Written by Marsha Horn, Special Education District Director
With summer quickly approaching, many parents are asking, “What can I do to help my child over the summer months?” Regardless of your child’s age, setting aside time to read each day is essential to help develop good habits and improve skill development at all levels.
The National Reading Panel (2000) has identified 5 key elements in the development of reading skill: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Each of these skills is considered critical in development of proficient readers.
Beginning readers are learning to understand how sounds, or phonemes, are linked to letters or letter combinations. Well developed phonics skills allow students to sound out unknown words. At this stage, students benefit from repeated readings of books that contain words that are easily decoded. Rhyming games or activities that provide students the opportunity to identify how words are similar or different are beneficial at this stage. Flash cards with high frequency sight words (those that do not follow typical phonics rules, such as “where” and “what”) provide additional practice as students progress to more advanced reading levels.
Emerging readers benefit from practicing skills that strengthen oral fluency. Students at this level need to spend time each day reading aloud, working on improving their speed, accuracy, and expression. Oral reading for students who lack fluency skills is often laborious and inefficient. This negatively affects a child’s ability to comprehend what he reads. Partner reading is a great way to improve fluency. This can be done by taking turns reading paragraphs or pages. Not only do children enjoy the time reading with their parents, but this allows students the opportunity to model fluent oral reading.
As students become more proficient in their basic reading skills, the focus shifts from learning to read, to reading to learn. Vocabulary development and comprehension are skills that are continually developing. Parents should encourage their students to spend time each day reading. It is important for parents to take an interest in their child’s reading and to provide outlets for them to share information about what they have read. Many students are happy to talk about the books that they are reading. This provides an opportunity to engage in dialogue about a particular book or story. Parents can ask factual questions about the book, ask their child to make predictions, or relate events to real life situations. If your child is reluctant to discuss their reading, encourage other forms of expression. Many students enjoy art or hands on activities and may prefer to draw pictures or create other projects. For students who prefer working on the computer, allow them to use Clip Art or other programs to recreate their stories to share. If your family is planning an outing or vacation, take time to investigate or research your destination with your child.
Children learn by example. While we often find ourselves overwhelmed by life’s daily activities, as adults it is important for us to be good role models. Reading is a lifelong skill. Take some time this summer to pull out that book that you have been meaning to get to, whether it is purely for enjoyment or informational in nature. You may be surprised at what you learn. And you may just find your kids asking you about what you are reading!