Reading_Tips

Simple Strategies for Creating Strong Readers

Invite your child to read with you every day.
When reading a book where the print is large, point word by word as you read. This will help the child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the word he or she says is the word he or she sees.
Read your child's favorite book over and over again.
Read many stories with rhyming words and lines that repeat. Invite the child to join in on these parts. Point, word by word, as he or she reads along with you.
Discuss new words. For example, "This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?"
Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story.
Read from a variety of children's books, including fairy tales, song books, poems, and information books.

Reading well is at the heart of all learning. Children who can't read well, can't learn.

Acquiring strategies to understand, remember and communicate what is read, or reading comprehension strategies. Children need to be taught comprehension strategies, or the steps good readers use to make sure they understand text. Students who are in control of their own reading comprehension become purposeful, active readers.

*adapted from U.S. Department of Education.