Hi, this is Jennifer Gonzalez for Cult of Pedagogy.
If you have a child between Kindergarten and grade 2, it's likely that that child's
teacher has assigned about 10, 20, or 30 minutes of reading per night for homework.
In this video, we're going to talk about what parents and other caregivers can do to make
sure this homework really helps your child become a better reader.
The first thing you should do is sit side-by-side with your child while they read.
Although it's really tempting to try to get other work done, the point of this homework
is to have an adult following along.
When you sit side-by-side you can watch the words as she reads them. This allows you to
give her immediate feedback when she needs it.
Number 2 is Don't "tell" the words.
To learn how to decode words on her own, a child needs lots of time to wrestle with them.
If you jump in to tell her what the words are, she'll miss the learning that comes from
that struggle. Sometimes all you have to do is wait quietly,
giving her time to figure a word out.
Number 3: Move beyond "sound it out."
Just trying to sound out a word, letter by letter, is not the most effective way to figure
out what the word is. There are tons of strategies for decoding a word. One way is to think about
similar words. If she's trying to read the word "rake," point out that it has a lot of
the same letters as the word "cake," a word she already knows. That can help her guess the right pronunciation
for "rake." Chunking is another strategy: breaking the word into bigger chunks, rather than trying
to sound out each individual letter. Finally, allow your child to use the pictures in the
book to make a guess. Never cover up the pictures up when your child is reading.
They're important tools to help her figure out words independently.
You can also try covering up part of a word to see if your child can read the other part first
Number 4: Have your child re-read some passages for fluency.
If your child is merely sounding out individual words, she won't really get the meaning of
a sentence. For the words to make sense together, they need to be read smoothly.
So if your child takes a while to get through a particular sentence, have her go back and
re-read it so it makes more sense.
Just be careful not to overdo it. Asking your child to repeat dozens of sentences in one
session will drive her crazy. A few times is enough.
And if she's struggling through most of every page, it's probably not the right
book for her. Choose an easier one or tell the teacher that she's struggling at this level.
Number 5: Allow some mistakes to go uncorrected.
It's not necessary to correct every single error your child makes.
Because the child is working hard to get the word "headdress" right,
and then puts a lot of concentration into "golden cobra,"
Pointing out that she said "the" when she should have said "a" would be too much of
a distraction. Once she gets the more difficult words down, you can be more picky about making
sure she reads all the words right.
Number 6: Allow your child to read the same book multiple times.
If she reads a book on Monday and wants to read the same one again on Tuesday, that's
okay. With each successive read, she'll get better and better at building her fluency,
and by the end of the week, she should easily recognize words she struggled with at the beginning.
Finally, you should keep reading to your child.
Just because your child is learning how to read on her own, it doesn't mean she can't
still learn a lot from listening to you read. By continuing to read to her for pleasure,
you model correct pacing, reading with expression, and a love of books that will help make her
a lifelong reader.
Hey I'm glad you're still here. If you're a parent or a teacher, take a look at
one of our other videos, Distract the Distractor. It will show you a really simple way to get
off-task kids quickly back on track without creating a lot of drama.
If you liked this video and want to
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visit our website, Cult of Pedagogy. Come on over and take a look.