25 Support Tips from Educators

1) Reading development begins with language development.

Parents and caregivers can support this development by verbally
interacting with their child, repeating words, and encouraging their
child to make sounds and basic whole words. Early exposure to
books will provide a foundation for developing reading skills. Even
infants can benefit from being read to, as they gain valuable
practice with many aspects of language and reading, including:
1) language sounds, 2) vocabulary, and 3) practice with basic
educational concepts like shapes, colors, letters, and numbers.

2) When first choosing reading books, keep it simple. Start with

short, easy to sound out text with a few sight words. Good books for
beginners:
Alphabet books Picture books
Phonics readers Pop-up books
Big books Rhyming books
Word Family books Easy readers
Also check out several free online storybook websites available (type
“online storybooks” into your search engine) – children can have
stories read to them online, without even a trip to the library!
3) Establish a reading routine with your child early on. Keep in mind
the importance of creating a positive reading environment. While
learning specific reading skills is essential to a child's development, so
too is the establishment of reading as an enjoyable activity. There
are many ways in which you can foster a positive reading
environment for your child at home:

o Build your home library by purchasing books or making frequent

trips to a local library.
o Subscribe to children's magazines and find reference books
written for children.
o Model the importance of reading at home by demonstrating
your own interest in reading.
o Find internet reading resources, allowing your child to
experience reading through interactive games and electronic
picture books.

4) When reading a book, take the time to point out anything

notable in the pictures, and pause on any page that your child
seems particularly interested in. Reading to your child with expression
can also be helpful in maintaining your child's interest, and it gives
your child an introduction to the natural phrasing of sentences and
written language. You can emphasize punctuation, create dramatic
build-up when a big event is about to happen in the story line, or
even come up with distinct voices for different characters. The more
engaging and entertaining a story seems to a child, the more likely
the child will be to focus during reading.

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5) Non-fiction books, and magazines such as National Geographic
Kids, Zoobooks, or Sports Illustrated Kids, can be wonderful resources
for reading about favorite subjects and acquiring new interests.
Reading non-fiction text not only introduces your child to new
information, but also gives your child practice with reading a style of
writing that will be commonly encountered in school. The writing
style of nonfiction books can be a great introduction to the writing
found in textbooks and primary resources.

6) As your child becomes more comfortable with books that have

longer story lines and more characters, you can pause from time to
time while reading and ask questions, such as:
o What do you think will happen next?
o How do you think the character is feeling?
o Does that remind you of anything that has ever happened to
you?
o Does that remind you of any other books you've read, or
anything else?

Making predictions, making inferences, and making connections

are all important comprehension skills. Asking simple questions such
as the ones suggested above can offer your child practice with
these skills in the enjoyable context of your daily reading routine.

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7) Refrain from "insisting" that your child read challenging books
before he/she is ready. As they start grade school, many children
feel pressure from parents or peers to start shunning picture books or
anything they deem to be "too young" for them. Children who feel
driven to read advanced material can end up viewing reading as
unpleasant or a chore. This can result in a child actually avoiding
reading altogether, and missing opportunities for valuable practice.
Although as a parent you can definitely encourage your child to
challenge him/herself with new books and new interests, it is best to
not insist on books that you think your child "should" be reading.

8) Have patience with your young or struggling reader. You want to

make sure he/she is working in his/her zone of proximal
development. It's like a Goldilocks zone, where books are not too
easy but not too hard. Most words when reading should be familiar
or able to sound out based on the child's current skills. Too many
difficult or irregular words will leave your reader frustrated.

9) Speak clearly when sounding out words or playing games with

letter sounds. Use neat, proper penmanship when writing letters,
word parts, or words. This helps minimize a child's confusion.

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10) Phonological awareness has been shown to be a strong
predictor of overall reading ability. What is it? Phonological
awareness is the understanding of sounds in relation to language.
Phonemic awareness is one aspect of phonological awareness.
Phonological awareness also includes an understanding of rhyme,
syllables, and other aspects of language sound. Children who
demonstrate an understanding of the connection between letters
and their sounds tend to have an easier experience in building
reading skills.

11) Remember that individual letter sounds are comprised of one

sound only. For example, the /b/ sound for the letter "b" is a short
sound, and should not be pronounced like "buh" or "beh." When
pronouncing letter sounds as a model for your child, try to keep
each sound as distinct as possible--this will make it easier for your
child to eventually blend multiple sounds together to make words. A
child who knows that the letters "b, " "a," and "t" have the sounds /b/,
/a/, and /t/ can eventually blend those sounds into the word "bat."
However if the child hears those sounds as "buh," "ah," and "tuh," he
or she may attempt to blend the sounds into a multi-syllable or overly
complicated word.

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12) Clearly hearing and identifying the differences among spoken
sounds is a key component in a child's reading development. Young
readers need to have an understanding of the differences among
sounds, for example hearing /a/ and /i/ as distinct vowel sounds
both in isolation and within words. Children who suffer from frequent
ear infections or hearing loss might have a particularly difficult time in
identifying different sounds in speech. Some children may also have
difficulties with auditory processing, and may not be able to
effectively connect the sounds and words they hear with meaning.
Children with hearing challenges will most likely require extra
practice with language sounds, but all children can benefit from
targeted practice.

13) Always move from hearing to seeing to writing when working

with sounds and letters, to increase your child's understanding:

Hear it- say a word and child says the first or last sound they hear

See it- say a word and child points to correct letter (flash cards or
paper) that represents the first or last sound

Write it- say a word and child writes the first sound/digraph/blend
or last sound

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14) Reading words as whole words is what more advanced readers
do when they read. Advanced readers have enough practice with
reading that almost all words are familiar, and are recognized as a
whole unit. For example, when you see the word "family," you do not
have to sound out /f/ /a/ /m/ /i/ /l/ /y/. This enables you to read
quickly, and that in turn ensures that you understand what you are
reading. Some sight words, such as "at" and "an," are phonetically
regular and can be sounded out by beginning readers. Many of
them, however, are not (for example "about" and "could"), and must
therefore by recognized as whole words. Even if a sight word is
phonetically regular, since it appears with such frequency in text it is
better for the word to be read automatically. This will speed up the
reading process for a beginning reader, leading to greater fluency
and stronger comprehension.

15) Memory is an important component of the reading process.

Playing memory games with your child can help him or her
strengthen memory skills:
o Memory matching games
o Simon Says
o Songs with changing verses like "Bingo" or "Farmer in the Dell"
o "What is Missing" games

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16) Invest in a small whiteboard for quick writing and spelling
activities. Kids love writing on them, and felt or a sock works great for
erasing. Colored markers make it all the more fun!

17) Make sure your child has plenty of books to practice reading
once he/she has a grasp of basic phonics skills and knows some
basic sight words. Setting aside 15 to 20 minutes a day for reading
will establish a routine for reading at home. Let your child pick books
that interest him/her. Phonetically controlled books are good
because they usually have minimal irregular words and most of the
words are based on a particular phonics skill (short a, for example).
Comic books and kid's magazines can also be exciting to read, or
you can load up on books at your local library. Dr. Seuss books are
great also. Easier ones can be read independently and harder ones
can be read to your child. Having your child read out loud helps with
his/her fluency, or rate of reading. Reading out loud to your child
continues to be important long after they start reading on their own,
to continue modeling a healthy rate of reading and intonation
(changing your voice to read with feeling and expression).

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18) Teach necessary words or reading skills before giving child
activities or flash cards for practice. Children need sufficient
instruction before moving on to practice activities, and giving them
practice that involves a skill they haven't learned will only cause
frustration.

19) In order to communicate, we need to understand the words

we hear, speak, read, and write. The single largest impact on a
child's vocabulary is the amount of reading he or she does. Research
indicates that hearing new and complex vocabulary in conversation
can also be beneficial to children's vocabulary acquisition. When
communicating with your child, using new words and explaining
their meanings can offer valuable opportunities for gaining familiarity
with new vocabulary. You can also incorporate more complicated
vocabulary onto word walls and in flash card activities, as your
child's interest grows.

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20) One important way in which children develop an understanding
of fluency is by hearing text read to them. Read to your child
regularly, providing a good model of how fluent reading sounds. You
can model fluent reading by:
o Reading out loud rapidly (though not too rapidly!)
o Reading with appropriate expression
o Encouraging your child to repeat after you read
o Encouraging repeated readings of favorite stories
o Providing your child with books on tape and video
storybooks online.

21) Try your best to stay in contact with your child's teachers. They
will become a significant contributor to your child's continued
reading development, are usually a good resource for determining
your child's current reading level, and can often suggest the best
types of books for your child to practice with. Keeping in touch via
email has become very popular with teachers, and often much
more reliable than leaving a message at school.

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22) The ultimate goal of learning to read is to comprehending the
material read. Some children can demonstrate an understanding of
phonics and phonemic awareness, read fluently, know many written
words by sight… and still not understand what they are reading.
Some children can even successfully "read" an entire book aloud-
but then if they are asked to describe what the book is about, are
not able to give an answer. That is why comprehension in and of
itself is an important component of reading instruction. Here are a
few activities that will support your child's comprehension:
o Preview the book or story before you read.
o Make predictions about what might happen in the story.
o Provide background knowledge about the subject before
reading.
o Ask questions while reading.
o Encourage your child to form a mental picture and
visualize the characters and plot during the reading.
o Complete a KWL chart or write a brief summary after
reading.

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23) Take a break whenever you or your child are frustrated. Don’t
give in to shouting, humiliation, or punishment for incorrect answers.
Children need a lot of support and encouragement when learning
how to read, and they are most often doing their best. Give them
some help sounding out words when they need it, but be careful not
to over-correct or be too critical of their mistakes. Misbehaviors often
arise as a way of masking their own deficiencies, so cut them some
slack.

24) Some children have difficulty keeping their place on the page -
this is called tracking. Start by having him/her point to each word as
he needs to, either with his finger or a pointer of some kind, then
move to using a small ruler or bookmark to see the whole line at
once. Eventually your child should move to not needing any help
following along, but these can help to bridge the gap.

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25) If your child continues to have difficulty learning to read,
especially after age 7 (ages 5-7 are prime years for learning to read),
check for other possible reasons for delayed learning. An
abundance of ear infections when young can lead to trouble
discriminating letter sounds. A lack of abundant language
opportunities from birth (a lot of talking and storytelling or reading to
the child) can also lead to an inability to discriminate sounds and
letters. There is a very long list of possibilities here, which is why it is
important to talk to either school officials or medical professionals
about why your child may be having difficulties. It is very rarely due
to misbehavior or inattention in class, as those are usually symptoms
of a bigger problem.

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