How to help your child with reading at home

  1.  Tell your child to look at the picture.  You may tell your child the word is something that can be seen in the picture, if that is the case.

     2.  Tell your child to look for chunks in the word, such as it in sit, at in mat, or and and ing in standings.

    3.  Ask your child to get his/her mouth ready to say the word by shaping the mouth for the beginning letter.

    4.  Ask your child if the word looks like another word s/he knows.  If the word is bed ask "Does look like red at the end?

  5.  Ask your child to go on and read to the end of the sentence.  Then reread and get his/her mouth ready for the tricky word.  Often by reading the other words in context, the child will be able to figure out the unknown word.

   6.  If the child says the wrong word while reading, ask questions like:
 

Did that make sense?
Does that sound right?  
Does that look right?
 

   7.  Make comments to help your child focus on the part of the word that has an error. 
"I don't see an "r" in this word but I heard you make that sound.