How
can I help my child at home with their reading?
Learning to read is one of the most challenging accomplishments for most
children and the parents that help them. So many skills go together to
make reading seem easy. Your child must know all their letter sounds and
how those sounds change depending on the letter order or letter combinations.
We teach them that when two vowels are touching, the first one says its
name and the second one helps. Then they learn the word house or head 
or could. So, how do you help your child at home practice their reading
when they don’t know all those “tricky” sounds? Below
you will find some strategies and things to say that will help you help
your child become a more successful reader.
So …
what do I say that will help?
Get Your Mouth Ready
Getting your mouth ready simply means for the child to check the 1st letter
or letters and make the first sound. If the word is cat, they should be
making the sound of c. If the word is tree, they should be making the sound
of tr.
Check the Picture
After they know how the word starts, they should check the picture to see
if something in the picture starts with that sound and makes sense with
what they have read so far.
Look For A Part You Know
To look for a part they know, they need to see if there are any little words
hiding in the “tricky” word. Examples: inside, upstairs, onto,
band, flat, bend
Look For A Rhyme You Know
After they know the first 20 words, they should know some words that can
have rhymes. If they think about the word they know that rhymes and the
sounds that it makes, they can change the 1st sound or sounds to make the
new word. Examples: will - still, and - stand, my - fly, up - cup, come
- some, like - Mike, at - that, can - than, run - fun You can say “That’s
like a word you know” or “That’s like the word will”.
Make the 1st & Last Sound And Read On
The child makes the 1st and last sound of the word and reads on to the end
of the line or punctuation. Most times only one word will make sense that
matches the beginning and ending sounds.
Reread The Sentence
Many times rereading the sentence is all that is necessary for the child
to make corrections or figure out a “tricky” word. It gives
them an opportunity to “hear” the story and see if it makes
sense.
**Remember: Whoever does the work, does the learning. So
have fun, but make sure that your child is doing most of the work and you
are just helping. Don’t do anything for them that they can do for
themselves.
Quick Tips:
Things
to say:
- Get
Your Mouth Ready
-
Check the Picture
-
Look For A Part You Know
-
Look For A Rhyme You Know
-
Make the 1st & Last Sound And Read On
-
Reread The Sentence
Things to do:
- Listen to your child
read their book.
-
Sit next to them when possible so you can provide them help or clues
to figure out the “tricky” word.
-
Let “them” slide their finger to match the words, don’t
do it for them.
-
Let “them” find their own mistakes with your help.
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