10 Tips for Reading with Your Child

 

Today I have a special post for you!  It is from the creator of My Book Boost (one of the lovely sponsors of Living and Learning at Home  Enjoy!

Hi all! My name is Carrie Lane, creator of the My Book Boost list. I'm excited to be doing this guest post on Living and Learning at Home! Here is just a little bit about myself. I began teaching kids to read when I was a reading tutor in college in 1997. Over the years, working with kids as they're just beginning to read has always been my favorite part of teaching. Now I'm a stay-at-home-mom and I get to experience this special stage with my own kids. I put together some tips for reading with kids that I've personally found helpful.

10 of my Favorite Tips for Reading with Your Child:

• Let them choose between a couple of different books to read to you. They'll feel more invested in the process if they're able to decide which book they're most interested in reading.

• Try to find a time for them to practice reading when they’re not in the middle of doing something else. If you see they've just finished with something, that may be a good time to ask if they want to read a book to you.

• Have your child read easy books over and over (especially if they really enjoy a particular book). This will help them become a confident reader.

• Try not to jump in right away if they get stuck on a word. Give them time to try to work it out so they don't rely on you too much.

• If they are stuck on a word for awhile, suggest they try to skip the word and come back to it after reading to the end of the sentence. Sometimes they can figure out the word by using the context clues when skipping and coming back.

• Join in and read with them at the same time if the book seems way too hard. This will give them the support they need.

• Mention to your child that many words can be sounded out, but some just can't (for example, the word "two"). Sometimes it helps for them to hear that.

• If you're reading a book together, verbalize thoughts that you’re having as you’re reading the book so your child can see a model of how someone might react to what they’re reading. “Oh, what happened there? Let me reread that.” Or "That was surprising! Did you think they would do that?"

• Make sure the books they read aren’t too hard or your child may get frustrated. If they’re missing more than 1 out of 10 words in the book, try to find easier texts for them and/or see if they can pick out "just right" texts for themselves.

• Ask your child meaningful questions about the story before, during, and after reading. If you try out the My Book Boost list, you will find two questions for each book included in the download. The questions have a lot of variety to practice comprehension skills, especially literal and inferencing questions.

 

What tip would you add to this list?

Hopefully the above tips will give you at least one idea to try with your child.

If you would like to save time when it comes to finding great books for your beginning reader to read, the My Book Boost list is a wonderful tool. The list starts with the most basic of books and gradually increases in difficulty.

Quiz: Is My Book Boost a good fit for you?

•  Do you have access to a library where you could check out books regularly?

• Do you have a child who is beginning to read?

• Do you want to make sure your Preschooler, Kindergartener, or 1st grader doesn't lose too much over the summer?

• Do you like high quality books with a variety of authors and illustrators?

• Do you have a child who is working to master the Kindergarten or 1st grade reading level?

If you answered “yes” to 4 or more of the questions, My Book Boost is most likely a good fit for you! See the website www.mybookboost.com for more information!

Nevertheless, happy, happy reading!

~Carrie