There are many strategies for parents and students to use to ensure a successful reading session. As a parent, there are certain prompts and procedures that are helpful. As a student, there are different ways to solve tricky words. Depending on your child's reading level, these prompts and strategies may change. However, no matter what level your child is reading, he/she will need adult support at some point.
- Preview the book before beginning to read. Talk about what might happen by looking at the pictures.
- As you read, predict what might happen next in the story.
- Re-read familiar stories with your child. Requiring a child to re-read easy, familiar texts helps him/her develop fluency and expression.
- Encourage your child to look at pictures for meaning.
- Praise attempts or guesses at unknown words.
- Provide wait time when your child encounters a problem word.
- When your child makes an error or comes to a difficult part, don’t automatically correct or give the answer. Instead, try these prompts:
“Did that make sense?”
“Did that sound right?”
“Does that look right?”
“What word would make sense?”
- Always help your child correct his/her errors and encourage your child to figure out difficult parts on his/her own. If the difficult word is one that can be sounded out—tell your child to give it a try. If the word is a sight word and can’t be sounded out because it doesn’t follow phonemic rules, don’t spend too much time trying to figure it out. Tell your child the word and move on. It is important not to interrupt the story for too long. Your child will forget what has been read and will not be able to predict what’s going to happen next.
- When you finish a story talk about connections you and your child made. Did the story remind you of something that has happened to you? Did the story remind you of another story or a movie?