8 Simple Tips To Help Your Child Read

Linda Ogier has 8 simple tips to help your child read. If
you child is struggling with reading this may be just what
you need.

I know with my children, I did exactly the same thing with
both, yet one has always had a love of the written word, the
other, while they read and didn't have any trouble doing
so, it wasn't until older that the love of reading came and
then it came with the classics and not only a love of
reading the classics but collecting the old versions. Now
the three of us can spend many happy hours in book stores.

So you never know, the first thing is to help them be able
to read well and not struggle with it. So I hope you will
gain from Linda's article.

Take care and don't forget to visit our helpful e-books site
http://www.ctbmarketing-australia.com/ktebooks.htm

Carmel Baird



8 Simple Tips To Help Your Child Read

by: Linda Ogier

Take away the skill of reading and not only books become a
mysterious and foreign world, but reading train timetables,
ordering from a menu, understanding bank statements, and
any number of straightforward daily activities become
virtually impossible.

If your child is struggling to read, the effects of their
problem can reach into adulthood, be humiliating, and
extremely limiting.

The world of a non reader is a mixed up place where only
those who know the 'secret code' can decipher
the strange symbols around them and fully participate.

A sad, lonely, and stressful place indeed.

The time to catch your child's reading problems and
support them in their quest to become a confident and
capable life long reader is Primary School. Preferably
before they reach Grade 3.

Your school will be monitoring your child's progress
and implementing a detailed plan to improve their reading
skills and strategies. But, if you're worried that
the school is not, then an appointment with the teacher is a
must to thoroughly explore your concerns and issues.

Do not put this off!

After Grade 3 it is more difficult for children to bridge
the gap, learn new patterns of reading behaviour, and
develop appropriate reading strategies.

Encouraging them while they're young is vital, and
there are some things you can do at home to complement and
support your school's efforts.

Here are 8 simple ways to help your child if reading is a
struggle for them:

1. Make your reading time a regular activity at a specific
time each day. Children love structure and will look forward
to the closeness and bonding this time brings.

For some children this may be the only intimate one-on-one
time they get to spend with a parent on a regular basis.
Making reading together a special time for just the two of
you only takes 10 or 15 minutes a day, and the rewards are
tremendous.

2. Vary how you structure your reading time together.
Don't always expect your child to read to you. Read
to them sometimes. Take turns reading. Read out loud
together! Make sure it's a stress free and enjoyable
time together.

3. Use the 3 P's. Pause, prompt, praise.

Pause when your child comes to a word they don't
know. Don't jump in straight away by telling them the
word or getting them to sound it out. Let them think.

Prompt your child if they haven't answered after
about 10 - 20 seconds. Say 'Make your mouth say the
first sound', or ' What word would make sense
there?', or 'Can you tell me what would sound
right there?'. Only sound out the word if it can be
effectively sounded out.

If your child doesn't get the word after a couple of
prompts or an attempt at sounding out, tell them the word
straight away. You want to avoid feelings of failure, plus
make sure they get on with the book while they can still
remember what the story is about.

Praise your child for their efforts. Say something like
'Well done, you made it look and sound right',
or 'Well done, you used the first sound to help you
figure out the rest of the word'. If they
didn't get the word, simply praise them for trying
their best… 'That was a great try - well
done'. Be as specific as possible.

4. Not every single word has to be right. Refrain from
picking on every last error unless you want to make your
child feel inadequate and fearful of making too many
mistakes. This will contribute to their negative attitude
towards reading and make their progress even slower.

If your child is gaining the overall meaning from the story
or text, then they are achieving the major goal of reading
- to decipher words and receive a message.

5. Talk, talk, talk…... Ask your child to retell their
favourite part of the book in their own words. Talk about
what they would do if they were a person from the book. Talk
about the way the characters in the book felt and why they
felt like that. Talk about interesting words from the book
and what they mean. This will help increase your
child's level of comprehension.

6. Be seen to be a reader. It's surprising how many
kids never see their own parents reading a book. A newspaper
yes - but not a book! Kids are the greatest mimics in the
world, and they especially love to copy their mum or dad.

Sit down and read your own separate books at the same time.
Share parts of your books with one another by reading them
out loud and telling why you chose that part. Make it
obvious that reading is something you personally value and
think is worthwhile.

7. Don't cover up the pictures! Never. Ever. Using
pictures is one of the ways children gather information to
support their use of sound, letter, and word skills.
Pictures support the meaning of a story and provide a
context to help children solve unknown words.

Picture story books have pictures for a reason. Many times
the text doesn't make sense without the pictures, and
asking your child to read it without looking at the
pictures will often feel like trickery to them.

8. Last but definitely not least - make reading fun! The
last thing it needs to be is a chore. You can't blame
any child for being unwilling if something is hard AND a
bore.

Find books about topics your child is interested in. Read
craft books and make things. Get out a cookbook and follow a
recipe. Get out the words to favourite songs and follow
along. Create a treasure hunt with lots of clues to read -
anything that makes reading something to look forward to.

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Make your reading time together regular, interesting, stress
free, and fun. Your child will benefit, and so might you!

Happy reading!

About The Author

This article was written by Linda Ogier of Fox Copy. A
teacher with 15 years experience, Linda is also a trained
Reading Recovery teacher. Fox Copy creates clever
copywriting for websites, newsletters, ads, brochures, media
releases, articles and more. Visit www.foxcopy.com.au today
to outsource your business writing needs.