How can I help my child improve their reading skills?
How can you, as a parent, help your child improve their reading skills while being at home?
Read outloud to your child each and everyday.
Create a print rich environment.
Model reading and writing.
Read and write with your child in your home language.
Cook with your child to develop literacy.
Explore books together.
Tell stories together.
Write with your child.
Communicate regularly with your child's teacher about his or her literacy development.
Visit the library often.
Additional ideas:
Have an "unplugged" time EVERY night. The whole family drops everything and reads for 30 minutes non-stop, everyday at the same time (also known as "DEAR" time in the classroom). Take the phone off the hook. Put away cell phones, and turn off the computers, video games, and TV's. If you want your child to be excited to learn, then it is essential that the parents model it at home. It might be difficult at first to begin, but after you get into the knick of it, it will become second nature. It's also good bonding time with your child!
Go over the papers in your child's take home folder. The work that they bring home for that day is most likely the concepts we practiced in school that day. That way, if you ask the age old question, "what did you learn in school today?", they cannot respond by saying "nothing"!
Allow your child to choose books of their interest and at their level. If your child chooses a book that they have difficulty reading or decoding at least 5 words on a page, then, most likely, the book is too difficult for your child. When the book is too difficult for them, their frustration level escalates, and they begin to dread reading. Reading should be fun and should also incorporate their interests. Reading allows your mind to travel to different lands, and experience different lifestyles and genres.
