Who was it that coined the phrase about "To have a child is to have your heart forever go about walking outside your body?" Whoever they were, they were right. And when you send your child off to school struggling to read, you worry. It's inevitable. School curricula are so intense these days. There's always more you can do as a parent. It's so easy to begin measuring our own self-worth by our child's phonemic awareness. At the end of an exhausting day, the nagging, perpetual worry about a child's low reading level creep in.
As much as you and I try and be the solution, the aid, the help in our child's difficulties -- sometimes, we just make it worse.
Here's a small thought, just something to think about as you work with your child: Am I having fun? Because if you're too caught up in the angst, your child will be, too. They might not know why, but it won't be fun anymore. And that can be a contributing factor -- sometimes, a pretty powerful contributing factor -- to resistant readers.
There's still reason to smile, though. In fact, the answer can be that simple. If you think your child isn't enjoying reading (whether or not it has anything to do with you,) try these ideas -- or add your own in our comments!
- Have your child re-read books on an easier reading level. Praise, praise, giggle, praise. Make silly jokes, be impressed with what they can do, lavish them with adoration and smiles and glee. Success breeds enjoyment, and enjoyment breeds desire to continue.
- With books clearly beyond their reading level, take a minute to scan the page. Before they continue reading the story, pre-introduce one or two of the larger words to your child. Tell them what the word is, sound it out yourself, have them sound it out, and then explain the definition. This should be a brief, quick exercise so that it doesn't interrupt the flow of the story, but will help keep them from discouragement as they read.
- As the On The Lap blog has hinted before, don't feel the need to correct every effort, or to belabor every attempt they make. Sounding out every word on a page just isn't fun. (If I had to do the same thing in a foreign tongue, I'd want to die, wouldn't you?)
- Make sure you ask your child's teacher for independent and instructional reading level. At an instructional level, they should still be able to read 95% of the text without help.
- Offer to read a book taking turns with a child, and make goofy voices for different characters.
- Allow them opportunities to teach. They can "teach" younger siblings about letters; you can innocently ask, "What sound does CH make, again, honey?" as you are reading the newspaper (and then you can model sounding out a word! This shows them we all struggle and need reminders/assistance.)
- Ask school and local librarians for books on some of your child's favorite subjects. Choose some you can read to your child, and some to read together.
- Consider older children your child looks up to: older siblings, cousins, neighbors, babysitters, etc. and enlist their help. Have them model independent reading, and have them ask your child to read to them. When they shower praise upon your child, you have just multiplied your own efforts.
What else have you done with struggling readers to help them stay interested in reading, even when it feels challenging?
1 comment:
Hello,
My name is Robbie Evans, my email is eva09010@byui.edu. My teacher has a project for her students to gather information about young adult literature readers, and young adult readers. I would like to reference this blog post to her. If you do not want me to refer this one to her please let me know as soon as possible.
Thanks so much,
Robbie Evans
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