Parents can Help Their Children Improve Reading Comprehension

How can a parent improve a child's reading comprehension?

Clip Art from Phillip Martin

1. Provide books and other reading material.

2. Value reading time .

3. Read together with children of all ages.

4. Show that reading is about getting meaning.

1. Providing books and other reading material does not have to cost a lot or take a lot of time.

Ideas:

Go to the library and ask a librarian for help choosing books.

Order a magazine.

Check out an online news site for kids. Watch videos and read articles together. DOGO News

Go to used stores to find books for you and your kids at a huge discount!

Have books at home that your kids want to reread. Reading books more than once is good for early readers.

Read books for free online.

One of my favorite sites with free online books for kids is We Give Books.

Trade books with friends and family.

Listen to some audio books together in the car on road trips.

2. Value reading time for yourself and your children.

Ideas:

Find a good book for yourself. Have your kids see you reading.

Read some news stories aloud to your children or share the highlights.

Provide a quiet place and time in a busy schedule for reading.

Turn off the TV and computer and make time to be entertained by a book instead. 

3. Read together with children of all ages.

Ideas:

Check out a page from my business website with advice by age for reading with children.

Skip a weekend movie and read an exciting chapter book instead.

Find a good book your entire family will enjoy and try to read it often until it's finished. I go through spurts of reading aloud to my family. When we have a book we like, we get together and read as much as possible. Then we take a break, and everyone reads their own books.

Listen to your child read to you or read to your child. I try to visit each of my three children when they are reading their chapter books in bed in the evening. I sometimes listen to them, or I read a chapter or so aloud to them from whatever book they are reading.

4. Show that reading is about getting meaning.

This is very important to me. I did not read for meaning as a child. Something was missing. I could read the words fine, but couldn't remember what I read.  I wasn't a good reader and usually got to the end of a page without knowing what I read and would have to start over trying hard to concentrate. I didn't read for enjoyment until my late twenties. I couldn't connect or pay attention while reading. I avoided most assigned reading all through school. Attending college and my desire to be a teacher forced me to learn to connect to what I read.

Ideas:

Have conversations while reading books together. Make pictures in your heads. Talk about the meanings of confusing words. Words and their subtle meanings add the most to pictures in your heads and your understanding of what is happening in a story.

7 Keys to Reading Comprehension is my favorite book for parents and teachers to find ways to help readers of all ages read for meaning and understanding.

Parents can Help Their Children Improve Reading Comprehension

Teach Kids to Read for FREE

I'm very excited to share these sites with you to help you teach an early reader!


Reading Bear
This site has been made possible by an anonymous donor. You can choose to register or not register with Reading Bear. Use this site to help a child learn vocabulary and learn to sound out words.Here's a video to help you get started. 

Starfall 
Starfall has been around since September of 2002. Many elementary teachers, preschool teachers, child care providers and parents use this program. Phonics are presented systematically and phonemic awareness is practiced with this free to the public online reading program.

Free Reading
If you are teaching a child to read or helping a struggling reader, this is an amazing resource not to miss!

Literactive


Progressive Phonics

Learn more about me and why I write this blog on my About page.

Teach Kids to Read for FREE

Echo Reading

Have you tried echo reading? It's a great way to get kids reading with expression.

 

If you want a fun reading activity, try echo reading. You can read a sentence once or twice from a favorite children's book. Then ask a child to echo you. Have fun and ham it up!

Here's a video example.

Echo Reading

Help Early Readers with Fluency and Reading with Expression

Most early readers struggle with fluency and reading with expression. This is normal. Early readers are practicing reading skills. Children must learn to walk before they can run. Until they learn to run on their own. Show them what it feels like to "run while reading" by reading aloud often. Here's a link to some free online stories you can include in your family's busy life. I've set my kids up with stories online. They love them. I sometimes put stories on the computer in the kitchen while I cook. That way we can talk about the story when it's over. Here's a link to some free online stories.

Here is a list of a few skills early readers need to combine to read fluently and with expression.
1. Match letters and letter combinations to sounds.
2. Blend sounds together.
3. Remember blending sounds together in a particular word until the word is an automatic recall for the brain.
4. Think about the story. Anticipate what words will be coming up. What might happen next? Are the questions in my head getting answered? How do I feel? Is this story like another story? This reminds me of . . .  _________ . The character in this story feels . . . ________ .
5. Learn to combine sounding out, automatic recall, and thinking by reading and rereading books.

I still read to my 8 year old son, 8 year old daughter, and 10 year old son. Yes, my youngest children are twins. It's a challenge finding time in our busy lives to read, but when I make it a priority it happens.

Help Early Readers with Fluency and Reading with Expression

Book Introductions on Video: Playful Pals by Nora Gaydos

I've created book introductions for all ten phonics stories in my favorite phonics series for learning short vowel sounds. The phonics books are in a set called Playful Pals by Nora Gaydos. I don't show or read the inside of the books since the books are copyrighted.

Here's the video of book introductions for Playful Pals.

Book Introductions on Video: Playful Pals by Nora Gaydos

Short Vowel Sounds

Readers need to correctly hear and make short vowel sounds. Teach short vowel sounds early. Many readers I've worked with who struggle with reading at the end of first grade have problems with short vowel sounds. I'm currently tutoring a third grader who makes the short a sound when she tries to make the short e sound. There are confusions with the other short vowels at times too. 

So, teach short vowel sounds early. Check if a struggling reader needs to learn short vowel sounds and teach them. I've seen huge improvements in most children I've tutored with reading once they learned vowel sounds.

My research and experience indicates some value to focusing on short vowel word reading first. Most children benefit from over learning the short vowel sounds first through practice, reading, and writing. Many early phonics books start with short vowel words.

I think many children learn best when they are taught a few things at a time and given the opportunity to practice until it becomes automatic.

Nora Gaydos has written my favorite phonics books for early readers.

I do recommend having a child practice reading with short vowel words first, but it's good to throw in a few easy long vowel words to introduce the sounds. (no, go, he, me, we, I)


Here's some advice:

1. Wait to tell a child he or she made a mistake until he or she has finished a sentence or two. Then say, "Something didn't sound quite right. That sounded confusing." Engage the child in the story, look at the pictures, talk about what has already happened, ask a child to make a guess about something that might happen. You can take the opportunity to get a child thinking about what's happening to help, or you could just ask a child to read the page again. The goal is to have a child stop and fix his or her reading when it doesn't sound right or make sense. Follow a child's lead. Try not to frustrate or bore a child with too much talk.
2. Give a child help with words if the child asks. Read part or all of a book if a child is struggling. Let the child read the book after he or she has listened to it a few times.
3. A child practices sounding out and thinking while reading every time a book is read. Think of re-reading a book like a sports drill. Practice makes perfect. A child can and should read a good beginning reader book five or more times. Encourage a child to read early reader books many times.
4. Don't make a child struggle through a book that the child can't read more than one in ten words. Find easier books or read the books a few times out loud to a child before asking the child to read.

.

Short Vowel Sounds

Do You Share? Do You Share Read?

Beginning readers should be read to often. A great way to get beginning readers interested in reading is to share read some books. Ask a beginning reader to jump in and read parts when he or she feels comfortable. Encourage a beginning reader to ask questions, talk about the story and pictures, and talk about how a book is similar to another book or something that happened in his or her life.

What is shared reading?
Shared reading will be different every time depending on your purpose. Most resources show ways to share read with a group of children. Think how powerful shared reading will be with just one child, your child.

Here's a video of my daughter and I share reading a book.

Check out these resources for more information about shared reading:

Reading to Kids: Using the "Shared Reading Format

Shared Reading: An Effective Instructional Model


Books with Rhyming and Repeated words and phrases work well for shared reading. 

Offer as much support as necessary.
Joanne Meier has written an excellent article for Reading Rockets called, How to Read with a Beginning Reader.

Do You Share? Do You Share Read?

Ways Encourage a Child to Read This Summer

Are you having a fun filled busy summer?

Are your kids reading as much as you think they should?

This post has ways to sneak in more reading this summer.

Here are a few ways to sneak in some extra reading time.

Check out some audio books from your library. Many libraries let you do this online. My kids like to draw, ride in the car, or relax on the couch or their beds when listening to stories. We download them onto their mp3 players. Sometimes we check out the book, so they can follow along.


Watch some free online stories. Free Online Stories for Children

Does Dad read? Have your kids pick out books they think Dad would enjoy. Get your kids to approach their dad with the books to be read. My husband reads with our kids sometimes, but it usually takes a little encouragement. Maybe Dad is the primary reader of the family. Then encourage Mom, Grandma, or Grandpa to read a book or two.

Give each of your children their own gallon or two gallon ziplock bag to pack a few books they are reading or want to read. This is a safe way to transport books. Encourage your children to keep their bags of books handy. These take along books will be available to read during car trips, visits to friends and relatives, waiting rooms, and more. My kids read more when we pack books along. It might even keep your kids from doing the typical entertaining themselves by fighting and bugging each other. Kids who can't read yet can pack a bag of favorite books too. If a child has had a book read many times, the child will look at the pictures and remember the story. Pack a book for yourself too.

Ways Encourage a Child to Read This Summer

Use This Booklet with Checklists to Teach Your Child to Read at Home

Literacy Begins at Home: Teach Them to Read is a helpful publication for parents with checklists of what parents can do with toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, first graders, second graders, and third graders.

I love the simple format of this booklet. It directs you to a specific age.

The most effective way for a child to learn to read is through experiences with a supportive adult who has a little information about teaching reading. That's why I write this blog.

Take a little time today to go through these checklists. If you would like help with any suggested activity or skill, let me know in a comment.

Here's one item from each checklist
in Literacy Begins at Home , a free publication for parents from the National Institute for Literacy
Toddlers
__ I read with my child everyday, even if it's only for a few minutes.
Find books and advice about reading to children here.
Preschoolers
__ I let my child pretend read parts of the book when we read together.
Watch a video of my daughter share reading a book here.
Watch a video of my son pretend reading a whole book here.
Kindergarteners
__ My child knows that the order of letters in a written word stand for the order of sounds in a spoken word.
First Graders
__ My child can sound out words he doesn't know, and recognize some irregularly spelled words, such as have, said, you, and are.
Second Graders
__ My child pays attention to how words are spelled and correctly spells words he has studied.

Third Graders
__ My child uses what he knows of phonics and word parts (prefixes, roots, and suffixes) to sound out unfamiliar words.

Use This Booklet with Checklists to Teach Your Child to Read at Home

Short Vowel Reading Practice Videos

  Here are a few YouTube videos I've made for short vowel reading.

You will find the magnetic letters, magnetic easel, Starfall phonics books, Nora Gaydos phonics books, Reading Pathways, and Phonics Pathways from the videos here.

If you are finding helpful information here on this blog. Please share it with others and sign up with Feedburner in the side bar to get all new posts sent to your inbox.

Short Vowel Reading Practice Videos

How to Help and Support a Reader

The ultimate goal is to teach your child to be an independent reader who reads for meaning and fixes mistakes when reading doesn't make sense.

It is very important to have books that aren't too difficult. If there are too many mistakes in a row a child can't fix mistakes on his or her own. Nothing sounds right. It all sounds wrong. If most of a child's reading sounds right, he or she will be able to stop and fix small mistakes when they happen.

Don't be a helicopter and swoop in to tell exactly which word was wrong and how to fix it. Give your child some thinking time. Give help and support when asked. Help a child sound out a word when asked. If it is too hard to sound out, you can tell the word and move on.

The next pictures demonstrate what questions a reader should be asking themselves to grow into an independent reader.

A reader needs to stop when something doesn't make sense. Teach a reader to read from the beginning of a sentence that didn't make sense. A reader may want to check out the picture, think about what has already happened in the story, decide which word or words didn't sound right, and look closely at words as a sentence is read again.

Reading should match the way a person talks. Sometimes a reader is reading and everything sounds right until the next word is read and immediately it stops sounding like a person would talk. The syntax or language structure isn't right. A reader needs to stop, reread from the beginning of the sentence, and fix which words he or she read incorrectly. A supportive adult may stop a reader and say, "Something didn't sound right. Did you notice that? Next time you can stop and reread the sentence on your own. I bet you'll figure out which words you read wrong. Try it now. Let's see if you can fix this sentence."

Sometimes reading makes sense, but a word doesn't look right. I usually don't stop a child's reading when everything makes sense. For example if a reader reads a for the. I choose my battles and be as supportive as I can. A reader may notice themselves that a word didn't look right and fix it. If there is a  consistent problem I will direct a child's attention to looking closer at the letters in words.



How to Help and Support a Reader

How Can a Parent Help a Child Improve Reading Comprehension?

The best thing a parent can do is read to a child starting at a young age. Many parents stop reading to their children as they get older. I'm guilty of reading less to my school aged children.

Parents?
Does your child avoid reading? Does your child say he/she can't find a good book to read? Your child might be struggling with reading comprehension. You can help.

7 Keys to Comprehension has been my go to resource for ideas to help my youngest son with reading comprehension. I use ideas from this book for all three of my children. I'm able to purposely share my thinking, ask questions, and have interactions during reading a book to help my children use the 7 keys to improve reading comprehension.

I suggest finding good books to read out loud to your child and teach your child to use the 7 keys:

1. Create mental images.
2. Use background knowledge.
3. Ask questions.
4. Make Inferences.
5. Determine the most important ideas or themes.
6. Synthesize information.
7. Use "fix-up" strategies.

You can teach a child to use these 7 Keys while reading to your child, while listening to your child read, or while sharing the reading of a book. It's never too late to start. Buy the book. Start with one section at a time. I saw huge improvements in my youngest son's desire to read chapter books after I taught him to create mental images.

This book is written in a parent friendly format and is also useful for teachers. There are recommended books, descriptions of the keys, ideas to teach keys separated by age groups, classroom connections, and more.

Socks by Beverly Cleary, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume are three classic stories that will hold the attention of most children. You'll love the rich language, humor, and interesting plots. These books have all the elements needed to teach a child the 7 keys.

How Can a Parent Help a Child Improve Reading Comprehension?

Supporting a Beginning Reader

I have a good friend who asked me for some advice to help her child improve in reading. The most important advice we decided was to allow her daughter to listen for her own mistakes. My friend usually jumped in immediately after a mistake. She is now waiting until her daughter can hear that something did not sound right. If her daughter finishes a sentence and something didn't sound right, she lets her know that what she read didn't sound quite right to her if her daughter didn't seem to notice. Her daughter is then asked to read the sentence again. If she gets stuck on a word then my friend helps her sound it out or tells her the word.

Joanne Meier wrote a great article at Reading Rockets that supplies some helpful information for parents supporting a beginning reader. Click on this title to get to the article. How to Read with a Beginning Reader

Check out this post for ways I suggest helping a reader fix a mistake when something didn't sound right.

The goal should be for a reader to stop when something doesn't sound right. Let a beginning reader know how proud you are when he or she stops and rereads to fix a mistake without being told. Encourage a reader to reread from the beginning of a sentence if he or she had to work hard on a few words and the flow of the sentence or meaning of the story became interrupted by sounding out words.

Supporting a Beginning Reader

Literactive - Free Early Reading Program with Games and Animated Stories

I can't believe this site is free. Register today and look around. http://www.literactive.com/Home/index.asp

Don't miss the Flash activites. Look in the left column for pre-reading to level 7 activities. I checked out numerous games. There is one problem I found. The sound made for a short a by the computer sounds more like a short u. I suggest sitting with a child and making the correct short a sound during these games.

There are animated stories with games. There are different types and levels of stories in the left column if you are using this site from a computer. The stories are grouped by nursery rhymes, traditional stories, poetry and level 1 to level 5 stories. You can turn the sound on or off to let a child listen to the words or read the words him or herself. There's a scope and sequence guide available for these online stories here.

This site makes it easy to start at any level. You don't have to go from beginning to end in this program. Play some of the beginning reading activities until a child is ready to read.

Use the Hiding Snails game found in level 3 activities to practice reading high frequency words.

Hiding Snails

Go to site to find this game. Click on activities at the top and level 3 in the left column.

Play some CVC games found in level 3 activities like Sliding Penguins.

Sliding Penguins

Have a child read some predictable pattern books from level 1. Picture clues help a child know if a word is right, but a child should be encouraged to use letters when figuring out words. Many children learn to guess at words without using letters in books of this sort. Click on the last word in the story, Dad, to have the computer break the word into sounds. Have a child repeat, point and read these words a few times with and without the computer.

The word wash is good to teach about words that start with wa. Many words that start with wa sound like "wo". (walk, want, water, watch) Talk about what the dad is washing. Make sure a child looks at pictures when reading early reader stories.

The letters ch make one sound and the o in the middle of a CVC word will usually make a short sound in the word chop. Ask a child what the dad accidentally chopped. Discuss the box the boy is holding is a first aid kit.

There's more to this story. Click on reading at the top and choose level 1 in the left column



I think you and your beginning reader will love using Literactive. Sit with a child, interact, and teach as you go.


  

Literactive - Free Early Reading Program with Games and Animated Stories

Early Intervention for a Struggling Reader

Do you have a child or know a child struggling with reading? Early intervention is necessary. Everyday a child goes to school and can't keep up with his or her peers is a day a child feels like a failure.

Use the following link to view a helpful program. http://www.readingrockets.org/shows/launching/empowering

You'll find Reading Rockets to be a great resource.

Early Intervention for a Struggling Reader

Information for Parents Teaching a Child to Read

I've reviewed these sites. I think you'll find helpful information. Leave a comment and let me know your favorites.


Reading Rockets - Tips for Parents

Reading Rockets - Launching Young Readers

Reach Out and Read for Parents and Educators

Free Parent Brochures by Jim Trelease

Information for Parents Teaching a Child to Read

Teach Reading Comprehension With 7 Keys to Comprehension

I purchased the book, 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! by Susan Zimmerman and Chryse Hutchins.

This books gives parents and teachers practical ways to improve a child's reading comprehension. I focus a lot on learning to read and decode words on my blog. There is so much more to becoming a successful reader. 7 Keys to Comprehension clearly defines and shows ways to teach the complicated thinking processes involved in reading.

The 7 keys are:
1. Create mental images.
2. Use background knowledge.
3. Ask questions.
4. Make inferences.
5. Determine the most important ideas or themes.
6. Synthesize information.
7. Use "fix-up" strategies.

The book shows ways to help preschool readers, emerging readers, and advancing readers develop the 7 keys listed. There are also classroom connection ideas for teachers. I love that this book is geared toward parents. Parents are powerful teachers. We have numerous opportunites to teach our children in a relaxed environment. The challenge is usually how do we teach.

I've started using some of the ideas from 7 Keys to Comprehension with my three children ages 9, 7, and 7. We are reading Socks by Beverly Cleary. Our current focus is on creating mental images. Beverly Cleary's writing provides us with great images. I plan to sprinkle in the other keys while reading this book. I'm already noticing an increased interest from my children. I love hearing their mental images.

Teach Reading Comprehension With 7 Keys to Comprehension

Questions to Help a Beginning Reader Fix Mistakes While Reading

Let's say a reader makes a mistake with this sentence.
We went for a walk in the rain.
The reader reads ran instead of rain.

Teach a reader to stop if something doesn't make sense. You could ask if it makes sense to go for a walk in the ran. Is a ran something you could walk in? Let's look closer at the word you read as ran.

Teach a reader to stop if something doesn't sound right. Would someone say they went for a walk in the ran? No, this isn't how a person talks. It didn't sound right. Always stop if what you read doesn't sound right. Then you can look more closely at the words and try to fix it.

Teach a reader to make sure a word looks right. Point to the word ran. Ask the reader if ran has a "r" sound at the beginning and a "n" sound at the end. You got that part right. Let's look at the middle sound now.  Do you think ai makes the "a" sound like in ran? Right, ai makes a long a sound. Try reading the sentence again.

Questions to Help a Beginning Reader Fix Mistakes While Reading

Phonemic Awareness Games

Here are some games to help a child become aware of sounds in words.

Separating Sounds - Ask for things or say some words in everyday conversations with a pause between each sound. For example: “Can you get a (t)…(ow)…(el)? Did you remember your (l)…(u)…(n)…(ch)?”


Change Beginning Sounds - Be silly and make a different sound for the beginning sounds of some words while talking to a child. For example: “Let’s take the pog for a walk. Can you hand me that fencil, so I can make a grocery list? If the child doesn't notice, tell the child you said one word wrong. Repeat the sentence and see if the child can correct you.

Guessing Game - Choose a category: Farm Animals, Food, Pets, etc.
Examples- You say “I’m thinking of a farm animal.” Then separate the sounds. (c)…(ow) Leave some time between the sounds to make it more difficult.

Farm Animals- (h)…(or)…(se), (d)…(u)…(ck), (sh)…(ee)…(p), (ch)…(i)…(ck)…(e)…(n)

Food- (c)…(or)…(n), (p)…(i)…(ck)…(le), (h)…(a)…(m)

Pets- (d)…(o)…(g), (b)…(ir)…(d), (p)…(ar)…(o)…(t), (f)...(r)…(o)…(g)

If this is difficult, have the child stretch sounds with you. Say, “Let’s make the sounds together.” Stretch the sounds without leaving space between the sounds. hhhhh-orrrrr-sssssse, d-uuuuuuu-ck, ssshhhh-eeeeeeee-p, ch-iiiiiiii-ck-eeeee-nnnnn, c-orrrrrrrr-nnnnnnn, p-iiiiiiiii-ck-lllllllle, hhhhhhhhaaaaaaammmmmm, d-ooooooooo-g, b-irrrrrr-d, p-arrrrrrrr-ooooo-t, fffff-rrrrr-ooooo-g

Some sounds are fast sounds and will not be stretched. (t,d,b,k,g,p)

Let the child separate sounds and make you guess. When a child can guess words with the sounds separated and can separate individual sounds in words and make you guess, the child has developed a sense of phonemic awareness.

Phonemic Awareness Games

Letter Learning Websites

Starfall ABC - Find animations, videos, pictures, and sounds on this site.

Reading Bear - Reading Bear has links to videos and ideas to teach the alphabet.


There are some great alphabet books available. They range from simple to filled with content that interests older children. A parent could work on letter identification with a young child and read aloud a book to interest older siblings.

Letter Learning Websites