should begin early, ideally in the warm and loving atmosphere of a home. Reading aloud to you is a key part of learning to read a book.
1Make reading routine every night. During this time, have your child read aloud to you for at least some of the time (you are also free to finish up by reading something more complex to your child).Ad
2Ensure that the reading area is quiet, free of distractions, and comfortable.
3Take it in turns.
- Choose and read aloud a whole paragraph or instead, 2-3 pages from a simple children's book. If you start the reading, this helps to set the tone for enjoying the reading activity together.
- Ask your child to read for you.
4Listen carefully. As your child reads, he will pause on words he is not familiar with.
- When your child pauses, immediately provide the word for him and let him move on. Underline or circle in pencil the words he initially cannot read.
- Point out the words he missed and help him to read the word(s) correctly.
- Allow your child to read the sentence, paragraph, or pages a second time. This will help to make sure that he understand what he is reading.
- As your child reads, you will notice that words he could not read the first time are now clear to him. When your child reads the word with confidence, erase the line or the circle.
- At the end, your child will see that all the circles and lines have been removed and will have experienced success. Reward these first steps by marking each "perfect" page and congratulating your child.
5As your child reads, point out spelling and sound patterns such as cat, pat, hat.
6Finish by checking reading comprehension overall. Ask your child to tell you in her own words what happened in the story that she has just read.
- To check your child's understanding of what he is reading, occasionally pause and ask your child questions about the characters and events in the story.
- Ask your child why she thinks a character acted in a certain way and ask your child to support her answer with information from the story.
- Before getting to the end of a story, ask your child what he thinks will happen next and why.
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- The key here is: When your child has trouble with a word, don't let them struggle with the word; give it to them quickly so that they can associate the word on the page with the sound of the word you pronounce for them. Allowing your child to read the passage a second time reinforces the association you created the first time around.