Your child has worked hard to improve his or her reading skills this year, and summer is not the time to stop practicing!! The best way to improve reading ability is to do lots of it, and there are some relatively simple ways you can support your child’s efforts.

Children benefit from lots of practice, especially text they are highly successful or familiar with. As much as they need to develop skills for text that is challenging, they also need time with “easy” books to develop fluency (the ability to read with quick recognition and comprehension). Your children’s librarian can usually direct you to appropriate reading levels (for suggested titles see Summer Reading Suggestions). A good rule of thumb is to consider a book too difficult if there are five or more unknown words on a page.

Designate a reading time that you and your child can share. As little as ten minutes can be sufficient, depending on your child’s age. When you’re too busy, let them read a story to a tape recorder (send it to a grandparent!), a younger sibling, or the family pet! Our children are never to old enjoy being read to!

Take turns reading aloud, and asking each other questions about what you have read. Questions could be based on literal details and events, or require inferential thought (Why do you think happened?). Readers also benefit from practice predicting what will happen next, and discussing characters, setting, problem or goal, and conclusion. Have your child practice listening for errors in their own reading as well as in yours (be sure to make some for them to correct!).

Reading for meaning is the primary goal. Independent readers monitor the meaning of what they read, and correct themselves when something they read doesn’t make sense. Avoid the temptation to correct your child. Allow them time to recognize their own errors. If they are able to read along without losing meaning, overlook it (they say “road” instead of “street”). If they do not recognize an error that changes the meaning of the sentence, (they say “horse” instead of “house”) repeat what they said and see if they can self-correct (wait until they finish the paragraph or page so their comprehension isn’t interrupted).

When they get stuck, WAIT. Occasionally, your child will stop at an unfamiliar word. Give them 5-10 seconds of wait time, and see what kind of self-help attempts he or she will make. If they make no attempt, you can encourage independent reading behavior by prompting them to use context clues:

“Start again at the beginning of the sentence and make the first sound when you get

to that word.” Often the word will just come to them!

“What do you think that word could be?” Encourage them to think about what’s

happening in the sentence or story, and what word would work.

“Skip over the word and read to the end of the sentence. What word beginning

with that letter would make sense in this sentence?”

If your child is unable to recognize a word after trying one or two strategies (10 seconds), TELL THEM THE WORD! It is better that they keep reading and maintain comprehension and interest. Getting bogged down in a struggle will do neither, and will probably put a quick end to the fun!

Don’t ask your child to “sound it out” while you read together. We teach phonics in school, but the above context strategies are a better use of time at home. “Sounding out” can be painstaking, isn’t always effective, and often takes more time than these strategies that rely on a child’s innate knowledge of language.

Enjoy your reading time together. Share silly, serious, or fantastic stories, and discuss what you like (or dislike) about them. Explore new genres and formats (non-fiction, poetry, magazines, chapter books, etc.). Show your child that you value reading, and that you value their efforts to make sense of what they read. You are your child’s most influential model! Have a happy summer!!

Return to edmes.org    Return to Literacy Index  This page was last updated on 10/31/2007.