Reading with your child
If your child is a proficient reader and can read the book on their own, have them do that! Developing stamina is key and it’s helpful for them to get that practice. See this link for questions you can ask them afterward.
For developing readers, it’s sometimes helpful for them to read the book out loud to someone. You can have them read to you or read to your pet, a stuffed animal, or even record a reading and send a video to a relative! The key at this stage is practice and it’s completely okay to read the same text multiple times.
IF, when the child is reading, he makes a mistake, I’d recommend stopping and asking him to focus on the missed word and blend the sounds together. Consider this scenario:
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Text: Jack and Annie jumped over the creek. Child reads: Jack and Annie jumped over the river. Parent: Let’s look at that last word again. What does it start with? C makes the /k/ sound and r makes the /r/ sound. Blend the sounds together. What word is that Child: Creek. Parent: Good! Now reread the sentence for me. Child: Jack and Annie jumped over the creek. |
There are also other ways to support your developing reader if you have the time to read with them. The first is to echo read the text. When echo reading, a proficient reader reads a couple of lines first and the developing reader reads back the same lines–hence, it’s an “echo.” Watch the video below to see a parent echo read with her first-grader:
{{youtube:medium|07kJW_9CpaM, Echo Reading}}
Another way to support your reader is by choral reading the text together. When you choral read, you both have eyes on the page and you’re reading it together. Your child benefits from your pacing and your fluency. Watch the video below for an example of choral reading:
{{youtube:medium|Q22FbrAWIg4, Choral Reading}}
