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8 Tips To Teach Your Child How to Read
by Jennifer Richard Jacobson and ParentSoup.com
Question: My first grader gets mad when he is attempting to read a word and I suggest he sound it out. What else can I do?
Answer: "Sounding words out," is an important reading strategy. But, it is only one of the strategies your child will need to practice in order to become a fluent reader. Here are some ways to help your child develop a repertoire of reading skills and prevent future frustration.
- Teach your child to predict the meaning of a word based on context. While reading, if you come to a word you don't know the meaning of, chances are you make a pretty good guess. All good readers do this. It is a useful strategy since many words such as "said" cannot be determined by sounding them out. To help your child use the context effectively, say, "Why don't you skip this word and read on. Then come back and read the sentence again." (Or simply wait if you think he's discovered this strategy on his own.) When he rereads the troublesome sentence, he'll have greater success in determining the unknown word.
- Suggest that he look at the first and last letter of the word. Your child may have limited success with sounding out words if he hasn't learned the more difficult vowel sounds or letter combinations -- knowledge many children do not master until second grade. If you suspect this is the case, suggest that he focus on the first letter and the last letter of the word to predict it's meaning.
- Model blending the sounds in a word. Even if your child knows the letter sounds, he may have difficulty "hearing" the entire word. Help him learn a more efficient way to "sound out." Do not pronounce each letter in isolation. Instead, teach him to blend. That is, pick letter sounds up as if adding beads to a necklace. The word grand would be blended this way: g/gr/gra/gran/grand.
- Ask, "What would make sense here?" Many children can successfully determine a word by pausing and thinking about the meaning of the sentence or paragraph.
- Suggest that your child say "blank" in place of the new word and read on. Then suggest he reread the sentence to figure out the meaning of the toughie. Eventually, he'll do this automatically.
- Place your finger over the word, revealing only one new syllable at a time. Help your child to blend the sounds.
- Ask your child to give you a special nudge or signal if he needs help with a word. This will help him to feel more in control of his reading process.
- Provide the word if it is especially difficult. Above all, you want to keep reading a fun and engaging activity.
Enjoy this time together. Before you know it, your child will be stealing away with the best parts of the Sunday newspaper.
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