I often have parents ask how they can help support reading work at home. Quick advice: read together daily! Also, it’s important to make reading together a positive experience.
A frequent concern I have heard from parents:
“My child wants to read or hear the same books, over, and over, and over.” Repetition is a great thing when it comes to reading practice! It may be annoying to us as parents, but redundant reading is building those reading skills! Repetition also builds confidence. When the child knows what to expect, they feel confident to keep reading and learn to work through mistakes. Some children struggle with sorting through feelings of getting the “wrong answer”, or not getting work “right” the first time. Some struggle with concentration or sitting still enough to read a sentence. Some children are just naturally timid about reading out loud. Whatever the root is, a lack of confidence can be stifling. Repetition (with positivity!) is a great tool for building confidence.
Keeping the experience positive is the only way to demonstrate that reading is fun. It’s also a great (and easy!) way to connect with your child. Connection is key to any type of positive growth, and reading daily together is a simple way to build a connection routine into your schedule.
Here are a few highlighted tips for reading with a new reader:
- Keep it positive.
- Keep it short, and in predictable time frames. For example, my son knows he usually gets 3 stories at bedtime, and when he does reading practice for school work, he knows how many pages he is expected to read to count as “complete.” It can be as little as a few pages, or a whole story, depending on reading confidence and what is in the child’s “challenge zone.”
- Allow plenty of time for the child to process the whole page and the words. Some children just take a little longer to sort out the answers in their head and some sound words out loud. Be patient.
- It’s ok to read the page or whole story first before asking your child to read it back. This points back to repetition and building confidence. Eventually, your child will feel confident, and likely excited, when they are ready to branch out past their comfort zone. It will happen in it’s due time! We were all Created and Designed to learn language skills.
- Point along the words when reading, and also when your child is reading. Often times, I will point along for a new reader, and simply pause, without saying a word, if the child doesn’t read the word correctly. This is a positive way to offer a type of correction without triggering feelings of frustration. It also slows a rushing reader down a bit, in order to sort out sounds or words.
- Offer books and rotate out new material. The library is a great resource and it’s free! You can both pick books to read together.
- Tap into the audio and visual resources, but avoid too much screen time. The affects of screen time on children will be saved for another blog post. There is a plethora of online resources, which are great! Teaching reading, however, should be a very tangible experience. Did you ever have a favorite story growing up? Maybe it was your favorite because the pages were glossy, or nicely textured and the book had a wonderful papery smell. Which brings me to the next point:
- Reading should access the senses! Go outside and read under a tree. Make a scented book mark with essential oils or herbs.
Happy reading to you and your child! Like I always say, “If a child can read, they can succeed.”
-Mrs. Rebekah
Creek Feet Montessori School 