Helping Your Child Read at Home From Regie Routman

This information comes from the book "Reading Essentials" by Regie Routman:

Reading for pleasure will help your child become a good reader. Help your child choose books he/she can read and wants to read, what we call "just right" books. This means your child:

*Is interested in the book. *Can read and figure out almost all the words. *Understands what he/she is reading (can tell you what the story is about or what he/she is learning. *Can read fairly smoothly. If your child is stumbling over many words, he/she will not be able to focus on reading for understanding.

In helping your younger child select a "just-right" book, try the "5 finger rule". As your child reads, have him/her count on one hand any unknown words. If there are five or more different unknown words on a full page, this book is too hard for your child to read alone, although you may still want to read it aloud to them.

If your child wants to read aloud to you, that's great. However, it is not necessary for your child to read aloud to you every night. Once students are readers, they do most of their reading silently. Talk with your child about what he/she is reading, but don't quiz him/her; keep your conversations relaxed and informal.

Be a reading model for your child. If possible, try to set aside time during which the whole family reads. Also, students read more when they have their own libraries. Create a shelf for your child's books and give books as gifts on special occasions.

Following the above steps will help to improve your child's reading skills and make them a life long reader.

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