Help your child be a stronger reader

Reading is the foundation of our education and learning process.

by Megan Morgeson — 

Reading is the foundation of our education and learning process. Here are some tips to help parents develop their children’s reading skills.

Before reading a story:

• Research the book and make sure your child will understand the content. Will he or she understand the objectives or main points?
• Introduce the book and make predictions about what will happen.
• Conduct a picture walk by looking at the pictures and talking about them.

While reading to the child:

• Ask questions. Does your child understand what he or she is reading?
• Make personal connections. Relate situations or events from the book to events in your child’s life.
• Discuss predictions you made earlier and make new ones.
• Talk about new words and their meanings.
• Model ways to think about a story. “This reminds me of … what does it remind you of?” “I think this will happen. What do you think will happen?”

After finishing the book:

• Talk about the book. “Who was your favorite character?” “What did you learn from the story?” “Did you like the book?” “How might it have ended differently?”
• Do an activity related to the book — draw a picture of the main character or do something the main character liked to do.

Megan Morgeson is program coordinator for All-Star Kids Tutoring (ASKT), a one-on-one volunteer tutoring program that helps second- and third-grade children master basic reading skills. 480-624-9950 or www.askt.org.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 26, Number 5, October/November 2007.