Parent Liaison-Dorothy Simmons 468-8816 ext. 1120

Suggestions for Parents with Helping Children Read

· Encourage children to try for themselves. Reinforce and praise them when they try and when they succeed. It is important for the children to learn to depend on themselves; not on someone else to work it out for them. Let them solve their problems, encourage them to figure out, ask them questions that will help them think about what they need to do.

· If the book is too hard, the child will not be successful and you will both be frustrated. Use the “5 finger rule”. If the child makes more than 5 errors on one page, the book is probably too difficult for him/her.

· An important thing you can do to help a child read is to discuss the story with the child before he/she begins to read. Read and discuss the title and author/illustrator. Look at the pictures and discuss what is happening.in them. Predict what will happen in the story. Have them think about what they already know or experienced.

· Wait! Expect and encourage the child to do the work. When a child comes to a word they don’t know or is difficult don’t panic! If he/she asks for help say “you give it a try”. Wait for 5 seconds, after 5 seconds you can help by prompting for the use of a strategy. (Look at the picture and think about the story. Try the beginning sound and put a whole word in. Go back and read again. Look for a part you know. Now try the sentence: Does it make sense? Does it look right? Does it sound right?

· Reinforcement/praise is a valuable tool. Use it to support a child’s tentative attempts and to share positive attempts. “That was a good try, you were almost right, try it again.” “Great work, I like the way you tried to figure that out.” “Wow! Keep up the great reading.”