SUCCESS IN LIFE STARTS WITH READING

AND A POSITIVE ATTITUDE!

Becoming a good reader is a lot of hard work!  It involves the development of important skills, including learning to:

• Use language in conversation

• Listen and respond to stories read aloud

• Recognize and name the letters of the alphabet

• Listen to the sounds of spoken language

• Connect sounds to letters to figure out the “code” of reading (See Strategies)

• Read often so that reading letters and letter combinations is easy and automatic

• Learn and use new words

• Understand what has been read

IDEAS FOR SUCCESS

Preschool-Kindergarten-1^st Grade

At school they should be:

1. Learning the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make

2. Learning and using new sight words

3. Learning phonics—how sounds and letters are related

4. Writing the letter-sound relationships that they know

5. Helping children with ways to think about and understand what they are reading

6. Given opportunities to practice letter-sound relationships

 At home you can help by:

1. Practicing the alphabet by pointing out letters wherever you see them—on labels, boxes, signs, etc.

2. Reading alphabet books

3. Listening to your child read words and books from school and the public library

4. Letting you child know you are PROUD of their reading skills

5. Being patient while your child practices reading and devote at least 5 minutes a day to listening to them

6. Practicing sight words each night at home

7. Being a reader yourself--children learn from the habits of people around them

8. Visiting the public library often and participate in the summer reading programs

9. Making a good night’s sleep and balance nutrition a priority for your child

10. Limiting television viewing and video games

 2^nd and 3^rd Grades

At school they should be:

1. Continuing to teach letter-sound relationships when needed

2. Practicing sounding out bigger, longer words

3. Teaching the meaning of words, especially word s that are important to understanding a book

4. Teaching ways to learn the meaning of new words

5. Continuing to work on understanding and remembering what they have read

At home you can help by:

1. Re-reading familiar books

2. Isolating words and see if they understand the meaning

3. Building reading accuracy by having your child correct misread words

4. Having conversations with your child about what he or she is reading

5. Encouraging children to read on their own and to younger siblings.

6. Making reading a part of every day by sharing conversations with your child over meal times, in the car or any other time you are together

7. Reading with your child at least 5 minutes a day listening carefully for mispronounced words and asking what different words mean

8. Keeping informed about your child’s reading progress

9. Being a reader yourself--children learn from the habits of people around them

10. Visiting the public library often and participate in the summer reading programs

11. Making a good night’s sleep and balanced nutrition a priority for your child

12. Limiting television viewing and video games

4^th, 5^th, and 6^th Grades

At home you can help by:

1. In addition to the above strategies, try some of the following ideas:

2. Having your child read as much and as often as possible; at home, in the grocery store, at the mall—anything anywhere.  Make it fun!

3. Asking your child questions about their books.  (See Reading is A Trip)

4. Using the “Give me 5!” method;  ask WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? (4 fingers & thumb).  Give them five for answering correctly.

5. Making sense of what you are saying.  If your child has difficulty sounding out words, ask them to use a word that makes sense in that place FIRST.  ASK WHAT MAKES SENSE FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE STORY.  THEN use sounding out to discover the word that has the same meaning.  Reading is all about MEANING and making sense.

6. Making mental pictures as your child reads.  Ask them to make pictures in their minds—like a movie.  Have them draw the setting, characters and events of a story.

7. Reading with your child....if you read a story together have your child ask you questions about what YOU read!

8. Remembering events...if your child has trouble remembering events, have them act out various parts of the story becoming one or more different characters.