“ “You are your child’s first and most important teacher! Studies show that it’s vitally important for children to have a good start in reading. What you do at home is what will help your child become a successful, confident reader!” -Raising Readers

“ *Research has shown that reading aloud builds the knowledge children need to become successful readers. *Not only should we read to our children as babies and toddlers, we should carry on reading aloud through out the grades. *Having stories read to them help children develop a love for books and a “want to” attitude about reading. “Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud.” - Mem Fox

“ How do I read aloud with my child? Let’s visit Mem Fox’s Ten Commandments for reading aloud. Click

Why How can I help my child? T he more your child reads the better reader he will become. Just think of it like sports. If your daughter is a soccer player, she will practice her skills over and over until she becomes the best soccer player she can be. It is the same for reading. The more reading is encouraged, the better your child will read. Encourage your child to read at least 20 minutes a day. Why 20 minutes? Click

Try to find what your child is interested in and look for ways to provide different types of reading materials. For example, if your son likes animals, look for reading materials about animals. He can read magazines, picture books, fiction books (make-believe), non-fiction books (books based on facts), newspaper articles, brochures from the zoo, or even research to read information about his favorite animal on the computer.

Use the five finger rule. When looking through a book to see if this book will be a good fit, think about these things: *Does the book look interesting? *Choose one page to read. When you come to a word you don’t know put up a finger. Continue to read on. Each time you come to a word you don’t know, put up a finger. *If 0-1 fingers go up, the book is too easy. *If 2-3 fingers go up, the book is just right. *If 4-5 fingers go up, the book is too hard. Also, visit lexile.com

When you come to a word you can’t figure out… be a word detective. Look at the pictures. Say the first sound. Stretch the sounds. Look for chunks. Flip the vowels. Skip over the word and come back to it. Reread the sentence and try a word that makes sense.

Fluency is the ability to read smoothly with expression and attention to punctuation. When reading fluency papers come home each week… Student reads the entire passage. Students then read aloud to a grown up for exactly one minute. Don’t interrupt if there is a mistake. Record how many words per minute were read correctly. Then you can point out and correct any mistakes made. Then try using this as part of reading aloud to your child.

“Experts believe that when a parent puts the emphasis on reading as entertainment, rather than a skill, children develop a more positive attitude toward reading.” -Raising Readers