First graders at The Summit are becoming such great readers! We have worked on many skills so far this year, and we learn new reading skills each day. You can help your child be an even better reader by supporting them at home. Below are a few tips and ideas to help your child continue to grow their confidence and ability when it comes to reading:
1. Don’t leave home without a book. Bring along a book or magazine any time your child has to wait, such as at a doctor’s office or a sibling’s after school practice. Always try to fit in reading!
2. Once is not enough: Encourage your child to re-read favorite books and poems. Re-reading helps kids read more quickly and accurately.
3. Dig deeper into the story. Ask your child questions about the story you’ve just read. Say something like, “Why do you think Clifford did that?”. Encourage them to retell the story to you, too. This helps increase their comprehension skills.
4. Be patient. When your child is trying to sound out an unfamiliar word, give him or her time to do so instead of telling them the word. Remind them to look closely at the each letter in the word and say the sounds carefully.
5. Play word games! Have your child sound out the word as you change it from mat to fat to sat; from sat to sag to sap; and from sap to sip. Riding in the car or sitting at the dinner table is the perfect time to do this.
6. Take turns reading aloud at bedtime. Kids enjoy this special time with their parents. It also gives them a chance to demonstrate their reading skills for you, and lets them listen to you model the appropriate tone and pace for reading aloud.
7. Build their vocabulary. Talk with your child every day about school and things going on around the house. Sprinkle some interesting words into the conversation, and build on words you’ve talked about in the past. Discuss the definitions of unfamiliar words, and brainstorm more creative words to replace basic ones in your conversations.
8. Reading and writing go hand in hand. Ask your child to help you write out the grocery list, a thank you note to Grandma, or to keep a journal of special things that happen at home. When writing, encourage your child to use the letter and sound patterns they are learning at school. We are also working on using appropriate capitalization and punctuation when writing. (This includes using all lowercase letters where appropriate, too!)
